NORTH SYDNEY, N.S. — Dustin Sudds fired a hat trick to lead the Riverview Redmen to a convincing 8-1 win over the Memorial Marauders in Cape Breton High School Hockey League play Thursday at the Emera Centre Northside.

Sudds opened the scoring in the first period and scored Riverview’s final two goals of the game in the third to further pad the lead. The league’s leading scorer now has 20 goals on the season, and leads the three-team league with 24 points.

Andrew McCarron, Brad Barrie, Logan Beaton, Josh MacKay and Blake Cox rounded out the attack for the Redmen (7-1-2-0-1), who move into a tie for first place in the standings with the Glace Bay Panthers.

Evan Hiscock replied with a third-period goal for the host Marauders, who fell to 1-0-11-0-0 with the loss.

Michael MacMullen made 11 saves in the win between the pipes. Gavin Rudderham was busy making 35 saves in the loss.

Friday at the County Recreation Centre in Coxheath, the Redmen host the Panthers at 7:15 p.m. The Redmen will accept donations of non-perishable food items at the game for Loaves and Fishes. Admission for students is $1 with a food donation.

Sunday, Glace Bay hosts Riverview at the Canada Games Complex, a 7 p.m. start.

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When Christian Jackson scored in overtime, there was no doubting what it meant to the Glace Bay Panthers and their fans.

Immediately following the dramatic goal, the Panthers players, to a man, raced to the area in front of where their most passionate supporters had camped out throughout the four-day 2017 Panther Classic high school hockey tournament.

And there they celebrated the team’s 2-1 sudden-death victory over the Riverview Redmen in the annual competition’s championship game.

“This is awesome and it’s great that we won and just having everyone here, it’s just great for the school,” said a grinning Jackson, who like his teammates sported red-dyed hair as a sign of unity and school allegiance.

As the hero of the hour, Jackson had every right to smile. And, so did his teammates.

With an enthusiastic crowd of about 300 looking on, Jackson opened the scoring late in the first period when the puck found its way on to his stick as he stood unchecked in front of the Riverview cage. He then slammed it into the back of the net past a sprawling Owen MacPhee before leaping into the air in celebration.

“That was just emotion, pure emotion,” said Jackson, who raised his stick high in triumph following his first-period goal.

The importance of the goal grew as the game progressed and neither side was able to turn on the red light. Both Riverview’s MacPhee Glace Bay’s Cody Smith came up big time after time with huge saves to keep the game tight.

Then, with just 43 seconds left in regulation and MacPhee on the bench in favour of an extra attacker, the Redmen’s Jacob Denny scored to knot the contest and silence the pro-Panthers crowd at the Canada Games Complex.

Then came overtime.

It didn’t take long before Jackson’s wraparound secured the victory and sent Glace Bay players and fans alike into a frenzied celebration.

For the Panthers, it was a storybook ending, especially after losing 3-0 to Riverview in the final of this year’s Memorial-hosted Mae Kibyuk Memorial Green and Gold tournament. For the Redmen, it was disappointing. But players from both teams can be proud to have played in one of the most exciting Cape Breton high school hockey games in recent years.

The two local schools now look forward to the Riverview-hosted Red Cup in February.

This year’s Panther Classic also featured the Memorial Marauders, Sackville Kingfishers, Hants East Tigers, Auburn Eagles and the Truro-based Cobequid Education Centre Cougars.

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SYDNEY, N.S. — The Glace Bay Panthers got off to a roaring start as they opened play in their annual Panther Classic high school hockey tournament Thursday.

Dylan McDonald potted the hat trick in a lopsided 5-1 win over the Memorial Marauders at the Canada Games Complex. The home team had the Marauders back on their heels from the opening faceoff, forcing multiple turnovers in the visiting team’s end. Despite being badly outshot, Marauders goalie Spencer Shebib kept his team in it early until McDonald opened scoring with 3:13 left in the opening frame. Defenceman Brandon Boutilier scored what ended up being the game-winner 20 seconds later and then assisted on Cameron Yates’ powerplay marker to close out the period. McDonald tickled the twine twice in the second, including a short-handed goal with less than two minutes left.

Matthew Williams scored the lone Marauders goal, beating goalie Nick Bigley midway through the final period.

The Panthers outshot the Marauders 32-9, with Bigley picking up the win and Shebib shouldering the loss.

Earlier in the evening, the Riverview Redmen beat the Hants East Tigers 3-0 to open tournament play. Jacob Denny paced the Redmen with a pair of goals, while Dustin Sudds also found the back of the net. Goalie Owen McPhee turned aside all 15 shots he faced to pick up the shutout while Austin Shields stopped 32 of 35 pucks sent his way in the loss.

The Panther Classic continues Friday with six games at the Canada Games Complex. The Auburn Drive Eagles face the Cobequid Education Centre Cougars at 10 a.m., followed by the Sackville Kingfishers and Memorial at noon, Hants East and Glace Bay at 2 p.m., Riverview and the Auburn Drive Eagles at 4 p.m., Memorial and Cobequid Education Centre at 6 p.m., and Glace Bay and Sackville at 8 p.m.

Saturday, Auburn Drive takes on Hants East at 10 a.m., Cobequid Education Centre plays Glace Bay at noon, and Sackville and Riverview hit the ice at 2 p.m. The semifinals start at 6 p.m. with the No. 1 team taking on No. 4, followed by No. 2 vs. No. 3 at 8 p.m.

The championship game is set for Sunday at 1 p.m.

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SYDNEY, N.S. — The 2017 Panther Classic gets underway at the Canada Games Complex on Thursday.

The tournament was cancelled last year due to the teachers’ union job action, but this year’s 20th installment of the tournament will feature the three teams in the Cape Breton High School Hockey league as well as four other teams from mainland Nova Scotia.

The host Glace Bay Panthers, the Memorial Mauraders of Sydney Mines and the Riverview Redman from Coxheath are the cape Breton teams. The four mainland teams coming to Cape Breton for the tournament arethe Auburn Drive Eagles, Hants East Tigers, the Sackville Kingfishers and the Cobequid Education Centre Cougars.

Cameron Yates, 18, a Grade 12 Panthers player, said it means a lot to be involved with the tournament this year.

“It’s a huge honour, especially since we haven’t won it in a while and we have a team that can definitely win it. I know everyone around the school is really excited for it,” said Yates, who added that it’s also refreshing for Cape Breton teams to test their skills against teams they wouldn’t face in their own league.

“This is definitely going to be different because we’ve only been playing against two teams around here, but we’re pretty confident in our own abilities so we’re not too worried about anyone coming down in our tournament.”

Dwayne Doucet, who’s in his first year as the Panthers’ head coach, echoed Yates’ sentiments and said it will be good for everyone involved to play new teams.

“We’re pretty excited to face some new blood. A three-team league can a little stale after a while; I think so it’ll be nice to get some new challenges.

The tournament opens on Thursday at 6 p.m. when Riverview faces off against Hants East, followed by the host Glace Bay Panthers playing Memorial.

The action will continue on Saturday at 10 a.m. with the semifinals starting at 6 p.m. with the 1st-place team playing the 4th-place team. The second semifinal will, be at 8 p.m.

Sunday, the top two teams will compete for the championship at 1 p.m.

Christian.roach@cbpost.com

IF YOU GO

Tournament pass: $15 dollars for adults, $10 for students & seniors

Daily Pass: $5 for adults, 4$ for students & seniors.

SYDNEY, N.S. — The youthful Memorial Marauders learned the hard way that hockey is a three-period game in a 7-1 loss to the Glace Bay Panthers, Sunday.

The Marauders were nine seconds away from taking a 1-0 lead into the third period against the more experienced Panthers in a Cape Breton High School Hockey League match at the Canada Games Complex.

But when Drew Baxter put the Panthers on the scoreboard just before the end of the second period, it was a foreboding of what was to come in the final stanza.

Up to that point, Memorial goalie Gavin Rudderham had made 26 stops to keep the Marauders in the lead following a Dovi Walker goal.

However, Glace Bay’s depth proved too much for the visitors in the third period. Trenton Gove scored both the game-tying and game-winning goals, while Christian Jackson, Brandon Boutilier, Colin Rosta and Baxter, with his second of the game, rounded out the scoring for the Panthers. Cameron Yates contributed four assists, while Brett Strong chipped in with three helpers.

Cody Smith stopped 19 of the 20 shots he faced to record the win, while Rudderham, who was replaced late in the game by Spencer Shebib, was tagged with the loss. Glace Bay fired 41 shots on the Memorial net.

The win gives the Panthers a 7-1-2-0-1 record for 24 points, three more than the Riverview Redmen (6-1-2-0-1). Memorial is last in the three-team loop with one win in 11 games.

The league takes a break as the players prepare for the upcoming Glace Bay-hosted Panther Classic tournament that begins Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Canada Games Complex when Hants East takes on Riverview. The host Panthers will once again play the rival Marauders at 8 p.m.

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NORTH SYDNEY, N.S. — Christian Jackson scored the winner short-handed midway through the third period as the Glace Bay Panthers posted a 3-2 win over the Memorial Marauders in Cape Breton High School Hockey League play, Thursday.

Cameron Yates and Trenton Gove also struck for the Panthers, who improved to 7-2-0-1 with the victory to move into first place.

Memorial replied with third-period goals from Tyler Johnson and Evan Hiscock. The Marauders record fell to 1-8-0-0 with the setback in front of about 200 fans at the Emera Centre Northside.

In goal, Colton Boutilier made 26 stops for the win. Spencer Shebib deflected 35 pucks in the loss.

Tonight, the Riverview Redmen host the Marauders at the County Recreation Centre in Coxheath, a 7:15 p.m. start. The Redmen will be taking donations of non-perishable food items at the game for Loaves and Fishes. Admission for students is $1 with a food donation.

Sunday, Glace Bay and Memorial lock horns at the Canada Games Complex starting at 7 p.m.