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The Association
The Pownal Minor Hockey Association was founded in the mid 1960's by a small group of individuals who saw a need and an opportunity for the youth of our rural community. With the assistance of a centennial year grant from governments, the Pownal Sport Center was completed and became the permanent home of the Pownal Minor Hockey Association. The early years of the Association saw a steady increase in player registrants volunteers committed to seeing the association succeed. By the late 1970s, this small community association had grown to 90 registered players. Throughout the early 1980's, Pownal Minor Hockey Association was classified as a C organization, due in part to its limited size. The Association remained in the C category until the mid 1980's when they won many of the C titles. Shortly thereafter, the associations rating was upgraded to B level for all categories while players continued to develop and registration grew each year. As players continued to develop and progress through our program Pownal eventually made a full commitment to the AA and AAA divisions in all categories from Novice to Midget. Our Associations commitment to these levels has continued throughout the years, regardless of the competitiveness of our teams. During our progression, the Pownal Minor Hockey Association has always maintained its equal commitment to those players in the B level and this commitment to our A teams remains strong today. During the early 1980's, the Pownal "Red Devils successfully competed in the Island Juvenile AAA League culminating with the winning of the Atlantic Championships in 1983/84. The level of stability and commitment of the Pownal Minor Hockey Association has been evident throughout our history and continues to be even stronger today. From a small rural community organization with less than one hundred members we have grown to a registration of over 530 players. We continually carry a full slate of executive officers guiding the Association and its programs and projects. The countless numbers of volunteers and their continued commitment and loyalty to the Association are, and continue to be the back bone of our Association. Community Overview The Pownal Minor Hockey Association is a rural association which draws its players from many rural communities within its boundaries including Fort Augustus, Watervale, Vernon River, Sommerville, Pownal, Stratford and all areas in between. Pownal is located approximately 12 km from Stratford, P.E.I.s fastest growing municipality. The town of Stratford is located across the Hillsborough Bridge from Charlottetown, the provincial capital. Stratford is home to about 8000 residents, and includes the communities of Bunbury, Rosebank, Kinlock, Keppoch, and Southport. Stratford has been experiencing rapid growth since the late 1970s, and this continues today with the constant addition of new subdivisions, and new home construction, as well as a modern new town hall and community centre. Business development has exploded in Stratford with the completion of APM's beautiful new Southport Home Building Centre, Metro Credit Union, Pizza Delight, the state of the art Sobey's store with an adjoining mall, the pristine 18-hole championship golf course at Fox Meadow and the PEI Medical Society Headquarters (the first business established in the Stratford Business Park). For further information about Stratford, please visit http://www.town.stratford.pe.ca Pownal Midget AAA Red Devils It was a very proud time for the Pownal Minor Hockey Association during the 1997-1998 season as Pownal hosted its first ever Atlantic Championship. This tournament put Pownal Minor Hockey on the map and its success is still being felt throughout our minor hockey system. Pownal has continued to ice competitive Midget AAA teams in the years since hosting the 1998 Atlantic Championship. The success of our teams throughout the past years is a result of combining high calibre players with excellent coaching. After Trevor Affleck and Paul Hughes left the Midget AAA Red Devils to pursue Junior coaching opportunities, the Midget team turned to Todd James and Jason Lea, both former Jr A Abbies, to be the next coaches. Then in 2003-2003 Lennie Kelly, the current general manager of the Charlottetown Jr A Abbies and brother of former Canadian World Junior assistant coach Mike Kelly, was tasked with handling the coaching duties. Following the departure of Kelly to the Jr A Abbies, Pownal looked to Joel Cormier to lead the way for a talented Red Devils team in 2003-2004. Cormier not only lead the Red Devils to a successful season, he took Pownal hockey to a whole new level. When April 2004 came along, the 2003-2004 edition of the Pownal Gaudets Autobody Midget AAA Red Devils had become the first ever Pownal team to capture an Atlantic Championship. This accomplishment was the culmination of an unprecedented season for Pownal Hockey. The association captured a record 5 provincial championships and an Atlantic Bronze medal to go with Atlantic Midget AAA gold. In 2004-2005, the Midget AAA Red Devils turned over the coaching reigns to John Dawson and Josh Whiteway. After a rebuilding year for the team with a majority of first year players, coaches Dawson and Whiteway are poised to lead a more experienced Red Devils squad back to the promise land. As mentioned, the success of the Pownal Midget program must also be attributed to some of the high calibre players who have gone through our system. In recent years, our graduates have gone on to play at the Junior B, Junior A, Major Junior, University and American Hockey League levels. One of Pownals most successful graduates has been Drew MacIntyre. From an early age it was apparent that this young man was extremely talented between the pipes. His development continued through the Pownal system until he was drafted into the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League by the Sherbrooke Castors. Drew continued his development with a stellar junior career which lead him to the ultimate of being drafted by the NHLs Detroit Red Wings. Drew is currently tending goal for Detroits AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins, as he patiently waits for his shot at the NHL. Other successful Pownal graduates include the Kowalski boys. They are here brothers who all progressed through the Pownal system and went on to play important roles for the Summerside Western Capitals Jr A team in recent memory. One brother in particular, Jason, is now a member of the University of Prince Edward Island Panthers hockey team. Former Pownal scoring leader Mike Floyd is now the captain of the Campbellton Tigers who are the defending Maritime Jr A Hockey League champions. Two of his former teammates have also represented the Pownal system well. Kris MacDonald just completed his rookie year as a member of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey Leagues PEI Rocket and David MacKenzie is a rugged defenceman with the Charlottetown Jr A Abbies. Pownals Midget success does not stop at the Junior level. In the past couple of years, Pownal has provided the NB-PEI Major Midget AAA Hockey League with several quality players including most recently, Josh Toombs, Evan Perry and Dylan MacDonald. |
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