‘I WANT TO EARN MY WAY’
O’Neil scores twice as Eagles blank Mooseheads 4-0
O’Neil scores twice as Eagles blank Mooseheads.
With a pair of goals in a 4-0 win over the Halifax Mooseheads on Wednesday, Logan O’Neil is making a strong case for a spot on the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles roster.
O’Neil ripped the opening goal of the game from the slot and added an insurance tally in the third period in the Cape Breton victory, played in front of 943 fans at the County Recreation Centre.
“It was good playing in front of the hometown crowd and all the boys got into it,” said O’Neil, 17, in his second training camp with the Screaming Eagles. He was named the game’s first star.
O’Neil was called up for one game with the Screaming Eagles last season, but spent most of the 2015-16 campaign with the Cape Breton Tradesmen of the Nova Scotia EastLink Major Midget Hockey League. He led the team with 44 points (20 goals, 24 assists) in 38 games.
This time around, O’Neil said he’s worked on his all-around game in a bid to crack the Screaming Eagles lineup. He believes going back to midget helped him improve his play away from the puck.
“I’m just going to go out every night and work hard,” he said. “They have a lot of spots open this year and I want to earn my way on the team.”
Vasily Glotov, the Russian forward selected by Cape Breton in the first round of this year’s import draft, ripped a nice shot of his own for a second-period tally and added an assist. Nineteen-year-old veteran Yannik Bertrand also scored, shovelling home a loose puck in the crease on the power play. Jacob Hickey and Anthony Beauchamp had two assists apiece.
The goaltending tandem of Kevin Mandolese and Colten Ellis combined for the shutout. Mandolese, the team’s firstround pick in 2016, was the busier of the two, making 24 stops. Ellis, a 2016 fourth-round pick from Whycocomagh, also put in a solid effort by making 10 stops.
“I think the competitiveness was great,” said Screaming Eagles head coach and general manager Marc-André Dumont. “We had a lot of 16-year-olds in the lineup. We had three guys with major-junior experience in the lineup.
“It was good to see them compete. I was very satisfied with the group of defencemen. All 13 have had a great camp and it’ll be a very difficult decision on defence.”
Mooseheads netminder Alexis Gravel made 16 saves in the loss.
Training camp continues today at the County Recreation Centre with practices running all day. Cape Breton plays its next exhibition game in Saint John against the Sea Dogs on Friday at 7 p.m.
The hockey staff plans to name a final roster on Monday.
*For a camp roster and schedule, see page B3.