Charlottetown Abbies
The Charlottetown Abbies had a number of iterations over the years, and were one of the very first hockey teams on Prince Edward Island (PEI). Way back in 1897 the Abegweits played in the inaugural PEI senior championship. Abegweit is the native Mi'kmaq Nation's word for PEI, meaning "cradled on the waves".Â
Years later in the 1970s, the Abbies were created as a Junior 'A' team playing locally in the PEI junior hockey league. The team would eventually gain entry into the Maritime Junior A League, which included teams from the maritimes outside of just PEI. These Abbies played 14 seasons in the MJHL and for a time were coached by PEI legend Forbes Kennedy. Mark Flood is a Abbies alum who made the NHL.Â
The high point for the MJHL Abbies was 1999, when the team they became only the fourth PEI team to compete for what was then known as the Royal Bank Cup, the championship of Junior A in Canada. That year they amassed an amazing 57 wins in 70 regular season games. The Abbies would make it all the way to the cup finals before losing to the Vernon Vipers.Â
