The Aces dominated My Muscle Trencania from Slovakia to win the Goodwill Cup
A Fredericton-based squad defeated all opponents to hoist the Goodwill Cup for the fifth time, trying the World Pond Hockey Championship record for the most wins on Sunday.
The Aces, including players Dave Myles, Alex Leduc, Stacy Smallman, Peter Boyd and Dave Crossman, cruised to an easy 9-6 win over My Muscle Trencania from Slovakia. In the women’s division, The Bras from Grand Falls, with players Janie Leblanc, Amelie Dion, Kaylee Madore, Gabrielle Forget and Floriane Dion, beat the Budweiser Healthy Scratches from Halifax by a score of 9-4.
“This is number five for me… Every year gets harder because every year I’m getting older,” said Dave Myles, Aces’ team captain. “We had two new members on the team this year and I thought we had great chemistry. It took a couple of games to get a good feel for it.”
The Aces, along with 10 other teams, cruised through the four-day tournament with five wins and no losses. The top 32 teams then played in Sunday’s elimination round for the championship – a gruelling hockey marathon of five games in one day for the final two teams.
“It’s the highlight of my year to come back here and see this amazing event. To be able to win is something special because it’s a hard-fought battle,” Myles said. “It’s 10 games to the end and it’s a definite grind. The team that can play the smartest and is in good shape can win, with a little bit of luck on your side as well.”
The Aces’s fifth win ties the record achieved by the Acadian Boys, another new Brunswick squad. Eighty men’s teams and six women’s squads from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, the United Arab Emirates, Canada and the United States competed in the event. Organizer Danny Braun said it was a great comeback after the 2024 championship was cancelled because of warm weather.
“It was a great tournament. The challenge initially was Mother Nature and if we could hold the event, but at the end of the day Mother Nature gave us perfect pond hockey weather,” Braun said. “We had huge crowds on Saturday to see some great hockey action, and lots of people attended Sunday to see the championship games.”
Braun said pond hockey souvenirs sold out by Sunday afternoon, and on-ice and arena food and beverage sales were brisk.
Braun said the Sunday’s audiences were treated to some great hockey action, and many fans cheered the cup remaining in New Brunswick after travelling to Europe for several years.
“Everyone seemed to have a great time. The organizing committee will meet for a debrief in a few weeks to suggest changes and make plans leading into 2026,” he said.
The tournament started Thursday, Feb. 20, with an opening ceremony at the Phil Sharkey Memorial Centre at 5:30 p.m., followed by an Olympic-style evening parade of athletes to Roulston Lake. The opening concluded with a fireworks display before players laced up their skates for games under the lights Thursday night, day and evening on Friday and Saturday, followed by Sunday’s championship rounds.
The tourney, which was created in 2002 to help raise money for a new arena and recreational facility in Plaster Rock, has generated more than $800,000 toward that goal. The Phil Sharkey Memorial Centre opened in 2007.
