Aces complete the job
Tignish wins senior league championship before a packed house in Kensington
KENSINGTON, P.E.I. – It was an opportunity Tignish Aces head coach Gary Mcrae wanted his players to take advantage of.
The Aces did just that on March 29, defeating the Kensington Granites 8-3 before a packed Kensington Credit Union Arena to win the best-of-seven Lone Oak West Prince Senior Hockey League championship series in five games.
“It means a lot when you see this many people in a rink,” said Mcrae. “You don’t win very often, two or three years go by very quick and if there is no league for a year or two, all of a sudden you are done playing.
“You can win only so often, and when you get a chance to win, you have to win.”
A five-goal second period, including three in fewer than three minutes, keyed the Aces’ series-clinching win. The teams were tied 1-1 after the opening 20 minutes.
After winning the opener 4-3 in overtime, the Aces recorded convincing wins of 8-3 and 8-2 to open a commanding 3-0 series lead. The Granites staved off elimination with a 5-4 road win in Game 4.
“It was a pretty good series,” said Mcrae. “We won Game 1 in overtime and if we had not done that, it would have been a long series.”
Mcrae said the Aces take pride in the fact all their players are from the Tignish area.
“It makes a big difference when you have all insiders,” said Mcrae. “It only comes around every so many years that you have so many good hockey players. We have a lot of good hockey players around the same age.”
PLAYOFF MVP
Aces forward TJ Shea, who was playing for a Tignish based team for the first time since under-11 hockey, was named the recipient of the Tyler Ellis Memorial Most Valuable Player Award for the playoffs.
In the final series, Shea recorded eight goals and 15 points in five games and finished the post-season with 26 points in nine contests, including 11 in a four-game semifinal sweep of the Wellington Flyers.
“It’s really nice to see so many people coming out to every game and playing with guys I grew up playing with all those years in minor hockey,” Shea told Saltwire in a post-game interview. “It was really fun… the end result was what we wanted it to be and I’m grateful for that.”
Shea’s linemate, Brad Morrissey, also had a big Game 5 with two goals and three assists. Alex Morrissey, Silas Handrahan and Isaac Knox rounded out Tignish’s scoring. Isaac Callaghan (3), Mike O’halloran (2) and Cole Hackett (2) registered multiple assists.
Kayden Peck, Jonathan Arsenault and Easton Smith replied for the Granites.
Jake Hackett earned the goaltending win over Tyler Caseley. Mcrae and Shea both praised Hackett, who delivered some key saves in the second period with the score tied 1-1.
“People will look at that as us capitalizing on our chances, but Jake Hackett in nets made a couple of big saves to turn the tide and then we scored on our chances,” said Shea, a former UPEI Panther and Summerside Western Capital. “Without him making those big saves, we would have had a different outcome (in Game 5).”