Brad MacKenzie looking ahead to Year 2 with Grand Falls Rapids

All-P.E.I. coaching staff returning

Grand Falls Rapids head coach Brad MacKenzie of Charlottetown. - Jason Malloy

SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — Brad MacKenzie is excited about the future of the Grand Falls Rapids.
MacKenzie, a former assistant coach with the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Charlottetown Islanders, is looking forward to his second season as head coach of the Maritime Junior Hockey League team. MacKenzie, who is from Charlottetown, confirmed the team’s all-P.E.I. coaching staff, including assistants Nicholas Tremere of Borden-Carleton and Morgan MacDonald of Little Pond, will return.
“We all got along really well,” said MacKenzie. “We made some good strides this year and we are all excited to be back and building on what we did.”
The Rapids finished 16-30-6 (won-lost-overtime losses). That placed the Rapids, who failed to qualify for the playoffs, fifth in the Eastlink North Division and 10th overall in the 12-team league.
“We were in a rebuilding mode and were a young team building for the next couple of years,” said Rapids defenceman Zac Arsenault of Montague.
Arsenault said the Rapids want to be playing in the 2021 post-season. MacKenzie and the coaching staff delivered a simple and direct message to all eligible returnees.
“For our team to get better moving from one season to the next, everybody that is coming back has to take a step forward,” said MacKenzie.