Questions and answers

High school hockey attracts crowds, Haddad suspended, heartfelt tribute and more

Welcome to this week's edition of Sports Chat.

As you may have noticed, Sports Chat will now be published on Tuesdays instead of Saturdays at least for the fall and winter months due to timely sports stories.

It may be hitting the press on a new day, but it's the same Sports Chat.

Let's get to the headlines.

CO-CAPTAIN IN Y-TOWN

We kick off this week's edition in the Maritime Junior Hockey League where a Cape Breton player will co-captain the Yarmouth Mariners.

Sam Gillis of Sydney, who's currently in his fourth season with the Mariners, will share the club's captain duties with Yarmouth County product Kaleb Boudreau for the 202122 season.

The 20-year-old forward posted 21 goals and 42 points in a COVID-19-shortened 2020-21 season. In nine games this year, to date, Gillis has two goals and 10 points.

Gillis' style of play and goal scoring ability is loved in Yarmouth. Speaking with head coach Laurie Barron last season about Gillis, he couldn't say enough good things about him.

Best of luck this season in Y-Town, Sam.

FOOTBALL PROGRAMMING

For those who follow football closely at the minor level, you may have noticed that Football Cape Breton doesn't have any teams in provincial leagues this fall.

With pandemic uncertainty, the football program officials decided not to register teams for the provincial league, but rather develop the players locally in anticipation of rejoining the provincial leagues in 2022.

It's not a bad idea. By having games and practices locally it gives coaches more time to develop the players and teach them the skills needed to compete at the provincial level and potentially play for the Sydney Academy Wildcats high school program in the future.

There's lots of great football coaches on the island and they're working hard to ensure player growth both on and off the field and for that they must be credited.

Speaking of football, it was nice to see the Wildcats finally play last weekend. It's been a frustrating season for the program with cancellations and forfeits from opposing teams.

The young Wildcats may not have played many games this season, but they'll be ready come playoff time, mark my words. Lorne Burke and his coaching staff will have the team in tip-top shape for their Division 2 semifinal.

HOME OPENER QUESTIONS

Turning to the Cape Breton High School Hockey League, we were wondering why both Sydney Academy and Riverview had their home openers on the same night last Tuesday.

Rumours circulated last week that the decision to have the Riverview Ravens home opener on Tuesday night was made by the Cape BretonVictoria Regional Centre for Education, however that's not the case.

The Post contacted the centre and was told they had nothing to do with the change and that it was totally a league decision.

Moving forward Riverview will play its home games at the Cape Breton County Recreation Centre on Friday nights and the Academy will play its home games on Tuesdays at the Membertou Sport and Wellness Centre.

HIGH SCHOOL CROWDS

Speaking of the opening night of the local high school hockey league, the crowds at the wellness centre and the recreation centre were excellent last Tuesday.

It actually felt like a hockey game again. Having barely any fans in the rink last year was disappointing for the players, but to see the support from both the parents, students and community was a bright spot on opening night.

Meanwhile, Memorial held its home opener at the Emera Centre Northside on Thursday and again the crowd was very good. The same can be said for the Glace Bay home opener Sunday at the Miners Forum on Sunday.

It wouldn't be fair to give an estimate of what the crowds may have been, but let's just say they were really good. It's been a long 19 months for everyone. If you get a chance, be sure to pop out to a high school game and support your favourite team or just enjoy an evening out of the house. The kids will appreciate it.

HADDAD SUSPENDED

Staying with hockey, a Cape Breton hockey player was suspended and removed from an ECHL training camp recently.

Joey Haddad of Sydney was handed a team suspension by the Greenville Swamp Rabbits on Oct. 13. According to reports from ECHL Week, the 33-year-old was suspended for “retweeting with team involved” on social media. This report was not confirmed by the team by publication time.

We checked Haddad's Twitter account (@JoeyHaddad27) and there hasn't been any tweets published since May 13 — the tweet involved his former team, the Cardiff Devils. We don't know if that was the alleged tweet in question, but that's the only recent tweet we found.

If this is in fact the case for the suspension, it's pretty soft. How quickly the Swamp Rabbits have forgotten that Haddad was the club's captain and had 14 goals and 37 points in 62 games last season.

Apparently, Haddad's ECHL rights will remain with the Swamp Rabbits, but in reality, would he even go back after this drama? He wouldn't have a problem finding a home somewhere else.

REGGIE IN HUNTSVILLE

On the topic of professional hockey, another Cape Breton hockey player is ready for a new season.

Cole Reginato of Albert Bridge recently began his second season in the Southern Professional Hockey League with the Huntsville Havoc in Alabama.

The 23-year-old gritty forward joined the team last year and appeared in 10 games, posting a goal and three points. He's only played three games so far this season.

Good luck this season, Reggie.

A TRIBUTE TO SONNY

It was a touching scene outside of Our Lady of Fatima Church in Sydney River as several harness racing drivers dressed in uniform stood at the entrance for Douglas (Sonny) Rankin's funeral on Oct. 14.

The harness racing legend died on Oct. 6 and made a lasting impression on everyone he met, both on and off the track, and it was proven at his funeral.

Rankin began his racing career in the late 1950s and continued until the early 1990s when he was forced to take a step back following a serious back injury. He registered 15,032 starts, 2,554 wins, 2,345 seconds and 2,181 thirds, earning more than $1 million in purse money over a 30-year period from 1961 to 1991.

RIP, Mr. Rankin. You won't be forgotten in the harness racing community.

BIG THANK YOU

Finally this week, I wanted to acknowledge an employee at Centre 200. All I know is his name is Kyle — unfortunately I don't have his last name.

I recently left an Eagles game in a rush and forgot my laptop charger in the press box at the Sydney venue — by the way it was 11:30 p.m.

I had no luck reaching someone at the security desk and the doors were locked.

I started banging on the door and minutes later, Kyle came around the corner.

He welcomed me in and took me right to the press box to retrieve my charger.

Well, Kyle, your generosity was appreciated.

Have a note of interest you would like to see appear in this weekly column? Send it to Jeremy at jeremy.fraser@ cbpost.com along with a name and phone number for contact purposes.