CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Lukas Cormier will be sidelined for at least the next month after blocking a shot Saturday in Saint John, N.B.
The injury didn't require surgery, but the Charlottetown Islanders’ 17-year-old dynamic defenceman was in a walking boot Tuesday morning at the team’s practice. The team has said he is out four to six weeks.
While disappointed with the news, Cormier is remaining positive.
“I’m sure it’s going to be pretty hard. I’m going to try to listen to what everybody has to say and concentrate on the process,” he said. “I can’t remember the last time I wasn’t on the ice for six weeks, so I think it’s going to be tough, for sure, but I’m going to fight through it.”
The Sainte-Marie-de-Kent, N.B., native has four goals and 11 assists this season and is tied with forwards Nikita Alexandrov and Kevin Gursoy for the team lead in points with 15.
Cormier said the team has been very supportive and he will do what is needed to be ready to rejoin the squad when cleared to play.
“They want the best for me and that’s what a team is all about,” he said. “I’m going to stay here and work on my upper-body strength and do everything I can to get better and be stronger when I come back.”
Islanders’ captain Brendon Clavelle is also out for this weekend’s road trip with an upper-body injury sustained against the Cape Breton Eagles on Oct. 16.
It makes Charlottetown really young on the back end with four first-year players in 16-year-old Oscar Plandowski and a trio of 17-year-olds in Anthony Hamel, William Trudeau and Dell Welton, who has been called up from the Truro Bearcats of the junior A loop.
“Every team goes through it. We’re going to hit some adversity and find out what we're really made of,” Islanders head coach Jim Hulton. “You try not to dump too much on first-year players, but they’re going to get accelerated in a hurry here.”
“We have trust in everybody here and I think it's a good opportunity for the younger guys to show what they (can) do,” Laaouan said. “They have been really steady for us this year.”The Islanders enter the week with the second-best record in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League at 9-1-3-0. They will lean more on 19-year-old Xavier Bernard and 18-year-old Noah Laaouan with the injuries on the back end.
The team might have to play less aggressively on the back end and will need to stay out of penalty trouble, particularly to their two veteran blue-liners.
Laaouan can often be overlooked playing next to Cormier, but he has been a physical presence and has shown poise with the puck to begin the season.
“He’s had a fantastic start. He’s arguably been our most consistent player,” Hulton said.
Laaouan will get an opportunity to step into the point position on the first power-play unit, but the Isles don’t want him to change his game too much.
“I think I have been playing good hockey so far and I don't want to get away from that,” he said.
The Islanders ran some of their forwards through drills as defencemen during Monday and Tuesday’s practice to give them some options in case they have to deploy someone back there during the upcoming Quebec road trip. The Islanders visit Blainville-Boisbriand on Thursday, Rouyn-Noranda on Saturday and Val-d’Or Sunday.
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