Summerside Brings High-Powered Offence West:

This is in the Victoria Times Colonist Newspaper:

Summerside brings high-powered offence west

By Sharie EppApril 30, 2009

Gabe Keough’s wife has been trying to get her husband to travel for years, but it took the RBC Cup to get him out of P.E.I.
The Summerside Western Capitals governor and GM, along with his team, will be landing on the West Coast today, hopefully in one piece.
“I’ve never travelled, I’ve never flown,” Keough said this week, when he was still safely on the ground in Summerside. “My stomach is in knots just thinking about it.”
Opportunities to play in the national junior A hockey championship, which this year begins tomorrow at Bear Mountain Arena and also includes the Victoria Grizzlies, Vernon Vipers, Humboldt, Sask., Broncos, and Kingston, Ont., Voyageurs, don’t come along every day. This is only the second appearance for the Capitals — they played host to the Cup and won it in 1997 — and this year’s Fred Page Cup East region title was the first in the Maritime Junior A Hockey League team’s 29-year history.
“We’ve gotten to the top step, but were never able to get to the landing,” said Keough, who continued a 35-year involvement in hockey by joining the Capitals in 1998.
The team he has put together this season is big, solid, experienced, and nearly entirely home-grown. Out of 22 players, 17 are from P.E.I., including several who have returned from elsewhere for their final season of junior.
“They wanted to have their last year in their hometown, and make it a memorable one,” Keough said. “Our crowds are big, and I think it’s the local
talent.
“They’ll go through the wall for each other.”
The Capitals had the best attendance of the MJAHL this season, and during the playoffs, averaged nearly 3,000 fans a game. Given the team’s level of play, it’s not surprising. Summerside led the league in scoring, and featured five of the league’s top-10 points-getters, including veteran centre Brad Smith. One of seven 20-year-olds who’ll be on the roster in Victoria, Smith notched 38 goals and 46 assists in 54 games.
Team captain Brett Gallant is also among the top scorers, and when it comes to clutch shots, forward Mike MacIssac picked up overtime winners in both the league final against the Truro Bearcats, as well as the double OT Fred Page Cup victory over the Dieppe Commandos.
“He’s a natural goal scorer. When he has the opportunity, he generally makes good.”
On defence, the team will really miss Spencer Corcoran, who ruptured his spleen and can’t even fly, after posting 24 points in 13 playoff games, but size and toughness remains.
“We can play fairly rugged if we need to,” Keough said. “We have a pretty solid, all-around team.
“We can play any style of game we need to play.”
Overall, Keough has plenty of confidence in his team, and their “hard, hard” work ethic coming into the RBC Cup. And as far as the travel, once he makes it to Victoria, he’s not too worried about getting home.
“I have a train pass.”