HIGH EXPECTATIONS
Junior Miners, Pirates expected to be contenders in NSJHL
Junior Miners, Pirates expected to be contenders in NSJHL.
The Kameron Junior Miners will look to build off the success of last year when they open the Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League season this weekend.
The Junior Miners, who captured the NSJHL and Don Johnson Memorial Cup championships last year, will begin its title defence on home ice against the Liverpool Privateers at the Membertou Sport and Wellness Centre on Saturday. Puck drop is 7:30 p.m.
Although the team is still riding high from last year’s championship win, the Junior Miners are hoping the experience will lead them to more success this year.
“I don’t think we have any pressure on us (as defending champions), but I think it’s one of those things that we have to put in our back pocket and focus on the new year,” said newly named head coach and general manager Sean Ferguson.
“We want to build our own legacy this year and I think this group is excited to compete at that level again and we’re confident that we can get there.”
The Junior Miners, who finished in first place in the Sid Rowe Division with a 26-6-0-2 record last season, will have 17 returning players from last year’s team, including newly named captain Brandon Farrell, brother of former Cape Breton Screaming Eagle Kyle Farrell, and Daniel Reid.
“We have a good returning core back, so we’re going to be a fast team, stingy defensively and good in goal,” said Ferguson, who was an assistant coach with the team last year, before recently replacing Ryan MacDougall as the club’s head coach.
“We have four lines that we can put on the ice at any time and all of our defence pairings will be able to go on the ice at any time, not to mention we have two good goaltenders in Kaine Drake and Seth Crowe.”
In Port Hawkesbury, the Strait Pirates also have high expectations for the new season.
The Pirates finished fourth in the Sid Rowe Division last season with a 14-16-3-1 record and were swept in the first round of the league playoffs by the Junior Miners in four games.
“It was a rebuilding year for us,” said head coach Taylor Lambke, a former Quebec Major Junior Hockey League player who enters his second year as the Pirates’ bench boss.
“We made a lot of moves to build the team for this year and next year and I think for us, the goal is to win the division in the regular season and win the championship in the playoffs.”
Along with acquiring goaltender Cody Smith of Glace Bay last season, the Pirates added former Cape Breton West Islanders captain Liam MacKinnon and Brendan Lanning during the off-season to improve the club’s blue-line.
“I think we’re going to be a fun and exciting group to watch,” said Lambke. “We want to establish an identity of being a hard-working team every night, making sure that we stay consistent throughout the entire season.”
On Wednesday, the Junior Miners and Pirates announced a trade.
The Junior Miners sent forwards Brandon Dauphinee and Jacob Keagan to the Pirates for forward Cody Hinkley, Ryan Lawless, a 2019 wavier pick and future considerations.
The Pirates will open the regular season tonight against the Liverpool Privateers. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m. at the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre.