Wild opens against Cape Breton
At Atlantic major midget championship tournament
The Kensington Monaghan Farms Wild will open the Atlantic major midget hockey championship against an unfamiliar opponent.
The Wild faces the Nova Scotia-champion Cape Breton West Islanders in Miramichi, N.B., on Thursday for the first time this season.
“If they (Islanders) are not the favourite, they are the 1A favourite,” said Wild assistant Duane Richards. “They are extremely fast, they won it as a group in bantam and they are going to come with a lot of speed.
“We
will have our hands
full, and we will have to make sure our defensive play is at our best.”
The Islanders completed regular-season play in the Nova Scotia Major Midget Hockey League at 31-5-2 (won-lostovertime losses) while Kensington went 16-15-4 in the New Brunswick/P.E.I. Major Midget Hockey League.
“Nova Scotia always comes hard,” said Wild rookie defenceman Ethan Beaulieu, who recorded 11 points in 33 regular-season games.
First season
Beaulieu, who described his first season with the Wild as a “great experience,” is expecting tough competition.
“It’s a lot faster hockey,” assessed Beaulieu, 15. “We have to go at it with more intensity, hit harder and play with heart.”
The Wild clinched P.E.I.’s title against Charlottetown in Game 7 Saturday.
“We will have had a couple of hard practices to get us going,” said Wild sophomore forward Coleton Perry.
And what will the Wild need to do for success?
“We just need to play our game, get pucks deep and outwork the opponent,” answered Perry, 16. “There is going to be a lot of skill over there, but hard work beats skill when skill is not working hard.”