Shediac / Cap-Pele bring back gold from the Cumberland Bluenose hockey tournament…

Heading in to the tournament, The Shediac / Cap-Pele was the only team from New Brunswick against teams from Nova Scotia. Facing 4 of the 6 teams in Round robin play and only having the top 2 team advanced to the finals, the Shediac /Cap-Pele players needed an almost perfect record.

They were off to a good start disposing easily of the Amherst Ramblers. The second game was against the Truro Bearcats. Having Maurice “the Rocket” Richard’s great grandson on the opponent’s team could have intimated the Shediac / Cap-Pele team, but they fought until the end to come out on top. Expecting the Bedford Blues to be a tough opponent, our team with no name knew they would have to battle it out to guarantee a spot in the final. Not expecting to face such a strong net minder, the Shediac /Cap-Pele players were frustrated on many occasions. A tie would guarantee them a spot in the final, but down by a goal with less than a minute in the game, the Shediac / Cap-Pele team pulled their goalie.  In a text book play, they won the face in the offensive zone and drop it back to the extra attacker, Cédric Gallant-Cormier. With no hesitation, Gallant-Cormier sealed the spot in to the final by roofing the puck in the top corner of the Bedford Blues’ goal.

The Shediac / Cap-Pele team was now heading to the final and waiting for their opponent. The morning of the final game it was announced that it would be a re-match of the Bedford Blues and the Shediac / Cap-Pele. With the one all tie of the previous game and the strong performance of the Blues goalie, the Acadian players knew they were in for a good game.

Both teams were pretty well evenly matched until the middle of the 3^rd period where the Shediac / Cap-Pele’s offence exploded to hold a commanding lead and win by a score of 8-4.

In the post game interviews the coaches had this to say…
Head coach, Philippe LeBlanc mentioned to TSN reporters: “This is our first tournament of the season and we are off to a great start!”

Assistant coach Michel “ Handlebar Moustache” LeBlanc discussed the importance of sticking to the game play with CBC’s hockey analyst: “The players were given the game plan and when we stick to it, we will have positive results…”

Goalie coach, Troy Boudreau was very proud of both net minders during the weekend tournament. “Goaltenders’ are often overlooked, but Sophie and Sam kept the team in game when solid goaltending was needed.”