Western Red Wings awarded Don Johnson Cup
Abram-Village to host Atlantic junior B hockey championship tournament in April
Atlantic Canada’s best junior B hockey teams will gather in Abram-Village in April.
The provincial champions from P.E.I., New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador, along with the host Western Red Wings, will play 10 round-robin games, two semifinals and a final from April 21 to 26 for the right to hoist the Don Johnson Memorial Cup.
Should the Red Wings win the Island title, the runner-up team would represent P.E.I.
“The Arsenault Fish Mart Western Red Wings and the Evangeline Rec. Centre are excited and pleased to be able to host this prestigious Atlantic championship,” said Red Wings general manager J.C. Gallant. “We will work hard to try to make this a fun and well-organized event for players, parents and fans from all parts of Atlantic Canada, and welcome everyone to the Evangeline region and our new arena.”
The Red Wings are members of the Island Junior Hockey League, which is also comprised of the Montague Maniacs, Holland College Hurricanes, Sherwood Falcons and the defending leaguechampion Kensington Vipers.
The Vipers won the 2011 Don Johnson Cup in Montague.
The Vipers also won the 2013 tournament in Moncton, N.B., which was renamed the Don Johnson Memorial Cup, following Johnson’s death in 2012.
The inaugural Don Johnson Cup was held at Community Gardens in Kensington in 1982.
Former Community Gardens manager Pat Hudson and the late Robert K. Cousins, a longtime owner, general manager and coach of Kensington junior B and juvenile teams, founded, organized and named the Atlantic junior B championship in honour of Johnson, a former president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association and a driving force behind Canada’s involvement in international hockey.
The St. John’s Celtics defeated the host Kensington Bombers 5-3 in the inaugural championship game before 900 fans, and Johnson presented the Don Johnson Cup to his son, Mike, who was an assistant captain of the Celtics.