STORY CONTINUES BELOW THESE SALTWIRE VIDEOS
SYDNEY, N.S. — The Sydney Academy boy’s hockey team may have played in the high school league, but in reality, they could have been playing at an even higher level during the 1974-75 season.
The Dugga MacNeil-coached team was a force to be reckoned with at the high school level and walked through competition in the local league, forcing the well-known bench boss to seek better competition for the team.
Sydney Academy would win the Cape Breton championship and later capture the Nova Scotia Interscholastic championship with ease, going undefeated in the playoffs, but it’s what they did when they weren’t in league competition that made the club stand out.
Over the course of the season, the team played exhibition games against clubs at the senior, junior, and college level and would claim victories in those contests.
Editor’s note: This article is the sixth in a six-part series featuring this year’s Cape Breton Sport Hall of Fame inductees.
Ken Bickerton was one of two goaltenders on the team. While he went on to play for the Dalhousie Tigers at the university level – a program that won the conference championship in 1979 – he considers the Sydney Academy club to be right there with the best teams he’s ever played on.
“It was pretty unique,” said Bickerton. “When you look at it, we weren’t just an ordinary high school team. We had a unique team for being high school kids and that’s what I think is really impressive.”
Read more
In a move that surprised many in the hockey community, the Sydney Academy team was invited to participate in the College of Cape Breton’s annual invitational tournament, which was for small college teams.
Dr. Carl (Bucky) Buchanan was the coach of the Capers program and thought the team would be good competition for the event – he wasn’t wrong.
Sydney Academy would eventually win the tournament, which caught the attention of fans across the island. Later, the team captured the annual Cape Breton Metros Invitational Tournament in Sydney, defeating the Fredericton Black Kats in the final 3-1 for their third consecutive title.
“I don’t think we knew how good we were at the time, we just took each game as a challenge,” said Bickerton. “We had a good group of guys. We had guys who could score, we had a big defence core and we had tough guys, so we were a well-rounded team that year.”
TEAM ROSTER
- Goaltenders: Ken Bickerton and Brad Thompson
- Defencemen: Glen MacDougall, Marty Kolanko, Adrian Morrison, Edward MacQueen and Ken Johnston
- Forwards: Kevin Dickson, Albert Nordine, Sheldon Hanna, Dana MacQueen, Donnie MacKinnon, Gary MacNeil, Gord MacNeil, Dave MacLennan, Greg Robertson, Barkley Haddad, Whitey MacDonald, Ken MacNeil and Frank Potter
- Staff: Dugga MacNeil (head coach)
The team would continue its undefeated season well into the month of February before the club finally posted its first loss of the campaign, a 5-2 defeat at the hands of the Ottawa High School All-Stars on Feb. 12, 1975, in Ontario.
On the same trip, the club attended the Loyola High School Hockey Tournament in Montreal and competed against some of the top teams from Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick and New York.
In an interview with the Cape Breton Post following the season, MacNeil said the hard work and dedication brought to the rink each day was “outstanding.”
The 1974-75 Sydney Academy boys’ hockey team will be inducted into the Cape Breton Sport Hall of Fame this weekend. The club will go into the hall of fame as the lone team for 2023.
Favourite memory
Albert Nordine was the captain of the Sydney Academy team. While he wore the ‘C’ on his jersey, he said the club was full of leadership, which made his job easy.
“There were probably 18 captains on the ice for that team,” said Nordine. “Everybody played a leadership role on the team and that was from the goaltending out.”
Nordine admits there are many memories he has of the club, but one that stands out for him was during the Metros tournament when the team defeated Saskatchewan in the semifinal.
“It was one of the best hockey games I was ever involved in,” said Nordine. “We beat them 4-3. It was tied 3-3 and Barkley Haddad scored late in the game and we were able to hold on to win it and eventually won the tournament.
“The Saskatchewan team was great, they were basically an all-star team and that’s what made that game memorable for me and a moment I will never forget.”
Fourteen members of the team would eventually move on in their career and play at the university, senior and junior levels including Bickerton, Nordine, Dana MacQueen, Glen MacDougall, Adrian Morrison, Ed MacQueen, Marty Kolanko, Sheldon Hanna, Gary MacNeil, Ken Johnston, Gord MacNeil, Greg Robertson, Barkley Haddad and Ken MacNeil.
“When you look at it, I don’t think that happens in this day in age,” said Bickerton. “Everybody loved the game and they wanted to play somewhere else when they were done high school and it showed afterwards – it was a pretty good feeder system for some of those teams.”
OTHER INDUCTEES
- Athlete: Pamela LeJean – Paralympic track and field
- Athlete: Jamey Jewells – Paralympic basketball
- Athlete: Steve Fraser — Fastball
- Builder: Leo MacDonell – Multi-sport and community
- Builder: Kenny (Bacardi) MacDonald – Golf
*Note: The Cape Breton Sport Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place today at Centre 200 in Sydney.
In total, 17 members of the team will be in attendance for the hall of fame ceremony. More than 100 people, which include players family members, are expected to represent Sydney Academy at the event.
“It’s going to be a pretty cool night for everyone involved,” said Bickerton.
Other 2023 inductees include Pamela LeJean (Paralympic track and field), Steve Fraser (fastball/athlete), Jamey Jewells (Paralympic basketball), Leo A. MacDonell (multi-sport and community/builder) and Kenny (Bacardi) MacDonald (golf/builder).
The induction ceremony is set for Saturday at 6 p.m. at Centre 200 in Sydney. Tickets for the induction ceremony are $40 and are available by calling Carol Miller at 902-562-0849 or Mike MacIntyre at 902-564-1048.