It is a rematch of the 2023 Don Johnson Memorial Cup Championship Game as the Antigonish Jr. Bulldogs will play the Kensington P.E.I. Vipers in Sunday’s Championship Game at 1:00 p.m. in Mt. Pearl, Newfoundland.  The Bulldogs with their 9-0 hammering of the St. John’s Jr. Capitals Saturday afternoon in the first of two semi-final tournament games advanced to play the Vipers who tripled up the hometown Blades 6-2 Saturday evening in the second tournament semi-final.

 

Saturday evening’s game saw the Vipers who had lost earlier in the week to the Blades 6-2, take period leads of 2-1 and 5-1.  The Bulldogs outshot Mt. Pearl 48-29 including 17-7 in the final period.  Carson MacKay’s first of three goals just 16 seconds after the opening face-off gave the Vipers a 1-0 lead.  Shane DeLaney tied it for Mt. Pearl before Brett Ballum tallied to give the Vipers the lead going into the second period.  The second period was all Vipers as Max Chisholm, Carson MacDougall and MacKay with his second of the game provided the eventual winners with a 5-1 lead after forty minutes.

 

In the third period, MacKay scored his third of the game and seventh of the week to put Kensington up 6-1.  Lucas White scored for the Blades with 2:05 to play to make the final 6-2.  The Blades encountered penalty difficulties throughout the game as they were assessed 28 minutes in penalties compared to the Vipers 1 minor.

 

Sunday afternoon’s final will no doubt be a classic as the Bulldogs defeated the Vipers 4-3 in overtime in a round-robin game this week.  If you go back to the 2023 Championship in Liverpool, Nova Scotia, the Bulldogs defeated the Vipers 4-3 in the Championship game after losing to them in the round-robin 4-2.  Sunday afternoon’s game promises to be an outstanding game as the Bulldogs seek their second consecutive Atlantic Junior Championship.