O’LEARY – It was a message the players on the Prince County Warriors heard often from their coaches: “Hard work pays off.”
“We all bought into it and that’s what led to success,” said defenceman Zach Biggar, captain of Prince Edward Island’s major bantam championship team. “I knew we had a good team, knew we were hard-working, and hard work always pays off. We were hoping we’d win it, and we did.”
Biggar and his 18 teammates have been sticking to that advice, and have been practising hard as they prepare for the 2018 Atlantic major bantam AAA Atlantic hockey championship tournament at the Jack Byrne Arena in Torbay, N.L.
Newfoundland will be represented by the 2016 tournament champs and host St. John’s Hitmen, and the Tri-Com Thunder. Hockey New Brunswick is sending the North West Bulls, and Nova Scotia will be represented by the Gulls.
“Special teams are big in tournaments, for sure,” said Biggar when asked what it might take to bring home the championship banner. He pronounced the team ready to go.
The O'Leary-based Warriors flew out of Halifax on Wednesday, and hit the ice in Torbay for a practice later that day. The five-team tournament starts Thursday, and runs until Sunday. The format features a round robin, followed by the top two teams meeting in the championship game.
Prince County Warriors goaltender Aiden Williams.
P.E.I. final
The Warriors battled back from a 2-1 series deficit to win the best-of-five semifinal in five games against Eastern. They were down 2-1 in the fifth and final game of the championship series, but battled back for a 3-2 game and series win against the Central Attack, winning all of their games in the final on the road.
Donovan Arsenault scored what was the winning goal with 52 seconds remaining in regulation time.
Goaltender Aiden Williams was thrilled, admitting he was getting nervous as the clock ticked down with the Attack leading 2-1. He breathed a sigh of relief when the Warriors tied it with three minutes left, and found himself needing to remind his teammates to control their excitement after they took a late lead.
“They did a wonderful job in front of me,” Williams said of his teammates. “They were blocking lots of shots when they had to and getting the puck out when they had to, and our offence was just really good throughout the whole playoffs.”
This will be Williams’s first Atlantic hockey championship, but he has been to Atlantics twice for baseball.
Although he’s not sure what to expect in Torbay, Williams said, “We’re just hoping that we will do good and bring home another championship for the Island.”
Donovan Arsenault led the Prince County Warriors in scoring during the playoffs. He scored the winning goal in the deciding goal of the provincial championship.
Scoring the series-winning goal against the Attack gave Arsenault the playoff scoring championship with nine goals, and tied him for first in points with 12.
The Sunnyside Road resident shared Biggar’s view on what brought the Warriors to the Island championship.
“Just because everybody worked hard, and we played the body,” said Arsenault. “We outworked other teams.”
Arsenault knows the Warriors will have to stick to that game plan to be successful at Atlantics. He said the team has been keeping its conditioning up in preparation for the championship tournament. He said he’s looking forward to representing the province.
Biggar said he is looking forward to the experience.
“I think it’s going to be fun,” he added.
When They Play
Warriors’ schedule at Atlantic major bantam hockey ch’ship:
Thursday, April 5
4:30 p.m. – vs. North West Bulls (N.B.).
Friday, April 6
10:30 a.m. – vs. Tri-Com Thunder (N.L.).
5 p.m. – vs. Gulls (N.S.).
Saturday, April 7
12:30 p.m. – vs. St. John’s Hitmen (Host).
