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Summerside Western Capitals

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Summerside Western Capitals
CitySummerside, Prince Edward Island, Canada
LeagueMaritime Junior Hockey League
DivisionEastlink South Division
Foundedc. 1970 (Summerside Crystals)
Home arenaConsolidated Credit Union Place
ColoursBlue, red, white      
General managerPat McIver
Head coachBilly McGuigan
Franchise history
1976–80
1981–82
1983–86
Summerside Crystals
1982–83
1986–present
Summerside Western Capitals

The Summerside Western Capitals are a Junior "A" hockey team based in Summerside, Prince Edward Island. They are members of the Maritime Junior Hockey League, and they play their home games at the Consolidated Credit Union Place. Until 2007 the team played at the former Cahill Stadium.

History

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The Hemphill Pontiac Western Capitals began in the Island Junior Hockey League. Summerside is in the Western end of the province, & sometimes referred to as 'The Western Capital', thus the reference to 'western' in the original team name. The Capitals joined the MJAHL in 1991. They hosted the Centennial Cup 1989 on behalf of the IJHL. This team was coached by former NHL coach, General Manager, & Team President of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Doug MacLean, a Summerside native.

The 1996–97 Western Capitals created a come from behind, story book tale during the year. They were coached by current NHL coach and former Detroit Red Wings player, Gerard Gallant, and they dominated the MJAHL Roger Meek Division during the regular season. In the first round of the playoffs they routed the Restigouche River Rats in five games. They beat out the Charlottetown Abbies in the second round before going on to win the Callaghan Cup by clinching a seven-game league final in Dartmouth. Following the tough playoffs came a long bus trip to Brockville, Ont for the 1997 Fred Page Cup. The winner of that tournament advanced to the Royal Bank Cup, which the Capitals were hosting that year. They lost all 3 games in the round robin and were eliminated.

At the 1997 Royal Bank Cup in Summerside, the Western Capitals won the first game, 5–1 over the Rayside-Balfour Sabrecats. They then hit a stumbling block, losing their second and third games 7–5 and 8–2 to the Kanata Valley Lasers and the Weyburn Red Wings. They finished the round robin by losing 3–2 to the South Surrey Eagles in overtime. Because the Rayside-Balfour Sabrecats had already lost 4 games, the overtime loss game, the Capitals 3 points which was good enough for 4th place. After being shut out of the player awards, the Capitals had to come together as a team. In the regulation round, the Capitals did just that defeating the tournament's MVP and future NHLer, Mark Hartigan, and his Weyburn Red Wings 4–3 in a very exciting overtime. The Capitals used that win as a moral boost to defeat another Future NHLer, Scott Gomez, and his South Surrey Eagles by a very close score of 4–3. With that win the Summerside Western Capitals became the first team in Eastern Canada to win the national jr. A (Tier II) junior championship, Royal Bank Cup.

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. In the 2006–07 season they won 15 games in a row to end the season and went on to win the Meek division title before losing in 6 games in the league final against the Truro Bearcats.

In the 2008–09 season, the Capitals finished first place in the Meek division, and later went on to defeat the Dieppe Commandos, and Miramichi Timberwolves in 4 game sweeps to advance to the league championship series, to take on the Truro Bearcats for the second time in 3 years. This time though, the Capitals defeated Truro in 5 games, and won their first league championship since 1997, on home ice. The Capitals entered the Fred Page Cup tournament, and after going 2–1 in the round robin portion, they defeated the Pembroke Lumber Kings 4–1 in the semifinal to move to the final against the Dieppe Commandos. The Caps won the game 3–2 in double overtime after Mike MacIsaac scored, to send the Caps to their first Royal Bank Cup since winning it in 1997 as the host team. The Capitals travelled to the Pacific coast to Victoria, BC to participate in their 2nd tournament. Summerside had a 0–4 record heading into their final game against the defending RBC champions Humboldt Broncos. Summerside won the game 5–0, but were already eliminated from the tournament and finished 5th. The players were angry and upset about the outcome and engaged in roughing up one of the hotel employees at the team's hotel. Their behaviour resulted in the Capitals losing the right to host the 2011 Royal Bank Cup. Summerside got their chance to host the tournament in 2014.

The Capitals named Gordie Dwyer as their Head Coach and Associate General Manager for the 2009–10 season. Dwyer led a rebuilding team to a regular-season record of 27–20–1–2 (won-lost-overtime losses-shootout losses). The Capitals finished third in the Roger Meek Division, and won a seven-game division semifinal series against second-place Miramichi. The Capitals were then eliminated by eventual league-champion Woodstock in a five-game division final. Dwyer returned for his second season in 2010–11 as head coach and Associate Director of Hockey Operations.

From 2001 to 2013, the Capitals were owned by a private ownership group consisting of local individuals. In 2013, the Caps were sold to a new private local group.

Season-by-season record

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Season GP W L T OTL GF GA P Results Playoffs
1971-72 27 21 3 3 - 170 82 50 1st IJBHL
1972-73 40 28 8 4 - 239 149 60 2nd IJBHL
1973-74 28 10 15 3 - 123 154 23 4th IJHL
1974-75 40 21 18 1 - 208 198 43 3rd IJHL
1975-76 39 13 19 7 - 199 247 33 4th IJHL
1976-77 40 12 25 3 - 186 276 27 5th IJHL
1977-78 40 31 5 4 - -- -- 66 1st IJHL
1978-79 39 20 14 5 - 206 181 45 3rd IJHL
1979-80 40 14 20 6 - 193 235 34 4th IJHL
1980-81 Did not participate
1981-82 42 8 38 6 - 189 283 22 4th IJHL
1982-83 42 18 18 6 - 216 238 42 3rd IJHL
1983-84 40 25 12 3 - 244 201 53 1st IJHL Won league
1984-85 37 18 15 4 - 203 174 40 2nd IJHL
1985-86 36 15 9 12 - 231 204 42 2nd IJHL Won league
1986-87 42 19 20 3 - 232 216 41 3rd IJHL
1987-88 42 30 6 6 - 267 179 66 1st IJHL
1988-89 44 33 7 4 - 297 161 78 1st IJHL
1989-90 40 26 11 2 1 213 153 55 2nd IJHL
1990-91 42 15 20 5 2 211 247 37 3rd IJHL
1991-92 46 18 16 12 - 210 206 48 6th MJAHL
1992-93 48 21 21 4 2 226 244 48 5th MJAHL
1993-94 48 13 32 2 1 182 263 29 7th MJAHL
1994-95 48 24 21 3 0 221 206 51 3rd MJAHL
1995-96 54 28 24 1 1 252 232 58 5th MJAHL
1996-97 55 35 14 4 2 350 259 76 2nd MJAHL Won league, won RBC Cup
1997-98 52 12 33 3 4 207 307 31 9th MJAHL
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 League Finals
2007-08 58 24 30 - 4 185 219 52 9th MJAHL Lost in Mini-Series
2008-09 54 39 13 - 2 249 149 80 1st MJAHL Won league, won Fred Page Cup
2009-10 50 27 20 - 3 230 186 57 4th MJAHL Lost semi-final
2010-11 52 36 12 - 4 255 186 76 2nd MHL Won league
2011-12 52 26 21 - 5 192 200 57 7th MHL Lost semi-final
2012-13 52 43 7 - 2 222 119 88 1st MHL Won league
2013-14 52 24 23 - 5 178 187 53 8th MHL Lost quarter-final
2014-15 48 21 21 - 6 184 197 48 8th MHL DNQ
2015-16 48 34 12 1 1 207 150 70 1st of 6 North
1st of 12 MHL
Won Div. Semi-finals 4-3 (Tigers)
Lost Div. Finals, 2-4 (Commandos)
2016-17 50 25 22 0 3 169 184 53 3rd of 6 North
4th of 12 MHL
Won Div. Semi-finals 4-2) (Commandos)
Lost Div. Finals 0-4 (Timberwolves)
2017-18 50 33 16 1 0 180 137 67 2nd of 6 North
3rd of 12 MHL
Won Div. Semi-finals 4-1 (Tigers)
Lost Div. Finals 3-4 (Blizzard)
2018-19 50 40 8 1 1 247 120 82 1st of 6 North
1st of 12 MHL'
Won Div. Semi-finals 4-0 (Aces)
Lost Div. Finals 3-4 (Tigers)
2019-20 52 42 7 1 2 257 145 88 1st of 6 North
1st of 12 MHL'
Playoffs cancelled due to covid-19
2020-21 23 14 7 2 0 94 73 30 4th 4 North
4th of 12 MHL
Playoffs cancelled due to covid-19
2021-22 38 31 5 1 2 206 101 65 1st of 6 North
1st of 12 MHL'
Won Div. Semi-finals 4-1 (Blizzard)
Won Div. Finals 4-0 (Red Wings)
Won League Finals 4-1 (Bearcats)

Advance to Centennial Cup
2022-23 52 35 14 3 0 217 167 73 2nd of 6 North
3rd of 12 MHL
Won Div. Semi-finals 4-3 (Tigers)
Lost Div. Finals 0-4 (Blizzard)
2023-24 52 38 5 3 6 274 170 85 1st of 6 North
1st of 12 MHL'
Won Div. Semi-finals 4-1 (Mariners)
Won Div. Finals 4-2 (Ramblers)
Lost League Finals 2-4 (Timberwolves)

Centennial Cup - Revised format 2022

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Canadian Jr. A National Championships
Maritime Junior Hockey League, Quebec Junior Hockey League, Central Canada Hockey League, Ontario Junior Hockey League, Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League, Superior International Junior Hockey League, Manitoba Junior Hockey League, Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, Alberta Junior Hockey League, and Host. The BCHL declared itself an independent league and there is no BC representative.
Round-robin play in two 5-team pools with top three in pool advancing to determine a Champion.

Year Round-robin Record Standing Quarterfinal Semifinal Championship
2022 W, Soo Thunderbirds (NOJHL), 4-1
L, Dauphin Kings (ManJHL), 1-7
W, Flin Flin Bombers (SJHL), 4-1
OTW, Ottawa Jr, Senators (CCHL), 4-3
2-1-1-0 2nd of 5
Pool B
Lost 3-4
Longueuil College Francais
did not qualified did not qualified

Franchise records

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Former logo of the team used from 2007–2013.

These are franchise records held by previous team rosters. Figures are updated after each completed MHL regular season.

Team records for a single season
Statistic Total Season
Most Points 88 2012–13
Most Wins 43 2012–13
Most Goals For 350 1996–97
Fewest Goals For 123 1973–74
Fewest Goals Against 82 1971–72
Most Goals Against 317 1998–99

Notable alumni

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See also

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References

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Preceded by Royal Bank Cup Champions
1997
Succeeded by