Vikings ready to roll at provincials

By Michael Gorman

THE VANGUARD

NovaNewsNow.com

Members of the Yarmouth Consolidated Memorial High School boys' hockey team say they are ready for provincials this week and believe they stack up with the other teams.

The Vikings will host the three-day event starting this Friday. Horton, Glace Bay, Dr. J.H. Gillis, Halifax West, Millwood High, C.P. Allen and Riverview will all make the trek to the Mariners Centre.

Yarmouth goes into the event as the Western Region champions by virtue of a 2-1 series win against Horton. The Vikings capped off that series with an exciting 2-1 win in double overtime to secure a top-four seed for the tournament.

Vikings defenceman Phil d'Entremont said the win against Horton and their strong play throughout the regional tournament have them going into provincials with a lot of confidence.

"I feel like we're confident going into the tournament and if we play like we know we can play, there's not going to be anybody that can keep up with us," he said.

Yarmouth will need to come out of the gates strong in each game, something they had difficulty doing in the Horton series, if they are to make the kind of impact forward Matt Shay said they are capable of. Shay said the team is familiar with almost all of the teams that are in the tournament and he said the Vikings fit in with all of them.

"There's no team we can't play with," he said.

Ryan Knowles, one of the team's coaches, said all of the teams at provincials will be strong and that Yarmouth will need solid play from beginning to end in order to bring home the banner.

"Hopefully, when they come down, we're just better," he said. "It's going to be a battle from start to finish."

Tournament passes for the event are $15 and individual game tickets are $5. Tickets are available from members of the team, Boston Pizza, the Mariners Centre box office and at the YCMHS office.

Yarmouth's first game is Friday at noon against Halifax West. They play again that night at 8 p.m. and then Saturday morning at 11 a.m. Crossover games go later Saturday afternoon and the championship game is Sunday at 1:30 p.m.