Irishmen win senior league title

Southern Senior Hockey League

Mike Thomas scored twice to help the St. Stephen Game Time Irishmen win the 2024 New Brunswick Southern Senior Hockey League title on Saturday.

The former Saint John Sea Dogs captain scored twice in the second period to lift the Irishmen to a 7-0 win over the Saint John Toyota Flames in Game 5 of the league final. Former Sea Dogs goaltender Alex Bishop made 25 saves in the shutout win.

The Irishmen finished first in the regular season with a 14-2 record while Saint John was second at 11-5. This is the league that included the Grand Lake Sturgeons, who went 0-16 with a -128 goal differential. 

The league began operating in 2021-22 and included five teams this past season. This is St. Stephen's second championship.

A few other news and notes...

• Nicolas Ruccia had a second straight shutout in Cape Breton's 1-0 win over Chicoutimi on Saturday. The win gives the Eagles a 2-0 series lead heading to Quebec. Cam Squires scored the game's lone goal late in the first period. The Eagles have now won 15 of their last 16 games.
• The Acadie-Bathurst Titan couldn't contain the Baie-Comeau Drakkar on Saturday, falling 4-2 and now trail 2-0 in the series. Shots were 49-25 in favour of Baie-Comeau.
• The Rouyn-Noranda Huskies continue to struggle in third periods. After allowing five third period goals in Friday's Game 1 loss, the Huskies allowed four in Saturday's 7-6 loss. The Tigres now lead the series 2-0 as the series shifts to Victoriaville. This is a 2-3-2 series.
• Noah Reinhart and the Drummondville Voltigeurs now lead their series against the Sherbrooke Phoenix 2-0 following a 5-2 win on Saturday.
• The University of Denver won the NCAA championship on Saturday, defeating a star studded Boston College squad 2-0. Denver defeated Boston University in overtime on Thursday to earn a spot in the national final.