Ron Valentine is profiling the 10 teams participating in the 2023 Centennial Cup in Portage la Prairie May 11-21. 

Today: the Maritime champion Yarmouth Mariners

By Ron Valentine

What a season for the Maritime Junior Hockey League's YARMOUTH MARINERS!

All the team from near the tip of southern Nova Scotia did was finish first in the EastLink South division with a 41-win, nine-loss and two OT-loss regular campaign, good for 84 points. They then ran the table in the MetalFab playoffs, with sweeps of the Pictou County Weeks Crushers, Truro Bearcats and the EastLink North champion Edmundston Blizzard. 

Yarmouth, part of the 11-team MHL, were ranked No. 10 across Canada by the Canadian Junior Hockey League at the conclusion of the regular season. The club plays out of the Mariners Centre, which can cram in 1,500 fans. They averaged over 1,100 in the regular season and sold out for most of their playoff games. 

Nathan Kelly led the club with 71 points, followed by Reilly Mayne with 66. In the playoffs, Mayne and Ryan Semple were tied with 18 points. 

In net, Keegan Warren, rookie of the year, and Joey Lovullo combined for a 2.45 goals against average. In the postseason Lovullo played in 10 of the 12 games posting a 1.80 GAA along the way. 

GM/Head Coach Laurie Barron started behind the bench with the Mariners as assistant coach in the 2003-04 season. He was an assistant coach at the World Jr. A Challenge with Canada East in 2011-12 and he was named coach of the year in the MHL for the past two seasons, as well as in 2017-18.

Coach Barron: "We have a really good group, we're strong in net, have a good back end and we have very balanced scoring up front. In goal, we started with a 20-year-old but he left the club and Warren and Lovullo stepped in and did a great job for us. I went mostly with the more senior 'keeper in the postseason."

"We started the season with four wins and four losses. I shook a few things up, didn't stop reading after the first few pages of the novel and we just caught fire from there.  At the trading deadline, we got Kelly from the Fredericton Red Wings, where he was the captain, and he got 34 points in 23 games for us. Mayne has been very consistent all season."

"I guess you could call me the 'Billy Martin' of Yarmouth. It's been a long road with a few bumps and turns along the way (including a stint in England) but this is the best team I have been associated with and were all very excited to be going to the Cup finals."

"We were very proud of our perfect playoff record, the first ever in the MHL, but the wins were not all easy, especially against the Blizzard. But to the guys credit, they always found a way to come out on top. We have the most travel to do in the league, being right at the bottom of the province, so I was really happy with our regular season 22-3-1 road record."

“We have eight proud Newfoundlanders on the team, including Kelly, Mayne and Warren. We have two co-captains this season but really there are eight or nine guys in the dressing room who lead the way."

"Everyone is ready to prove we are the best-kept secret in Junior A hockey. I've watched teams who we will play against on 'Hockey TV' and followed 'InStat' and we are as well prepared as we can be. We've had some time to get over bumps and bruises and everyone is looking forward to the challenge."

Going to Portage with very little pressure look for the Mariners to give a good account of themselves.

For more on the Centennial Cup, go to the tournament website: https://www.hockeycanada.ca/en-ca/national-championships/men/national-junior-a/2023