Eyes on the prize
Islanders to take on the country’s best at Telus Cup
It’s been a season of highs and lows for goaltender Colten Ellis.
The 16-year-old netminder for the Cape Breton West Islanders had a solid start to 2016-17, as his team was the class of the Nova Scotia Eastlink Major Midget Hockey League in the standings. Ellis was then called up to the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, and won two Quebec Major Junior Hockey League starts.
But in early November, the River Denys puckstopper felt like he was hit by more than just a slapshot. Feeling extreme fatigue one night before practice, he was diagnosed with mono the next day. Ellis sat out November and most of December, but says it only made him hungrier to return.
“I don’t think I left the house for two weeks straight,” said Ellis. “It made me that much more eager to get back on the ice and start playing again.”
But Ellis and his Islanders teammates will look to end the season on a high in Prince George, B.C., next week. They’ll compete at the 2017 Telus Cup national major midget hockey championship starting Monday.
“Our team, we’re gathered from rural areas so you never know going up to the big stage to nationals,” said Ellis. “You never know how everybody else is going to do, but you have to prepare for each game the same and take it one game at a time.”
The Islanders have already put together quite the season.
They captured the league championship, followed by an Atlantic title, both firsts for the franchise. Their Atlantic banner victory on April 2 in Miramichi, N.B., was the first for a Cape Breton team since the Cape Breton Jeans Experts won in 1999.
The Islanders will be joined at the Telus Cup tournament by the Cariboo Cougars (host), the Saint-François Blizzard (Quebec), Mississauga Rebels (Central), Regina Pat Canadians (West) and Leduc Oil Kings (Pacific).
Cape Breton West head coach Kyle MacDonald said the layoff since Atlantics was a benefit to his team, but was impressed with the intensity the players showed in practice once they got back on the ice.
“I think we needed that welldeserved rest after a tough Atlantic tournament in Miramichi,” he said. “The guys were banged up, stiff and sore naturally, so the week off was great for us.”
MacDonald said his team will have “their limits pushed” in
Prince George.
“There’s a real belief around our team that we can do well at this tournament and have a realistic chance at winning it,” he said. “We don’t know a lot about the competition, but we know a lot about our own group. When we’re at our best, we’ll be a very tough team to beat. It’s exciting.”
The top four teams after the round robin move on to the semifinals on April 29. The bronze and gold-medal games are slated for April 30. The final will be broadcast on TSN2 at 7 p.m.
The only Cape Breton team to ever medal at nationals was the Cape Breton Colonels, who took home a bronze medal from the 1982 event when it was known as the Air Canada Cup.