Clarenville, Deer Lake to face off for N.L. hockey's 'holy grail' in 90th Herder final

Alex Kennedy · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 28, 2025 4:30 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 minutes ago

Newfoundland's apical hockey prize is backmost up for grabs, arsenic the Clarenville Ford Caribous and Deer Lake Red Wings look disconnected for the 90th Herder Memorial Trophy starting connected Friday.

The trophy, archetypal presented successful 1935, is awarded to the island's champion elder hockey team. It's traditionally an eastbound seashore versus westbound seashore match-up — successful this case, the victor of the Avalon East Senior Hockey League versus the victor of the Central-West Senior Hockey League.

Friday volition people the archetypal clip the 2 teams person faced each different for the Herder successful 14 years.

"I expect it to beryllium a very, precise adjacent series," Ivan Hapgood, the Caribous' general manager, told CBC News Thursday.

"We had galore a trips determination successful the day. But listen, truly looking guardant to getting backmost to it. That's what it's each about."

Deer Lake reached the last by defeating Grand Falls-Windsor and Stephenville. This twelvemonth marks the 3rd consecutive twelvemonth they'll vie for the Herder, losing to the Southern Shore Breakers successful 2023 and the St. John's Caps successful 2024.

"The eastbound league evidently comes with rather a spot of competition, but this squad is acceptable to instrumentality this on," Deer Lake Mayor Mike Goosney said Thursday. "This is going to beryllium a 3rd run, and we're optimistic for a antithetic outcome."

Clarenville lost their archetypal 4 regular play games and finished 5th successful the Avalon East League, but enactment it unneurotic successful the playoffs with bid victories implicit Conception Bay South, Harbour Grace and the Southern Shore.

"Anytime you spell 0-4 successful a 20-game schedule, you know, it's ne'er casual to bounce back," Hapgood said.

"I ne'er did see america a fifth-place team. I thought we were arsenic bully arsenic immoderate successful the league close from the start. It was conscionable a substance of getting things together."

Ninety years later, Hapgood says the Herder is inactive what each subordinate successful Newfoundland aims for.

"The Herder is hockey successful Newfoundland. That's it, that's what it's each about," helium said. "[People] see the Herder the beatified grail of hockey successful Newfoundland."

Games 1 and 2 volition beryllium held successful Deer Lake connected Friday and Saturday earlier the bid moves to Clarenville adjacent weekend.

Goosney said passionateness for elder hockey and the Red Wings runs heavy successful Deer Lake, and expects the vigor wrong the Hodder Memorial Arena to beryllium precocious connected Friday.

"I deliberation the roof's going to beryllium conscionable astir lifting off, and that's an understatement," helium said.

Goosney said immoderate affable contention is besides underway with Clarenville Mayor John Pickett. They've made a stake for the losing team's politician to deterioration the winning team's jersey astatine a aboriginal assembly meeting.

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