First game of Herder final goes tonight in Corner Brook

HNL approves request on Friday

It wasn’t settled until the last minute, but the final series between the Corner Brook Royals and Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts will also be a contest for the Herder Memorial Trophy.

On Wednesday, Hockey Newfoundland and Labrador, the governing body for hockey in the province, said it received a request to Central West Senior A Hockey League to play for the symbol of hockey supremacy.

On Friday HNL approved the request.

The Central West league, is the only Senior A regional league registered this season in the province following the collapse of the Newfoundland and Labrador Senior A Hockey Provincial League last summer.

Both the Central West and Avalon East Senior B League made requests to compete for the coveted title earlier in this year, said HNL, with the allowance of strengthening players for the Avalon East Senior B League champion to enhance competition. However, that did not materialize due to the expenses associated with such a championship.

The Herder Memorial Trophy was first presented by what is now The Telegram in honour of the hockey playing Herder Family, who founded the newspaper in 1879. The trophy is emblematic of the All Newfoundland Senior Hockey Championship and still sponsored by The Telegram and TC Media.

The best of seven series begins at the civic centre in Corner Brook tonight and will continue on Sunday before the series shifts to the Joe Byrne Memorial Stadium in Grand Falls-Windsor next weekend for games three and four.

If necessary, the series will wrap up on the weekend of March 13.