SUMMERSIDE – It has taken a while, but the Summerside D. Alex MacDonald Ford Western Capitals and Truro Bearcats will finally face each other.
The two teams will meet for the first time in the 2017-18 MHL (Maritime Junior Hockey League) regular season on Sunday. Puck drop at Eastlink Arena is 6 p.m.
“I expect it to be a fast game as both teams are going to try and make a good first impression on each other,” said Caps’ first-year forward Josh MacDonald. “If we can get on them early, and keep on them all game long, will be key.”
It will be the first of three meetings between the Caps and Bearcats between now and Saturday, Feb. 24, when the teams clash in a Summerside home game at the Tignish Credit Union Arena. The Caps make their lone visit to Truro on Friday, Jan. 19.
Click here for story on Western Capitals' rookie forward Josh MacDonald:
Important points
There’s a lot at stake for both teams in these matchups. The Caps, who are 16-12-1-0 (won-lost-overtime losses-shootout losses), were one point ahead of both the Campbellton Tigers (15-12-2-0) and Miramichi Timberwolves (14-10-2-2) in the Eastlink North Division.
“There are a lot of teams up there, and every game is going to matter,” reasoned MacDonald. “You don’t want to be looking back wishing you had won that game in overtime later if you are one point out.”
The Bearcats, who are the defending Kent Cup champions, entered Friday’s home game are 14-14-0-1. Truro currently holds the fourth and final playoff berth in the Eastlink South Division, four points up on the Pictou County Crushers (11-13-2-1) and six back of the third-place Amherst Ramblers (13-5-4-5).
“I expect a very structured defensive-sound (Truro) team,” said Caps head coach Billy McGuigan. “(Bearcats head coach) Shawn Evans is a great coach, and usually his teams play a strong systematic game.”
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Read in rookie season
Tayler Read of Wilmot Valley is in his rookie season with the Bearcats.
Read, who was drafted by the Bearcats in the fourth round of the 2017 MHL Entry Draft, entered Friday’s play with eight points – four goals and four assists – in 23 regular-season games.
Read played the three previous seasons with the Kyle Dunn-coached Kensington Monaghan Farms Wild of the New Brunswick/P.E.I. Major Midget Hockey League, and was team captain for the 2016-17 campaign.
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