Good effort, but no wins
Wildcats drop two weekend matches on home ice
A couple of hot goaltenders shut down the Valley Junior A Wildcats last weekend.
Thompson Phinney got his first Maritime Hockey League shutout as Valley dropped a 7 – 0 decision to the Yarmouth Mariners Nov. 3 in Berwick.
The Wildcats took an early twogoal lead over the Truro Bearcats Nov. 4 at the Apple Dome, but ended up on the wrong end of a 5 – 3 decision.
Matt Warner, Makail Parker and Matthew Hermary provided the goals for Valley, but after Truro netminder Derrick Hucul allowed three goals on 12 shots, Truro head coach Shawn Evans had seen enough. Hucul was replaced in the net with former Halifax Mooseheads goalie Kevin Resop. The Bearcats responded well to the change, and Resop stopped all 16 shots he faced as Truro completed the comeback, scoring an empty net goal late to ensure the win.
Despite the loss, Wildcats head coach Travis Young was happy with the improved effort.
“I liked our effort tonight,” says Young. “We got off to a great start; they kind of turned it on in the second period. I liked our fight. At 4–3, we had some opportunities in the third period. We capitalize on one of those it’s a different game.”
Young says that’s the message right now. The team has been close; it’s just a matter of working hard, finishing and capitalizing on opportunities.
“We just have to string 60 minutes together. That’s one of the big learning curves. We’ve got a young team with a lot of young guys new to playing at this level. We’ve got to improve as a group and be in there all the time; put that same effort in for 60 minutes every day, every practice.”
Still dealing with a few injuries throughout the lineup, Valley welcomed back, and then lost, new faces in their defence corps over the weekend. Hunter Mctague was acquired by the Wildcats from Campbellton, NB in the preseason, but has been sidelined due to injury since August. Mctague played his first games of the season for Valley, providing a lot of energy, and even dropping the gloves with Yarmouth Mariner tough guy, and Kentville native, Duncan Mckie.
At the same time, Newfoundland native Matthew O’leary returned to the Wildcat lineup after missing about a month due to injury. His return lasted just over a period before going down with another upper body injury.
“It’s tough for Matt,” says Young. “We thought really highly of him. He has a real good skill set that we could really be using right now. Hopefully it’s not a long term thing, and we can get him back out there sooner rather than later.”
The Junior A Wildcats also called up Sam Henderson and Robbie Dowell from the major midget squad for some action this weekend. Young praised both young men for fitting seamlessly into the lineup.
Sam and Robbie were probably our most effective guys, which is a credit to them. Any time they’ve come in, if they weren’t wearing a cage you’d never know they were a midget kid called up. They work hard and do the little things right. They add a good spark and jump.”
The Wildcats hit the road this week, visiting the County Aces in St. Stephen, New Brunswick Nov. 9 and playing the Slammers in Woodstock, New Brunswick on Nov. 10.
“It’ll be good to get the guys together on the road,” says Young. “That’s where you build those bonds and that team chemistry that you need. It’s a good opportunity for us. We had success against St. Stephen. Those are games that we need to take advantage of if we want to start climbing up the standings.”