Getting ready
Matrix looking to get into Sunday’s Atlantic final as host squad
The Mid-Isle Matrix hosts the Atlantic Major Bantam AAA Hockey Championship in Cornwall starting on Thursday.
The Mid-Isle Matrix is in it to win it this week at the Atlantic Major Bantam AAA Hockey Championship.
The host squad for the fiveteam championship isn’t satisfied with just playing in the event; the players want to win it. “The guys are hungry,” head coach Cory Parsons said. “We feel this is our second chance, and they’re not going to let this slip away.”
The Matrix was eliminated in the first round of the Island playoffs and hasn’t played for about three weeks. That hasn’t changed the squad’s expectation.
“We think we have a competitive team,” Parsons said. “We’re probably the underdog going in as the hosts – we didn’t have to win a provincial championship to get here – but I fully suspect we can compete and hopefully play for gold on Sunday.”
Marc Richard said he is looking forward to the opportunity to play the region’s best teams.
“I think it will be a good challenge,” he said. “I think it’s going to be an amazing experience, one that I will remember for all my life.”
The 14-year-old Clinton native played in the Atlantics last
year with the Prince County Warriors.
“Teams that we’re playing here are nothing like they were in tournaments,” he said. “They’re elite teams, and we need to play our best.” Parsons said the team would lean on its veteran players this week.
It has two second-year goalies in Matt Jelley and Jonah Arbing and a good mix of offence and defence in its blue-liners, led by shutdown defender Joe
MacEachern.
Dixon MacLeod led the league in scoring with 47 points
in 30 games while Landon Clow is also relied on to provide offence.
Kayden MacLeod is the team’s captain
“He’s a hard worker,” Parsons said.
“He’s a type of guy that does everything for us. He blocks shot, gets pucks out, takes hits to make plays, does all the small things very well.”
The top-four teams after the round robin will play in Sunday’s championship game at 1:30 p.m. while the third- and fourth-place squads play for bronze at 10 a.m.