National champions
MacRae, Desrosiers members of Allan Cup winning team
The Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts claimed the 2017 Allan Cup senior men’s national hockey championship on Saturday, and two Cape Breton players were key in the victory.
Linemates Stuart MacRae of Coxheath and Ryan Desrosiers of New Waterford were added to the Cataracts roster for the tournament as affiliate players. The forwards played this season for the Clarenville Caribous in the Central West Senior Hockey League in Newfoundland and Labrador.
MacRae scored a hat trick and added an assist in the 7-4 win over the Lacombe Generals in the tournament final in Bouctouche, N.B. It’s only the third time in tournament history that a team from Newfoundland and Labrador has ever won the Allan Cup, joining the Caribous (2011) and the Corner Brook Royals (1986).
And a long history it is. The Allan Cup is one of the oldest club team hockey competitions in North America, dating back to 1908.
“It’s 109 years old, so any time you can get your name on something like that is pretty cool,” said MacRae, 34, who scored one of his goals on a penalty shot and sealed the deal with an empty-net tally with 24 seconds to go.
“Winning a national championship is something that you don’t forget. I got the chance to do it with St. FX, so it’s kind of nice to add another through senior hockey.”
MacRae played major-junior for the Quebec Remparts, Cape Breton Screaming Eagles and Halifax Mooseheads over five seasons. He went on to play for the St. Francis Xavier X-Men, winning a national title in 2004. He played pro in both North America and Europe prior to joining the Caribous.
“Last year, we had a pretty good tournament where we couldn’t score,” said MacRae,
who lives in Halifax and works for Emera. “It was nice to be able to put some pucks in the net this year and help us get the win.”
This is Desrosiers’ first national title at any level. The 33-year-old played five seasons with the X-Men after skating in junior ‘A’ with the Cobourg Cougars in Ontario, the Antigonish Bulldogs and Amherst Ramblers over five seasons.
A senior hockey title has been elusive for Desrosiers. This weekend was his sixth Allan Cup tournament, and he reached the final twice before and came up short.
“It was pretty exciting I must say,” said Desrosiers, who assisted on MacRae’s second goal of the game. “It’s the first national championship for myself and I couldn’t be happier to do it with the group of guys we had there.”
The Allan Cup win has softened the blow somewhat for both MacRae and Desrosiers, after they were denied this year’s Herder Memorial Trophy as members of the Caribous. The Harbour Grace CeeBee Stars won the Newfoundland and Labrador provincial title after a controversial winning goal made national headlines. The puck passed under the side of the net into the goal with four minutes to go in the fifth and deciding game, never crossing
the goal line. Despite a protest from the Caribous, the final result stood.
“It’s nice to win a championship in a deserving fashion, that’s for sure,” said Desrosiers. “It still stings. The Herder is probably the most prestigious trophy in Newfoundland outside of the regatta trophy, but that one hurt.
“But this Allan Cup, a national
championship, it’s a nice way to end the year off after a disappointing finish to our league playoffs.”
The cherry on top of their championship victory: the Cataracts received praise for their Allan Cup win from Don Cherry on Coach’s Corner during Saturday’s “Hockey Night in Canada” broadcast. Cherry showed clips from the final and
mentioned MacRae’s performance in the segment.
“Everyone was sending me messages about it,” said MacRae. “I got ‘Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em’ (videos) every year for Christmas, so getting a shout out from Don and Ron was a pretty cool thing.”