Yarmouth Mariners: They said it, they did it

By Michael Gorman

THE VANGUARD

NovaNewsNow.com

Ryan Penney and his teammates stepped off the Yarmouth Mariners team bus last Friday afternoon at Mariners Centre to a hero's welcome. They were Kent Cup champions.

Penney, like the rest of his teammates, was blurry-eyed and tired after the long trip back from Woodstock and no doubt some celebrating the night before. But when Mariners captain Jamie Klie walked off the bus with the Kent Cup and Penney followed close behind, MVP trophy in tow, fatigue was forgotten for at least a few minutes.

The Woodstock Slammers went into game six of the Kent Cup finals last Thursday knowing they needed to see a game seven. Justin Saulnier made sure they didn't.

Saulnier scored the game's first goal and later added an empty netter as part of a 3-1 Mariners win, giving Yarmouth a 4-2 series win and their first Kent Cup championship since the team moved to Yarmouth. Cody Lefrancois scored the game-winner for Yarmouth and Dallas Ungurian who, along with Jocelyn Morrissette played exceptionally in net, picked up the win. But none of that really mattered on Friday.

Many observers questioned just how successful the Mariners would be this season. A year after missing the playoffs altogether a collection of players came together at the start of the year that had little to no experience playing together. But very early into the season it became clear that head coach Steve Kasper was fostering an environment where the team came before the individual and disciplined hockey resulted in notches in the win column. Where Kasper led, his players followed.

There is, perhaps, no better example of this than Penney. A passionate player as skilled at putting the puck in the net as he is at getting under the opposing team's skin, Penney was dialed in from the first whistle of the playoffs. His 12 goals and 23 points during the playoffs were both league bests, his 39 regular season goals good for second best. If anyone should be allowed to have an ego, spout bravado, it's Penney.

And yet standing against a background of cheering fans, the native Newfoundlander was soft-spoken, deflecting attention from himself when asked to reflect of his playoff run, opting for the more traditional hockey speak.

"We had one goal all year and that was to win the Kent Cup," he said. "We had great fan support the whole way through this thing and we knew that if we went out and all of us, as a team, give it 110 per cent, we'd come away with the win."

Come together as a team they did. From the first time fans at Mariners Centre got a glimpse of some of the worst mowhawks this side of an A-Team convention, it was clear that they were focused on a collective goal. It didn't matter who put the puck in the next, just so long as someone did.

Danny Anger said heading into Thursday's game in Woodstock the team knew the title was theirs for the taking.

"Throughout the series, the games that we lost, we didn't play a full 60 (minutes)," he said. "We would play a 40 and then take a couple of penalties and blow it in the third or blow it in the second and we couldn't come back.

"Coach said, 'play simple, play a full 60, you don’t have to be pretty — and win.' We knew we were going to win. That was the feeling."

Kasper said the mood in the dressing room before the final game was on the light side. He said he reminded the team that they had responded well in big games throughout the season.

"If you watched the series play, we carried the play and we dictated the way the games were being played."

Kasper has seen many heights during his hockey career both as a player and coach. The Kent Cup might not be the Stanley Cup finals but Kasper said there is something refreshing and rewarding about this accomplishment.

"At the highest level, the pro level, yes it's a game but it's a business. This is a business, but more it's a game. There is a difference and it's been fun to be able to offer some guidance and some support along the way and to watch kids take it and to run with it and excel."

Speculation has already started about Kasper's future in town and with the team. He said he would wait until the season is finished before making final decisions.

The Mariners now move on to the Fred Page Cup this week in Pictou where they will face the host team Pictou Crushers, the Central Jr. A league champs Pembroke Lumberkings and the winner of the Quebec Jr. A final between Sherbrooke and Joliette. Yarmouth, along with Pembroke, will be heavily favoured to win that tournament and move on to the RBC Cup in Cornwall, Ont.

Indeed there is much hockey to be played. But for one day, anyway, the home team had earned a day off.

"What we looked for was to put a team on the ice that the town of Yarmouth could be proud of," said Kasper. "I think, by the turnout, we can say we achieved that goal. The support here has been wonderful."



(NOTE TO READERS: Watch this site for coverage of the Fred Page Cup.)