Jason La Rose
It’s 2013 all over again.
For the second time in franchise history, the Truro Bearcats have earned a place at Canada’s National Junior A Championship. And for the second time, they only need to travel 206 kilometres to get there.
The Bearcats’ lone previous appearance on the national stage came at the 2013 RBC Cup, which was the last time Summerside played host.
With the best from across the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) once again converging on western Prince Edward Island for the 2026 Centennial Cup, presented by Tim Hortons, the Bearcats will represent the Maritime Hockey League (MHL) .
Truro and Summerside have been joined at the hip all season; the Bearcats were even with the Western Capitals atop the MHL standings with 72 points in the regular season, although Summerside earned the top seed for the playoffs based on more regulation wins (29-26).
The teams met six times in the regular season, with Truro winning four. Five of the six were determined by a single goal—two of those needed overtime and another required a shootout.
Then came the South Division final in the postseason, a seven-game battle that saw the Bearcats go up 3-1, only for Summerside to force Game 7, which Truro won 3-2 after the teams combined for four goals in the final 6:48 and went right down to the final buzzer.
Truro rode the momentum to a five-game win over the Edmundston Blizzard, the defending league champions, to win their fifth MHL championship and first since 2017.
Defence was the Bearcats’ calling card; it allowed a league-low 145 goals in 52 regular-season games, with Louca Connolly leading all MHL goaltenders with a 2.69 goals-against average. Sixteen-year-old Sam Berthiaume was the go-to puck-stopper early in the playoffs, fashioning a 1.71 GAA and .947 save percentage through 12 games, but a hand injury prior to Game 1 of the league final put Connolly back between the pipes.
Truro is looking to end a long drought for MHL teams; it has been 24 years since the Halifax Oland Exports won the league’s most recent national title, and only once since then—Summerside in 2013 (as host)—has an MHL team reached the final.
HOW THEY GOT TO SUMMERSIDE
Maritime Hockey League Quarterfinal: defeated Pictou County Crushers 4-1 (6-0, 5-1, 5-1, 3-4, 3-2 2OT) Semifinal: defeated Summerside Western Capitals 4-3 (2-1 OT, 3-1, 0-3, 2-0, 2-4, 1-2, 3-2) Final: defeated Edmundston Blizzard 4-1 (0-4, 4-3, 5-2, 4-3, 5-3)
REGULAR SEASON
Record (W-L-OTL): 34-14-4 (2nd in MHL) Goals for: 194 (8th in MHL) Goals against: 145 (1st in MHL) Power play: 53 for 197 (26.9% – 2nd in MHL) Penalty killing: 122 of 152 (80.3% – 5th in MHL) Longest winning streak: 12 (Nov. 1-Dec. 6)
Top 3 scorers: • Jake Todd (16G 42A 58P – 18th in MHL) • Éli Baillargeon (30G 24A 54P – 19th in MHL) • Callum Aucoin (27G 19A 46P – 33rd in MHL)
PLAYOFFS
Record: 12-5 Goals for: 52 Goals against: 35 Power play: 12 of 70 (17.1%) Penalty killing: 42 of 46 (91.3%)
Top 3 scorers: • Callum Aucoin (11G 4A 15P) • Éli Baillargeon (4G 10A 14P) • Jake Todd (3G 10A 13P)
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
2013 – Truro Bearcats | 5th place | 1-3 | 8GF 31GA
COLLEGE & UNIVERSITY COMMITMENTS
Éli Baillargeon – Université de Sherbrooke (2026-27)
CJHL TOP 20 RANKINGS
Sept. 29 – not ranked Oct. 6 – not ranked Oct. 13 – not ranked Oct. 20 – not ranked Oct. 27 – not ranked Nov. 3 – not ranked Nov. 10 – not ranked Nov. 17 – not ranked Nov. 24 – Honourable Mention Dec. 1 – Honourable Mention Dec. 8 – 19th Dec. 15 – 18th Dec. 22 – 11th Jan. 5 – 18th Jan. 12 – 17th Jan. 19 – Honourable Mention Jan. 26 – Honourable Mention Feb. 2 – Honourable Mention Feb. 9 – 20th Feb. 16 – 20th Feb. 23 – 19th March 2 – 19th March 9 – 19th