Wild on top
Kensington has chance to take stranglehold on first place this weekend
The Kensington Wild, the first-place team in the New Brunswick/P.E.I. Major Midget League right now, has two games scheduled for the weekend.
A huge opportunity awaits the Kensington Monaghan Farms Wild this weekend. The Wild, weather permitting, is scheduled to play a pair of games, and four points would give them a stranglehold on first place in the New Brunswick/P.E.I. Major Midget Hockey League. The Wild, who is 18-5-1 (won-lost-overtime losses), travels to Bathurst, N.B., to take on the Northern Moose (7-11-3) on Friday night, and the second-place Moncton Flyers (15-6-2) visit Community Gardens for the second week in a row on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
“They are always tough games when we play them, back and forth. We just want to stick to our systems like we have the last two games.” Wild forward Dixon MacLeod of Cornwall
“It’s going to be a hard one, just like last week,” said Wild rookie forward Marc Richard in looking ahead to the showdown with the Flyers. “We have to stick to the basics, get pucks deep, pressure them and play good D zone.”
The Wild defeated the Flyers 3-1 on Saturday night to open up a five-point lead. With the Flyers’ not seeing action until their return to the Gardens, Kensington has a chance to widen that margin to nine points with a win over Northern and a regulation-time victory versus Moncton.
“They are always tough games when we play them, back and forth,” said first-year Wild forward Dixon MacLeod of Cornwall. “We just want to stick to our systems like we have the last two games.”
The Wild has won the last two meetings, including a 5-2 decision in Moncton, N.B., on Dec. 22, to even the season series between the two teams at 3-3. MacLeod added the Wild understands the matchups against Moncton could mean a four-point swing in the standings if either team wins in regulation time.
Although the Wild and Charlottetown Bulk Carriers Pride will meet in a playoff series to decide the P.E.I. championship after regular-season play, and the New Brunswick teams will have their own playoff, has the Wild put a lot of stock into finishing in first place?
“We talk about it a lot as a team,” answered MacLeod, 15. “It’s a team effort.”
Cannot look past Friday
However, MacLeod, who has three goals and seven assists for 10 points in 24 regular-season contests, noted the Wild understands
they cannot look past the Moose.
“Bathurst is always a good
game,” said MacLeod. “We need to play our systems, and not give up as we sometimes
tend to do for a few shifts and lay back a little. We just need to keep going.”
Richard, who lives in Kensington, agreed with the assessment that there appears to be a bit of a rivalry building between the Wild and Flyers.
“We have to keep pucks low, play strong D zone, get to the red-line and chip pucks and make sure we break out the first time and not give up any oddman rushes,” said Richard, who has recorded seven goals and 16 assists for 23 points in 24 regular-season games. Richard and MacLeod, who both played with the Mid-Isle Matrix of the P.E.I. Major Bantam AAA Hockey League last season, said they are enjoying their first season with the Wild. They both agreed the biggest adjustment has been the speed factor.
“I love it,” added Richard. “There is a good group of guys and coaches.”