Summerside Western Capitals

Summerside Western Capitals
City	Summerside, Prince Edward Island, Canada
League	Maritime Junior Hockey League
Division	Eastlink South Division
Founded	c. 1970 (Summerside Crystals)
Home arena	Consolidated Credit Union Place
Colours	Blue, red, white
General manager	Pat McIver
Head coach	Billy 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

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

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

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

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

• Darren Langdon
• Gerard Gallant
• Darryl Boyce
• Geoff Walker
• Kent Paynter
• Nathan McIver
• Brett Gallant
• Ross Johnston

See also

• List of ice hockey teams in Prince Edward Island

External links

• Capitals Website