Portland Junior Pirates

OTTAWA, ONT - The '95 Portland Junior Pirates have returned from a very successful run in the Capital Bell Cup Tournament, which brought Peewee Major clubs from all over the world to compete in this very prestigious event.  The '95s were paired with three very strong Canadian teams, which provided great competitiveness and challenges.  In the opening game on Friday the 28^th, the Pirates faced off against the Seaway Valley Rapids.  The Rapids would prevail with a 7-2 victory but not after the Pirates played the back half of the game dead even 2-2.  Pirate goals came off the sticks of Jared Cockrell and Jonathon Herlihy.  Riley Francis would get the assist off Herlihy’s goal after some hard work while Pirate defenseman Robbie Berube and partner Justin Munck played some tight positioning down the stretch.  Seaway made it to the championship game, squaring off against the Russian Young Stars for all the hardware.  “Seaway’s early lead may have been the result of some jet lag in our players; we played 2 periods of dead even hockey and proved to ourselves that we can indeed skate with these kids,” said Pirates Assistant Coach Jeff Riddle.  Pirates’ Nick Bagley and teammate Jared Cockrell would take home the games’ “Hardest Worker” and “MVP” awards given out by the Tournament Directors.

Saturday’s first game of two featured a well rested Pirates team playing host to the Kingston Ice Cats.  This game would be a tight and hard fought 4-4 tie, highlighted with a huge Pirate comeback.  A quick 1^st period goal by Kingston put the Pirates in a hole early before Cockrell tied things up with a beauty from the slot. The Pirates would take the lead early in the 2^nd when Kyle Holtet outmuscled two Kingston players and drilled one home from in close.  Kingston would tie the ball game before the 2^nd period buzzer would sound, and the teams headed into the 3^rd period deadlocked.  Pirates’ goaltender Cam Riddle would be counted upon to make numerous key saves in keeping the game locked before Kingston was finally able to net two goals and take a 4-2 lead.  This game featured some great offensive zone pressure by the newly created line of Riley Francis, Brendan Landry, and Andie Plumeri, which frustrated Kingston all day long.  “The pressure these three players put on Kingston in their own zone and Landry’s hard work on the penalty kill was just tremendous,” stated Pirates’ Assistant Coach Larry Cockrell.  He added, “I am looking forward to seeing this continue.”  Down 4-2 late in the game meant the Pirates needed to get real tough in front of their own net and create some quick defensive zone breakouts to keep Kingston off their game.  Eric Rost and Ben Harwood would step up and do their part in the defensive zone with toughness and quick transitional play, while Dakota Keene and Mark Serbent would provide the scoring needed to nail down the well earned tie.  Harwood’s huge effort earned him the games “Hardest Worker” Award, while Kyle Holtet added hardware to his trophy room at home with the “Game MVP” for the Pirates.

Game three would feature the Tournament’s pre-ranked high seed, the London Jr. Knights against our Pirates.  The Pirates goaltenders would need to come up big against this powerhouse and they sure did as Falmouth, Maine’s dynamic duo of Cam Riddle and Grant Carrier would be counted on numerous times to make the big plays as they’ve done all season.  Carrier’s multiple acrobatic saves late in the game would help to keep the game close in many cases.  The Jr. Knights would take a 2-0 lead into the 2^nd period before the Pirates broke the ice on a goal by Nick Bagley.  Dakota Keene and Mark Serbent would feed Bagley for his second goal only to see the Jr. Knights hit the back of the twine with just :18 remaining to take a 4-2 lead into the locker room between the 2^nd and 3^rd periods.  The third period would keep the parents on the edges of their seats as the Pirates pounded away and controlled much of the 3^rd period.  Bagley would hit for his 3^rd goal while Mark Serbent laid a patented Ovechkin style snap shop short side from just inside the hash mark to keep the Pirates close.  As time ticked away, the Jr. Knights would hold on for a very close 6-4 victory over the Pirates and end all hopes of the Pirates advancing to the cross-over round. Bagley and Robbie Berube would grab the games “MVP” and “Hardest Worker” awards. Pirates’ Head Coach Chris Bagley stated, “Other than the first period of our first game, we played dead even with these talented teams.  Our players can skate with these top teams, they proved it to themselves.  I asked each of the players to bring their A-games ….and they sure did; what a success.” 

Next up for this high flying ‘95 Jr. Pirates’ team is a NEHL match against rival Northern Mass Cyclones.  It will be the ‘95s first home game in the new MHG Ice Centre and a home opener sell-out is expected.