Summerside Western Capitals

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Summerside Western Capitals
City: Summerside, Prince Edward Island
League: Maritime Junior A Hockey League
Founded: 1981
Home Arena: Consolidated Credit Union Place
Colors: Blue, Silver, and White
Head Coach: Scott Bridges
General Manager: Gabe Keough

The Summerside Capitals are a Tier-II Junior "A" hockey team based out of Summerside, Prince Edward Island. They play out of the Maritime Junior A Hockey League. The team currently plays their home games at the Summerside Wellness Centre, but played at the Cahill Stadium for every other season.

[edit] History

The Capitals started out in the Island Junior Hockey League. Thus, the reference to 'western' in the original team name, Summerside is in the Western end of PEI. They hosted the Centennial Cup 1989 on behalf of the IJHL. This team was coached by former NHL coach, General Manager, & former Team President of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Doug MacLean, a Summerside native.

The Capitals joined the MJAHL in 1991. In 1997 they hosted the Royal Bank Cup and won it on home ice at the Cahill Stadium, becoming the first team in Eastern Canada to win the national Tier II junior championship, Royal Bank Cup. This team was coached by former Detroit Red Wings assistant captain, & current assistant coach of the New York Islanders, Gerard Gallant, a Summerside native.

In 2001 the team made a run for the league championship. After sweeping the first two rounds without one of their top players, Denis White, the Antigonish Bulldogs took advantage of the Capitals beating them in five games to go on the Fred Page Cup. They did not make another significant run again until former Philadelphia Flyer, Forbes Kennedy, was hired as head coach in 2004-05. They were one of the leagues elite teams for the three years that he coached the team, going to the division final in 2005-06 but losing to the Woodstock Slammers in 7 games and in the 2006-07 season they won 24 games in a row including the divisional rounds of the playoffs before losing in the division final 4-2 against the Truro Bearcats.

The Summerside Western Capitals' major sponsor from 1989 to 2001 was local GM automobile dealership, Hemphill Pontiac Ltd. After which they were bought and are still owned by a private ownership group consisting of local individuals.

Former logo of the team used from 2001-2007.
Former logo of the team used from 2001-2007.

[edit] Season-by-Season Record

Season GP W L T OTL GF GA P Results Playoffs
1998-99 48 5 41 2 - 157 317 15 9th MJAHL
1999-00 52 24 24 3 1 198 229 52 5th MJAHL
2000-01 52 32 12 4 4 288 224 72 1st MJAHL Lost in League Finals
2001-02 52 21 26 3 2 209 225 47 8th MJAHL
2002-03 52 26 21 3 2 240 219 57 4th MJAHL
2003-04 52 19 28 2 3 201 225 43 9th MJAHL
2004-05 56 22 26 4 4 220 252 52 9th MJAHL
2005-06 56 36 14 0 6 274 197 79 2nd MJAHL Lost Semi-final
2006-07 58 43 14 0 1 281 172 87 2nd MJAHL Lost in League Finals
2007-08 58 24 30 - 4 185 219 52 9th MJAHL

[edit] See also


Preceded by
Vernon Vipers
Royal Bank Cup Champions
1997
Succeeded by
South Surrey Eagles