Summerside Western Capitals

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Summerside Western Capitals
City	Summerside, Prince Edward Island
League	MHL
Division	South
Founded	1993 (1993)
Home arena	Credit Union Place
Colours	Dark blue   Cardinal red
General manager	Pat McIver
Head coach	Billy McGuigan
Website	gocapsgo.ca
Franchise history
1976–1977	Summerside Crystals
1984–1990	Summerside Western Capitals
1993–2000	Summerside Capitals
2000–present	Summerside Western Capitals

The Summerside Western Capitals are a junior ice hockey franchise of the Maritime Junior Hockey League (MHL) based in Summerside, Prince Edward Island. The club plays its home games at the Credit Union Place in Summerside.

The Hemphill Pontiac Western Capitals began in the Island Junior Hockey League. Summerside is in the Western end of the province, & sometimes referred to as 'The Western Capital', thus the reference to 'western' in the original team name. They hosted the 1989 Centennial Cup on behalf of the IJHL. This team was coached by former NHL coach, General Manager, & Team President of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Doug MacLean, a Summerside native.

Season	GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	P	Results	Playoffs
1973-74	28	10	15	3	-	123	154	23	4th IJHL
1974-75	40	21	18	1	-	208	198	43	3rd IJHL
1975-76	39	13	19	7	-	199	247	33	4th IJHL
1976-77	40	12	25	3	-	186	276	27	5th IJHL
1977-78	40	31	5	4	-	--	--	66	1st IJHL
1978-79	39	20	14	5	-	206	181	45	3rd IJHL
1979-80	40	14	20	6	-	193	235	34	4th IJHL
1980-81	Did not participate
1981-82	42	8	38	6	-	189	283	22	4th IJHL
1982-83	42	18	18	6	-	216	238	42	3rd IJHL
1983-84	40	25	12	3	-	244	201	53	1st IJHL	Won league
1984-85	37	18	15	4	-	203	174	40	2nd IJHL
1985-86	36	15	9	12	-	231	204	42	2nd IJHL	Won league
1986-87	42	19	20	3	-	232	216	41	3rd IJHL
1987-88	42	30	6	6	-	267	179	66	1st IJHL
1988-89	44	33	7	4	-	297	161	78	1st IJHL
1989-90	40	26	11	2	1	213	153	55	2nd IJHL
1990-91	42	15	20	5	2	211	247	37	3rd IJHL

The Capitals joined the Maritime Junior A Hockey League (MJAHL) in 1991. The league was renamed the Maritime Junior Hockey League (MHL) in 2010.[1]

The 1996–97 Western Capitals won the league championship Callaghan Cup and went on to win the national championship 1997 Royal Bank Cup, becoming the first team from east of Ontario to do so.[2][3][4] The team was inducted into the PEI Sports Hall of Fame in 2002, and into the Maritime Sport Hall of Fame in 2022.[5][6][7]

In March 2007, the Western Capitals moved from their former home at Cahill Stadium to a new 3,250 seat arena at the Summerside Wellness Centre.[8][9] The venue was subsequently renamed Credit Union Place.[10]

Former logo of the team used from 2007–2013.

In the 2008–09 season, the Capitals finished first place in the Meek division, and later went on to defeat the Dieppe Commandos, and Miramichi Timberwolves in 4 game sweeps to advance to the league championship series, to take on the Truro Bearcats for the second time in 3 years. This time though, the Capitals defeated Truro in 5 games, and won their first league championship since 1997. The Capitals entered the Fred Page Cup tournament, and after going 2–1 in the round robin portion, they defeated the Pembroke Lumber Kings 4–1 in the semifinal to move to the final against the Dieppe Commandos. The Caps won the game 3–2 in double overtime to advance to the national championship 2009 Royal Bank Cup tournament in Victoria, British Columbia.[11] The Capitals travelled to the Pacific coast to Victoria, BC to participate in their 2nd tournament. Summerside had a 0–4 record heading into their final game against the defending RBC champions Humboldt Broncos. Summerside won the game 5–0, but were already eliminated from the tournament and finished 5th. The players were angry and upset about the outcome and engaged in roughing up one of the hotel employees at the team's hotel.[citation needed] Their behaviour resulted in the Capitals losing the right to host the 2011 Royal Bank Cup. Summerside got their chance to host the tournament in 2013.

In 2010, the Maritime Junior A Hockey League (MJAHL) was renamed the Maritime Junior Hockey League (MHL).[1]

From 2001 to 2013, the Capitals were owned by a private ownership group consisting of local individuals. In 2013, the Caps were sold to a new private local group.[12]

Head Coach, Billy McGuigan, was named winner of the Darcy Haugan/Mark Cross Memorial Award as CJHL Coach of the Year in 2019–20.[13][14]

Season-by-season record

Season	GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	Pts	Regular season	Postseason
1991–92	46	18	16	12	0	210	206	48	6th overall
1992–93	48	21	21	4	2	226	244	48	5th overall
1993–94	48	13	32	2	1	182	263	29	7th overall
1994–95	48	24	21	3	0	221	206	51	3rd overall
1995–96	54	28	24	1	1	252	232	58	5th overall
1996–97	55	35	14	4	2	350	259	76	2nd overall	Won final against Dartmouth Won national championship against South Surrey Eagles (4:3)
1997–98	52	12	33	3	4	207	307	31	9th overall
1998–99	48	5	41	2	0	157	317	15	9th overall
1999–00	52	24	24	3	1	198	229	52	5th overall
2000–01	52	32	12	4	4	288	224	72	1st overall	Lost final
2001–02	52	21	26	3	2	209	225	47	8th overall
2002–03	52	26	21	3	2	240	219	57	4th overall
2003–04	52	19	28	2	3	201	225	43	9th overall
2004–05	56	22	26	4	4	220	252	52	9th overall
2005–06	56	36	14	0	6	274	197	79	2nd overall	Lost semifinal
2006–07	58	43	14	0	1	281	172	87	2nd overall	Lost final against Truro (4:2)
2007–08	58	24	30	0	4	185	219	52	9th overall	Lost mini-series
2008–09	54	39	13	0	2	249	149	80	1st overall	Won final against Truro (4:1) Won Fred Page Cup against Dieppe
2009–10	50	27	20	0	3	230	186	57	4th overall	Lost semifinal
2010–11	52	36	12	0	4	255	186	76	2nd overall	Won final against Pictou County (4:0)
2011–12	52	26	21	0	5	192	200	57	2nd in division 7th overall	Lost semifinal
2012–13	52	43	7	0	2	222	119	88	1st overall	Won quarterfinal against Miramichi (4:0) Won semifinal against Woodstock (4:0) Won final against Truro (4:1)
2013–14	52	24	23	0	5	178	187	53	4th in division 8th overall	Lost quarterfinal against Miramichi (4:1)
2014–15	48	21	21	0	6	184	197	48	8th overall	Did not qualify
2015–16	48	34	12	1	1	207	150	70	1st in division 1st overall	Won quarterfinal against Campbellton (4:3) Lost semifinal against Dieppe (4:2)
2016–17	50	25	22	0	3	169	184	53	3rd in division 4th overall	Won quarterfinal against Dieppe (4:2) Lost semifinal against Miramichi (4:0)
2017–18	50	33	16	1	0	180	137	67	2nd in division 3rd overall	Won quarterfinal against Campbellton (4:1) Lost semifinal against Edmundston (4:3)
2018–19	50	40	8	1	1	247	120	82	1st in division 1st overall	Won quarterfinal against Fredericton (4:0) Lost semifinal against Campbellton (4:3)
2019–20	52	42	7	1	2	257	145	88	1st in division 1st overall	Playoffs cancelled
2020–21	23	14	7	2	0	94	73	30	4th in division 4th overall	Playoffs cancelled
2021–22	38	31	5	1	2	206	101	65	1st in division 1st overall	Won quarterfinal against Edmundston (4:1) Won semifinal against Fredericton (4:0) Won final against Truro (4:1)
2022–23	52	35	14	3	0	217	167	73	2nd in division 3rd overall	Won quarterfinal against Campbellton (4:3) Lost semifinal against Edmundston (4:0)
2023–24	52	38	5	3	6	274	170	85	1st in division 1st overall	Won quarterfinal against Yarmouth (4:1) Won semifinal against Amherst (4:2) Lost final against Miramichi (4:2)
2024–25	52	38	10	0	2	257	163	80	1st in division 2nd overall	Lost quarterfinal against Weeks (4:1)

Sources:

The Summerside Western Capitals' first appearance at a national championship tournament was as the host and runner-up of the 1989 Centennial Cup.[15] The Capitals lost to the Thunder Bay Flyers of the USHL in the championship match.[15]

The 1996–97 Capitals won the 1997 Royal Bank Cup after defeating the South Surrey Eagles of the British Columbia Hockey League in the final.[4] In doing so, they became the first championship team from east of Ontario.[3]

After winning the MHL league championship and regional championship Fred Page Cup, the 2008–09 Capitals advanced to the 2009 Royal Bank Cup in Victoria, British Columbia.[11] They were eliminated from competition after losing three out of four matches in the preliminary round-robin.[11]

As the hosts of the 2013 Royal Bank Cup, the 2012–13 MHL championship Capitals finished second overall after losing to the Brooks Bandits of the AJHL.[11]

The 2022 MHL championship Capitals were eliminated from the 2022 Centennial Cup after losing to Collège Français de Longueuil in the Quebec Junior Hockey League in the quarterfinal.[16]

Year	Round-robin	Record	Standing	Quarterfinal	Semifinal	Championship
2022	W, Soo Thunderbirds (NOJHL), 4:1 L, Dauphin Kings (ManJHL), 7:1 W, Flin Flon Bombers (SJHL), 4:1 OTW, Ottawa Jr. Senators (CCHL), 4-3	2-1-1-0	2nd of 5 Pool B	Lost against Longueuil Collège Français (4:3)	Did not qualify	Did not qualify

The 2025–26 Capitals were selected to host the 2026 Centennial Cup.[17][18]

These are franchise records held by previous team rosters.

Team records for a single season

Statistic	Total	Season
Most Points	88	2012–13
Most Wins	43	2012–13
Most Goals For	350	1996–97
Fewest Goals For	123	1973–74
Fewest Goals Against	82	1971–72
Most Goals Against	317	1998–99

• Gerard Gallant (1979–80)

• Darryl Boyce (2000–01)
• Josh Currie (2008–09)
• Brett Gallant (2005–06, 2008–09)
• Ross Johnston (2010–11, 2011–12)
• Darren Langdon (1991–92)
• Nathan McIver (2001–02)
• Kent Paynter (1981–82)
• Jordan Spence (2017–18)
• Geoff Walker (2003–04)