Peewee AAA Eagles roll to Cape Breton championship
Bill Dunphy

The Cape Breton West Screaming Eagles will represent Cape Breton at provincials after beating Cape Breton County 5-1 in Sunday's regional championship game. Members of the team include, from left: (front) goaltenders Colten Ellis and Ryan Miller; (2nd row

The Cape Breton West Screaming Eagles soared to a Cape Breton championship and a berth at the Nova Scotia Peewee AAA provincials at the weekend regional tournament in Inverness.

Led by a dazzling goal-scoring display by team captain and all-star forward Logan Timmons, the Eagles shut the Cape Breton County Islanders down in Sunday’s championship for a 5-1 victory.

Unlike the opening game of the tournament on Friday in which both teams free-wheeled to a 5-5 draw, Sunday’s final was all Eagles.

The game was just 29 seconds old when Timmons scored his first of three in the game. He added his second two minutes later and then set up Harrison MacFadyen as Cape Breton West went up 3-0.

Timmons scored again less than a minute after that to make it 4-0 after the first.

The Eagles slipped into cruise control for the remaining two periods, rolling four lines while the County tried finding a way to get back in the game.

Eagles goaltender Colten Ellis was up to the challenge as the County could only muster a goal on a turnover late in the third.

Cape Breton West’s fifth goal was scored by Jakob Deveau on a sneaky wraparound while on his knees.

“We found the accelerator and put the pedal to the metal this afternoon, and we didn’t let up,” said Cape Breton West coach Shelby Miller. “Getting that early lead allowed us to roll our lines and keep everyone fresh in case the County came back.”

Miller said everyone came to play, especially Timmons, who along with defenceman Liam MacKinnon, were named to the tournament all-star team.

“Logan would be a plus on any team,” said Miller. “He is one of the most explosive players we’ve had all year. He’s very focused and a real team player.”

The County, because they finished first in league play, was the top remaining seed and received a bye into the championship game.

This meant Cape Breton West and the Sydney Steelers had to play a semifinal game earlier on Sunday, with the Eagles advancing with a 5-3 victory.

The Eagles led 3-1 and 4-3 by periods, with Steven Fox adding an empty-net goal late in the third.

Jakob Deveau scored twic to pace the offence, with Timmons and Ben van Zutphen adding the singles.

Miller said the Eagles continue to get better with each game, a fact he hopes will bode well for them at provincials.

“We started the season with a 3-6 (won-lost) record and battled back from there. It took a while to gel,” he said. “But this is a great group of kids and a great group of parents, which certainly made the year worthwhile.”

Cape Breton West had finished second in the previous two Cape Breton Cup tournaments.

In round-robin play, Malcolm MacEachern scored twice in Friday’s 5-5 draw with the county. Also scoring for Cape Breton West were Timmons, Deveau and Matthew Raike.

On Saturday, MacEachern had four and Timmons had three as the Eagles downed the Steelers 9-5. Konrad Phillips and Matthew Helpard scored singles. Ryan Miller was the winner in goal.

And in the final round-robin game, with no meaning in the standings, Glace Bay and Cape Breton West played to a 4-4 draw.

Timmons scored twice, with singles from MacEachern and Jakob Phillips.

The Eagles have a week to prepare and then it’s off to the Nova Scotia Peewee AAA championship on Mar. 7th-10th in Sackville.