Added motivation
Bailey Webster thinking of his former defence partner, Oliver Felixson, on eve of QMJHL final
Bailey Webster and his Saint John Sea Dogs teammates have extra motivation to win the President Cup.
The Kelvin Grove, P.E.I., native’s defence partner, Oliver Felixson, was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in March. He returned home to Finland to receive cancer treatments.
“I really want to win it, especially for him,” Webster said Thursday. “We use it as motivation.”
The Sea Dogs start the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League final with the BlainvilleBoisbriand Armada today in Saint John, N.B. Game time is 7 p.m.
Webster, the six-foot-three, 214-pound blue-liner, has played three seasons with the Sea Dogs. Teammates still with the squad from his rookie year include Summerside native Spencer Smallman, Nathan
Noel, Mathieu Joseph, Thomas Chabot, Samuel Dove-McFalls, Jakub Zboril, Matthew Highmore, Bokondji Imama and Matthew Green.
“It’s nice when you know you’ve come all the way up with those guys. We’re a really close team,” said Webster, who turns 20 in September.
“We’ve been working hard towards this, putting in full seasons and countless hours of office and on-ice (training) and it’ll be really exciting (to play in the) final,” he added. “We all wanted to get here, that’s why we’re on
the team – we all love to win.” After sweeping their opponents in the first two rounds of the playoffs, the Sea Dogs dropped two games to the Chicoutimi Sagueneens in the semifinal. It looked like the series might go seven games with the Sea Dogs trailing 5-3 with 15 minutes to go in Sunday’s Game 6. Saint John responded with three goals in about seven minutes to eliminate the Sagueneens.
“We went up to Chicoutimi with the mindset that it’s like a Game 7,” Webster said. “That’s how we’re going to treat this series – play every game like it’s a Game 7.”
There are a couple of other Island connections with the Sea Dogs. Charlottetown native Tyler Jay is an equipment manager with the team, and defenceman David Comeau played with the Charlottetown Islanders. Smallman was born in Summerside and raised in Fredericton, N.B. He was a baby when his father, Stacy, helped the Summerside Western Capitals win the 1997 Royal Bank Cup Canadian junior A title. Webster said the Sea Dogs have to play disciplined and stick to their game plan to have success against the Armada.
“It’s been a long week waiting for tomorrow night to come,” Jay added on Thursday. “It’s going to be an electric atmosphere here at Harbour Station. ..
“Blainville is a tough team, they’ve got a hot goalie, (so) it’s going to be fun.”