Champions Declared at 2012 Spud

The 2012 Spud AAA Hockey Tournament concluded late Sunday afternoon and the champions of the 5 divisions were declared. The host team Charlottetown Abbies claimed the Novice division with a 5-1 win over Western. In the Atom division Acadia used the momentum from an overtime 4-3 win against Summerside in the semi-finals to propel them over the Dartmouth Whalers 2-1 in the final. Dartmouth defeated Halifax 5-2 earlier in the day to earn a spot in the final game.

In the Peewee division the Summerside Capitals defeated Dieppe/Memramcook 7-0 and went on to the final and destroyed Western Valley 9-0. Summerside was probably the most dominate team in the tournament and they have not lost a game all year. Western Valley defeated Western Warriors 3-2 in overtime to gain the right to play Summerside.

Nova Scotia teams were the class of the Bantam division this year as 3 of 4 semifinalist were from the province. The other team was New Brunswick's KV Rangers and the squared off with the defending and tournament favourite Western Hurricanes. The Hurricanes came out on top 4-0. The other semi final saw Scotsburn Crushers from Pictou edge the Chebucto/TASA Bubba Ray Gulls 3-2. In the championship game Scotsburn used a hot goaltender and the motivation of seeing one of their teammates carted off the ice after a scary spill into the boards, to upset the top team in Triple OT 3-2.

In Midget AAA play the 2012 final was a rematch of the 2011 final as Prince Edward Islands Mid-Isle Matrix squared off with the host Charlottetown Abbies. The Matrix defeated another PEI team, Kings County 7-2 in one semi final and Charlottetown won 6-3 over East Hants in the other. Midisle got off to an early lead as Jordan Mayhew scored 12 seconds into the game, however all momentum was lost as Midisle got into penalty trouble and spent the majority of the first period killing them off. In the second Spencer McAllister made won a race for a loose puck with Abbies goaltender Zach Geldert to make the score 2-0. Charlottetown spent the rest of the period killing penalties and Midisle could not score to give them a 3 goal cushion. Early in the third period Josh Scott scored to get Charlottetown within a goal but Jordan Mayhew scored once again to restore the 2 goal lead. Midisle received another goal, this one by Campbell Gallant, to put the game out of reach. Spencer McAllister added an empty net goal to make the final 5-1.

Charlottetown's Tournament MVP was the Captain Nick Handrahan and Jordan Mayhew was tournament MVP for Midisle.

- Mike Lord

Spud Tournament Down to Last Day

Round Robin play at the 37th Annual Spud AAA Hockey Tournament wrapped up today and playoffs began. In the Novice division Western will face off against the host Charlottetown Abbies in the final on Sunday. These two teams met in round robin play and Charlottetown came out on top 3-1. In Atom play Summerside will meet in semi-final #1 and semi-final #2 will see a cross harbour battle as Halifax and Dartmouth square off. Quarterfinal action in the Peewee division finished up on Saturday night and Dieppe and Summerside will meet in one semi-final while Western Warriors will play Western Valley in the other.

Bantam semi-finals are set to go Sunday as well. KV Rangers are in tough against defending champion Western Hurricanes and Chebucto/TASA will play the Scotsburn Crushers. Three of four semi-finalist in Midget AAA are from Prince Edward Island. Kings County Kings defeated the Pownal Red Devils 2-1 and will face off against the #1 seed Midisle Matrix, who needed double overtime to beat the Halifax Hawks 3-2. The Host Charlottetown Abbies pounded the Kenn Valley Spartans 7-1 and will meet the East Hants Penguins who gained a victory over their league rival Bedford Blues 1-0.

Action kicks off on Sunday at 8am with the Atom and Peewee semifinals followed by the finals at noon. Bantam semi's start at 8:30am and final at 1:30pm. As for the Midget semifinals, 9:45am is game time and 2:30pm is the scheduled time for the final. All championship games will be played at the UPEI campus.

- Mike Lord

Spud AAA Hockey Tournament (Update)

All participants have played their first 2 round robin games and there are some interesting story lines going into Saturday mornings play. In Novice play Kings County and North River will play to determine the winner of their division as they both have 2 and 0 records. Charlottetown Abbies are 2 and 0 as well and sit atop their division. In the Atom Division, Antigonish Bulldogs and Halifax Hawks are both undefeated and will meet at 9:30 to determine who wins that pool. Western and Acadia will play with the winner finishing 1st in their pool as well. Summerside and Dartmouth both need a point to wrap up their respective pools.

In the largest division of the tournament, Peewee, 5 divisions are going as planned as Western, Pownal, Dieppe, Western Valley and Summerside are all undefeated and are the front runners to win their pools. The last pool sees 4 teams with identical 1 and 1 records and tomorrow will be very interesting. Fredericton meets Kings County and Acadia plays the host Charlottetown Abbies.

The New Brunswick and Nova Scotia teams are dominating the Bantam division as all pools are led by teams from the mainland. Western Hurricanes have on both their games by 7 goal margins and face the 1-0-1 Midisle Matrix. New Brunswick's District 6 Flyer's square off with the Nova Jr X-Men to decide their pool. Chebucto/Tasa, Scotsburn and KV Rangers all have 2-0 records to lead their pools.

As usual the Midget AAA division had some unusual results. The Midisle Matrix won both their games by 7 goal spreads and face the East Hants Penguins on Saturday to determine their pool. East Hants also have 2-0 records. The Kenn Valley Spartans, one of the favorites, defeated the TASA Ducks 6-2 but fell to the Kings County Kings by a score of 2-1. Kings County started the year off slow but have played better as of late and sit at 1-0-1 after a 4-4 tie with Sherwood on Thursday night. The defending champion Charlottetown Abbies are 2-0 and face the 2-0 Halifax Hawks to determine the winner of the pool. Bedford Blues and the Cumberland Ramblers tied Friday morning and both need wins and the tie breaker to win their pool. Pownal Red Devils need 1 point to secure their pool.

The top 4 teams in the Novice Division advance to the semi-finals Saturday evening. The other 4 divisions see 8 teams playing in the medal round as the quarterfinals begin between 5 and 6 pm Saturday night. Semi Finals are played Sunday morning with the finals in the afternoon.

- Mike Lord

2012 Spud AAA Minor Hockey Tournament

The 2012 edition of the Spud is set to begin in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. 73 teams from around the Maritimes will be competing in 5 divisions. The Novice division will feature 8 teams from the host province. Pee Wee division has 24 teams in 6 divisions and the Bantam division has 19 teams in 5 divisions.

Midget AAA will be the focus for many, as 22 teams in 5 divisions are set to challenge for the title. Defending champion and host Charlottetown Abbies will be looking to fend off some serious contenders. The Kenn Valley Spartans from the New Brunswick Midget AAA League will be looking to avenge a disappointing Monctonian tournament in November. The Spartans lead their league with a 18-2-1 win-loss record and also have top scorer Paul Gulliver. Gulliver's stats are very impressive with 29 goals and 65 points in 20 games.

The Bedford Blues wrapped up their regular season undefeated with a 21-0-3 record and appear to be the biggest threat coming out of Nova Scotia. PEI's Mid-Isle Matrix will be looking to improve on last years runner up finish and with a disappointing loss in Novembers Monctonian they should be a motivated bunch. Jordan Mayhew's 57 points in 27 games leads the PEI league so look for him to be a difference maker.

The action gets underway Thursday February 2nd and continues through the weekend. Playoff games will begin Saturday evening and wrap up on Sunday Afternoon. The CARI complex on the campass of UPEI is tournament central and all of the rinks in Charlottetown and surrounding areas will host games.

- Mike Lord