There is little doubt that a vast majority of the best hockey players on P.E.I. come from Prince County, and results are the proof.
The Prince County Warriors’ major bantam and Kensington Monaghan Farms Wild major midget teams recently won their respective Island championships, and both are doing so with regularity.
Hockey P.E.I. rezoned the bantam elite level four years ago to a four-team league, and the Warriors have won three of four championships since, and finished runner-up in the other. Since moving to Kensington five years ago, the Wild has won four of five Island championships.
Since the year 2000, Prince County-based teams have won 14 of the 18 Island Junior Hockey League championships, with 11 of those won by the Kensington Moase Plumbing and Heating Vipers. Five of the last six league finals had Prince County teams playing off, and quite likely will be the case once again this year.
When one thinks about all the Prince County talent that’s played with the Summerside Western Capitals, and earlier on with the Charlottetown Abbies, it is impressive.
There is also a lot of very good hockey players playing in the West Prince Senior Hockey League, with the majority being from west of Summerside. Fan support for teams and leagues has always been, and remains strong throughout Prince County, and having very good talent to watch is a very good reason why.
['Joe MacIntyre']
Harness racing
A legend, who many in harness racing consider as the greatest driver in the history of the sport, is coming to Summerside. John Campbell is the guest speaker at the Prince County Horsemen’s Club awards night slated for Saturday, March 31, at Credit Union Place.
Campbell has accomplished a lot in his 45-year racing career, including winning many of the biggest and richest races in North America. He was the youngest driver ever to be elected into the United States Harness Racing Hall of Fame at age 35. He is also an honoured member of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.
Born in Ailsa Craig, Ont., the soon-to-be-63-year-old retired last summer with 11,058 wins, and purse winnings in excess of $304 million. It should be a great evening, and a big crowd is expected to hear what one of the greats in harness racing has to say.
Western Capitals
As this is written, the Summerside D. Alex MacDonald Ford Western Capitals were getting set to host the Campbellton Tigers in Game 5 of their opening-round playoff series in the MHL (Maritime Junior Hockey League) on Friday night, and had an opportunity to wrap up the series. If this did happen, the Caps will move on to face the Edmundston Blizzard in the Eastlink North Division final, and that will be a very big test for the young Caps.
As is always the case, successful playoff teams get great goaltending, and the Caps have been getting that from Alex Bishop since he took over from Dominic Tmej in Game 1 against Campbellton. That will have to continue if the Caps do play the high-flying Blizzard, and hope to upset the MHL’s No. 1 team in the regular season.
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is set to kick off the 2018 season on Thursday, with home openers scheduled for ballparks throughout North America. The Toronto Blue Jays are in tough in their opening series as the New York Yankees will be the opposition.
The Jays will host the St. Louis Cardinals in their annual two-game exhibition set in Montreal on Monday and Tuesday to close out the exhibition season.
Will we ever see the day when Major League Baseball returns to Montreal?
Former Expos’ great Tim Raines spoke at a recent celebrity dinner in Halifax, and he thinks that Major League Baseball’s next expansion will include two teams, with one in Montreal. Hopefully, he is right!
Have a great week!
Joe MacIntyre is a Summerside resident. His column appears every Saturday. Comments and suggestions can be sent to [email protected].
