CB Sport Hall of Fame

05/15/2026

Meet our final 2026 inductee, the St. Peter’s District High School Volleyball Team, 1971-72.

School enrolment numbers can dictate which division high school teams participate in across the province, allowing schools of equal student numbers to compete against each other to level the playing field. Underlying this is the notion that bigger schools have more resources, including teacher-coaches and athletes from the student body. It’s not often a team in a ‘B’ school would be allowed to compete against a bigger school in the ‘A’ division. But in the village of St. Peter’s that is exactly what happened in the 1971-72 school year.

In 1969-70, under the capable leadership of coach Kelvin Digout, the St. Peter’s District High School boys’ volleyball team advanced through local and regional championships to win the provincial ‘B’ school championship. The following school year, 1970-71, was a repeat success and the reputation of the team became known province-wide.

Recognizing the skill level he had on his ‘B’ team, Coach Digout felt they could play against the bigger ‘A’ schools that theoretically had more talent. The governing body of the day allowed the move up, based on the teams previous two years success, and the talented players, including Leslie Sampson and Clair Rankin, proved Coach Digout right.

The 1971-72 school year allowed the little school near the canal to compete against much bigger high schools such as Coxheath’s Riverview and John H. Gillis from Antigonish. After a successful season with wins over many larger schools, the boys from St. Peter’s reached the provincial finals held at Canadian Forces Base Stadacona.

The finals saw St. Peter’s District High take on the formidable Windsor Regional High School boys’ team. The St. Peter’s squad hit the hardwood with determination and beat the boys from Windsor, 15-4 and 15-11 to win the provincial championship finals.

Winning two ‘B’ school championships, a terrific feat in itself, followed by a provincial win by a small school in the much bigger ‘A’ division is a remarkable success and it led to more students wanting to participate in volleyball in future years.

With the school and community’s support behind them, the St. Peter’s District High School Volleyball team of 1971-72, proved that a little place can win big.

If you'd like to join us in celebrating all of this year's inductees, the 2026 Cape Breton Sports Hall of Fame Induction ceremony will take place on Saturday, June 6, at Centre 200. Tickets are $50 and can be purchased by phoning Carol Miller at 902-562-0849 or Mackie MacIntyre at 902-564-1048.

05/14/2026

Our first inductee in the Team category is the Riverview Redmen Hockey Team, 1972-73.

The fierce rivalry between the Riverview Redmen and Sydney Academy Wildcats that began in 1970 included three successive Cape Breton High School Hockey League Championship wins for the Redmen. This ultimately led to three consecutive Provincial hockey championships, a remarkable feat.

In the final of the three monumental seasons for the Riverview Redmen, there were four players who played on all three teams: 1972-73, 1970-71 and 1971-72 - Paul Gallagher, Gary Lewis, Lloyd MacSween and Tim Byrne. In total, 39 young men played for the Redmen over the legendary three-year period. In 2025, the first two Redmen teams were invested into the Cape Breton Sport Hall of Fame.

In the 1972-73 season, Riverview bested Sydney Mines High in the semi-finals, then faced their arch-rivals, Sydney Academy in a three-game series. Academy won the first game by a score of 5-2, while Riverview nipped them 4-3 in the second. In the tie breaker, Riverview needed four third period goals to defeat the Academy by a score of 8-5. In the process they captured their third straight Cape Breton High School Championship.

Next up was New Glasgow in a home-and-home, two-game, total goal series. Riverview won the first game in New Glasgow by a score of 4-2 and then defeated the mainland team 3-2 at the Sydney Forum. Riverview then faced the highly ranked Windsor High team for provincial honours.

Windsor won the first game of the total goal two-game series at home by a score of 7-5. In the final game, played in Sydney, Riverview was down 1-0 early in the game. By the end of the second it was tied 2-2. Skill and opportunities were on their side and a third period flurry of four goals gave them a 6-3 victory, winning the series by a score of 11-10.

Riverview retained their Nova Scotia Interscholastic “A” Hockey title for a third straight year and solidified their three-year reign over the Province as one of the greatest runs in Nova Scotia high school hockey history. To honour their coach, Bob MacKenzie, players from the 1971 to 1973 teams established a scholarship for Riverview graduates to attend Cape Breton University. It continues to today.

If you'd like to join us in celebrating all of this year's inductees, the 2026 Cape Breton Sports Hall of Fame Induction ceremony will take place on Saturday, June 6, at Centre 200. Tickets are $50 and can be purchased by phoning Carol Miller at 902-562-0849 or Mackie MacIntyre at 902-564-1048.

05/13/2026

Our next inductee is Barry Verbeski.

Barry Verbeski is a retired school teacher and vice-principal who throughout his career taught all grades from elementary through high school. According to nominator, Harvey Kelloway, Verbeski personified fair play and teamwork in the classroom and the playing arena. “Whether he realized it or not, Barry was a role model for students and athletes, through his leadership skills, fairness, equality and honesty.”

Detailing Verbeski’s contribution to sport and the development of young athletes in his hometown of Glace Bay and beyond would take several pages. To highlight just a few, as a coach, Verbeski helped achieve 11 tournament championships for the Glace Bay High School (GBHS) hockey team and brought them to 10 provincial playoffs.

He co-founded the GBHS Panther Hockey classic in 1997, a tournament that still exists today. In baseball, he coached the high school team to seven Cape Breton Division 1 Championships and one provincial title. Between 1976-1981 he coached St. Anne’s Junior High to five Glace Bay Junior High softball titles.

Verbeski founded the Glace Bay Sports Heritage Calendar that was produced from 2012-2022 and old copies are still in demand by sports fans and collectors. They are literally a paper warehouse of amazing sports accomplishments and photographs of many local heroes.

As ‘Glace Bay’s sport historian,’ he has gathered numerous pieces of sports memorabilia, including championship trophies, clothing, team photos, congratulatory certificates and scrapbooks, and donated them to the Glace Bay Old Town Hall Sports Museum.

Verbeski was a founding member and served for many years on the coordinating committee of the Cape Breton Sport Heritage Awards. He was also responsible for writing the biographies for inductees of the Cape Breton Sport Hall of Fame. He has recommended over 30 inductees to various halls of fame throughout the Maritime provinces, including many to the Cape Breton Sport Hall of Fame, for which he is now a member.

Verbeski has volunteered his time to serve on numerous boards, including the Glace Bay Recreational Society and the legendary Vince Ryan Memorial Hockey Tournament.

His volunteer work knows no bounds. As a Cape Breton Sport Hall of Fame inductee, Barry can now add this accolade to the list of his many accomplishments, including his first one, a ‘Typical Little Leaguer’ trophy, awarded to him in 1958.

If you'd like to join us in celebrating all of this year's inductees, the 2026 Cape Breton Sports Hall of Fame Induction ceremony will take place on Saturday, June 6, at Centre 200. Tickets are $50 and can be purchased by phoning Carol Miller at 902-562-0849 or Mackie MacIntyre at 902-564-1048.

05/12/2026

Our first inductee in the Builders category is Brad Jacobs.

It would be hard pressed for anyone in Cape Breton not to have crossed paths with Sydney’s Brad Jacobs, or at least know of some of the contributions he has made to sport in the local area and beyond.

According to his nominator, Brad Rowe, “Jacobs has made an exceptional and sustained contribution to the promotion, development, and advancement of sport in Cape Breton over more than four decades.” Jacobs reach, guidance and influence spans grassroots, university, senior, provincial and national levels as a volunteer leader, program founder, administrator and mentor.

Some of the many activities and roles Jacobs has had in the past 40 years include, head coach and mentor across many levels of baseball, including provincial teams and as the founder of the first University College of Cape Breton baseball team, president of the Nova Scotia Senior Baseball League, and two-time Nova Scotia representative at the Canada Games. In 1999, Jacobs was part of the Nova Scotia Mission staff to the Canada Games that won the Claude Hardy Award as top mission staff.

Baseball may be considered his main game but Jacobs has also played a role in other sports as well, including serving 13 consecutive seasons in minor hockey, was the accreditation coordinator for the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Junior Hockey Championship held in Sydney and Halifax in 2003-2004 and volunteer recruiting chair for the 2004 IIHF World Women’s Hockey Championship in Halifax.

On the national level Jacobs has been a video coach and scouting coordinator for the Montreal Expos and participated in a Toronto Blue Jays coaching clinic. As CEO of the Cape Breton Regional Hospital Foundation he helped raise $650,000 through the Because You Care Cup Road Hockey Event and has raised over $1,000,000 from numerous golf tournaments, including the Mike Weir Tournament that made over $300,000.

This is only a sample of what makes Brad Jacobs one of the best builders of sport in Cape Breton and beyond. Yet his greatest accolade might be pitching several no-hitters with his Alexandra Street minor baseball team during their three-year championship run from 1984-86.

If you'd like to join us in celebrating all of this year's inductees, the 2026 Cape Breton Sports Hall of Fame Induction ceremony will take place on Saturday, June 6, at Centre 200. Tickets are $50 and can be purchased by phoning Carol Miller at 902-562-0849 or Mackie MacIntyre at 902-564-1048.

05/11/2026

Meet our next 2026 Inductee, Jim MacMaster.

The general consensus when reading Jim MacMaster’s nomination was, “This is a slam dunk.” Retired Inverness Physical Education teacher, Bryan Sutherland, wrote, “It is very difficult to select a category in which to nominate Jim. In a lifetime of sport, he has excelled as an individual, as a valued teammate, and as a builder.”

Hailing from the town of Inverness, Jim MacMaster is considered to be the best all-around athlete, among many, to come from there. There are not many sports he did not excel at, take part in or help organize.

In 1970, MacMaster helped propel Inverness High School’s boys’ basketball team to the Cape Breton and Nova Scotia Provincial championships and garnered the award for Most Valuable Player (MVP) of that season. The following year his team won the Cape Breton championship again, setting the stage for a total of 12 consecutive Cape Breton championships.

During high school, MacMaster was awarded MVP five times for basketball, track and field and volleyball. He was Male Athlete of the Year twice. At university he played three years with the St. Francis Xavier Men’s Varsity Basketball Team.

In the 1970’s, MacMaster played hockey in the Inverness Town and County Senior Hockey League, winning the championship and being selected MVP twice. He coached the Inverness High School hockey team to a Provincial ‘A’ championship in 1981. He played fastball in the Inverness County League for four years.

While working in Calgary, MacMaster coached basketball, volleyball, track and field, hockey and football for many years, and umpired little league for five years. He was the head coach of many team sports for periods ranging from seven to 10 years.

Jim MacMaster also won many golf club championships over the years. He has represented Nova Scotia in the Maritimes and National Senior Golf Championships and won both the Nova Scotia Senior and Super Senior Golf titles in 2018 and 2019. A feat no other Cape Breton golfer has achieved. In 2025, he was the Seniors Champion at Le Portage in Cheticamp. Knowing Jim, he is not finished yet.

If you'd like to join us in celebrating all of this year's inductees, the 2026 Cape Breton Sports Hall of Fame Induction ceremony will take place on Saturday, June 6, at Centre 200. Tickets are $50 and can be purchased by phoning Carol Miller at 902-562-0849 or Mackie MacIntyre at 902-564-1048.

05/09/2026

Over the next few days, we'll be telling you a little more about this year's Cape Breton Sport Hall of Fame inductees. Up first, Frank William "Flash" Hollett.

Frank William ‘Flash’ Hollett was born in North Sydney in 1911. He moved to the Toronto area with his family at a young age and soon got immersed in the world of hockey, leading to a long stint in the National Hockey League.

His professional career began with the Syracuse Stars in the International Hockey League in 1932. In the 1933-34 season he made it to the big show playing defense with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Over the next 18 seasons, Hollett played 15 years in the NHL on four teams, as well as three seasons in other leagues.

Hollett won two Stanley Cups with the Boston Bruins in 1939 and 1941, and was a first-team All-Star and voted fourth in Hart Trophy nominations with the Detroit Red Wings in 1945. He was the first defenseman to score 20 goals in a season in 1945; a record not surpassed until Bobby Orr came along in 1969. Hollett did it in fewer games as well.

Notable about his two Stanley Cups wins is the fact the Bruins only gave up one win in both series; 4-1 over Toronto in 1939-40 and 4-0 over Detroit in 1940-41. No doubt a testament to defensive play.

Among Nova Scotian born point getters, Hollett ranks twelfth in the regular season and ninth in the playoffs. Eighty-two players from Nova Scotia have played in the NHL, and Hollett’s rank of twelfth in points is behind the likes of superstars and recent Olympians, Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon and Brad Marchand.

Based on the numbers it’s unlikely any Nova Scotian playing now can surpass Hollett, and this is testament to his hockey greatness as both an offensive and defensive player, something desired, but rare, in the NHL of today.

Hollett finished his hockey career in 1950, helping the Toronto Marlboros win the Allan Cup, the emblematic senior hockey championship in Canada. Hollett is the only NHL player from Cape Breton to have won two Stanley Cups. A feat that may never be surpassed.

If you'd like to join us in celebrating all of this year's inductees, the 2026 Cape Breton Sports Hall of Fame Induction ceremony will take place on Saturday, June 6, at Centre 200. Tickets are $50 and can be purchased by phoning Carol Miller at 902-562-0849 or Mackie MacIntyre at 902-564-1048.

05/08/2026

We are pleased to announce the 2026 Inductees into the Cape Breton Sports Hall of Fame.

Cape Breton Island has a long and storied sporting history that continues to grow year after year. As part of that, Cape Breton has produced some of Canada’s most decorated and successful athletes and sports leaders. Each year the Cape Breton Sport Hall of Fame recognizes the accomplishments and contributions of these athletes, teams and builders both acknowledging and adding to the important history of Cape Breton Sport. This year, six new additions will be inducted into the Hall of Fame, adding to the growing number of Cape Breton’s finest already inducted.

This year’s inductees include:

Athletes:
Jim MacMaster – multi-sport (Basketball, hockey, fastball, golf, track)
Frank “Flash” Hollett – Hockey

Builders:
Barry Verbeski
Brad Jacobs

Teams:
1972-1973 Riverview Redmen Hockey Team
1971-1972 St. Peter’s District High School Boys Volleyball Team

The Allan Joseph Memorial Award recipient is Wallace Bernard Memorial Native Youth Hockey Tournament. Allan Joseph was a highly-respected humanitarian and community leader who was well-known as an exceptional athlete and coach. This award is given annually to an individual or community group that exemplifies Allan’s spirit and dedication to sport and community.

“These athletes showcase the talent, dedication and love of sport that is so prevalent here in Cape Breton, putting the spotlight on their skills, their sport, and our treasured island,” says Carol Miller, Chair of the Cape Breton Sport Heritage Awards Committee. “We need people to continue to nominate worthy individuals each year so the process can continue, allowing the documented history of sport in Cape Breton to continue to grow.”

The 2026 Cape Breton Sport Hall of Fame Induction ceremony will take place on Saturday, June 6, 2026 at Centre 200. Tickets are $50, and can be purchased by phoning Carol Miller at 902-562-0849 or Mackie MacIntyre at 902-564-1048.

04/30/2026

04/16/2026

Announcing the 2026 Inductees and Allan Joseph Award Recipient