One of the top teams in Major A junior hockey calls Prince Edward Island home. The Summerside Western Capitals play out of Consolidated Credit Union Place, which opened in Summerside in 2007 and, with its capacity of 4,228, is the largest arena in the province. The Western Capitals are members of the Maritime Junior A Hockey League, and are part of the MHL’s EastLink North division alongside five teams from neighboring New Brunswick: the Campbellton Tigers, the Fredericton Red Wings, the Edmundston Blizzard, the Grand Falls Rapids and the Miramichi Timberwolves. The Capitals’ mascot, Colonel Cap, rolled out onto the ice for the first time in early 2020, dressed in the team's red and blue and pumping up the crowd in the stands at Credit Union Place.

History of the Summerside Western Capitals

The Summerside Western Capitals first took the ice in the early 1970s, predating the city of Summerside, PEI, which was incorporated in 1995 after a merger between the town of Summerside and numerous adjacent communities. The Western Capitals name refers to Summerside’s status as the second-largest city and de facto western capital of PEI. The Caps began as members of the Island Junior Hockey League, and won its championship twice (in 1984 and 1986) before the league folded in 1991. Since then, the Caps have been members of the MHL, where they’ve won four league championships, the Fred Page Cup as Eastern Canada’s best Junior A hockey team in 2009, and the Centennial Cup as Canada’s best Junior A team in 1997.

Numerous Western Capitals players have made inroads in the National Hockey League, including current New York Islanders left winger Ross Johnston. Two Caps coaches went on to have success in the NHL: Doug MacLean, whose Florida Panthers appeared in the 1996 Stanley Cup Final, and Gerard Gallant, who was the first coach in Vegas Golden Knights history, and led VGK to the 2018 Stanley Cup Final in their first season of existence. Before the 2019-20 MHL season was cut short, the Caps had compiled an outstanding mark of 42-7-3. For his achievements, coach Billy McGuigan received the 2020 Sport PEI Coach of the Year award for coaching excellence on Prince Edward Island.