CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Bruce Donaldson’s UPEI women hockey Panthers open their Atlantic University Sport (AUS) semifinal tonight against the second-place St. FX in Antigonish, N.S., following their dramatic overtime victory here against Moncton Tuesday in the deciding game of their best-of-three series.
The Panthers were supposed to get past Moncton without too much trouble but that didn’t happen as the New Brunswick club led in Game 3 until heroics by Taylor Gillis, who tied the game and then scored on a power play to lift the Panthers into the semifinal. A Panther loss would have spoiled what has been a terrific regular season and sent the locals to the sidelines with a long wait before hosting the national tournament next month.
To win a championship at any level a club must be good enough, stay healthy throughout and get the breaks and the Panthers, thus far, can check all three slots. Good luck the rest of the way to Bruce and the women’s hockey Panthers.
The NHL schedule is nearing the finish line and right now it doesn’t look good for the Canadian teams.
The Montreal Canadiens and the Ottawa Senators will be watching from the sidelines and the Toronto Maple Leafs have been in and out of a playoff spot in recent weeks with a difficult schedule ahead.
Toronto has games against with Carolina, at Tampa Bay, at Florida and a home date with Vancouver during the next week. The Canucks got pushed around in a lopsided loss to Anaheim on Sunday and with tough playoff-type games ahead, they are not a lock for a playoff spot.
Edmonton, Vancouver, Calgary and Winnipeg are all bunched together in the standings and each could be playing on the final weekend for a playoff position.
Most hockey fans are surprised how well Edmonton is playing without Connor McDavid and if they can stay close until his return, their chances of a playoff appearance soars. The St. Louis Blues added blue-line help with Marco Scandella from Montreal and the Vegas Golden Knights acquired defenceman Alec Martinez from the L.A. Kings, which guarantees the Oilers, Flames and Jets will be busy as Monday’s trade deadline nears.
Basketball
The Island Storm is off to Newfoundland to play the St. John’s Edge in National Basketball League of Canada action today and Sunday. The Storm was ravaged by sickness last week as coach Tim Kendrick, Alex Campbell and Johnathan Loyd were operating well below 100 per cent. Let’s hope the club is healthy against an Edge team, which holds the second and final Atlantic Division playoff spot.
Harness racing
There’s no live racing at the city track but there’s plenty of simulcast action up-country.
The Mohawk feature goes in Race 2 and Easy Lover Hanover leaves from Post 6 against seven others. Also tonight, Lisburn and Oceanview Magnum are in against one another in the $20,000 class while The Rev leaves from Post 3 in the $24,000 finale.
Tom MacPhee from Nine Mile Creek has always had a top horse or two starting with Anne Truder Abe in the 1980s and more recently the Ontario-bred speedster Dialarama. Last week, Doug and Tom watched as So Much More (by Big Jim), who was bred and sold by the MacPhee stable, circled the $36,000 top class and paced away from Easy Lover Hanover and a good field, scoring in 1:50 and change. James MacDonald handled the driving assignment for Ontario interests, but what is surprising is that mares are not supposed to beat the top-class boys. This is the second straight win in this class for the little mare with a huge heart.
Veteran trainer John Burns, who trained horses for John Ferguson and was a leading Ontario trainer in the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s, is back in the game, working for Cape Breton, N.S., native Bill Cass, who sent out the likes of Luck Be With You p,1:47:4 ($1.46 million) among many others.
Stanhope’s Judy Profit shares ownership of two-year-olds in Australia and both looked good. Girl From Oz (Heston Blue Chip) and Rockindownunder (Warrawee Needy) were third and fourth in their down under debuts and go for $50,000 next week.
Fred MacDonald's column appears every Saturday in The Guardian. He can be reached at [email protected].
