Hard-nosed team
Team P.E.I. boys’ squad announced for Canada Games
Kyle Dunn and his coaching staff had the chance Monday night to call 20 young hockey players and tell them they were going to the Canada Games. Hockey P.E.I. announced the Team P.E.I. boys’ roster Tuesday morning that will compete in Red Deer, Alta.
“It was a big weight off a lot of their shoulders,” Dunn said. “They have been waiting for two years to hear congratulations.”
The Games will take place Feb. 15-March 3 in Red Deer with the
boys’ hockey competition taking place in Week 1 from Feb. 1622. They will play in a pool with Newfoundland and Labrador, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon.
After two years of working towards building a team, Dunn said he likes what he sees.
The age group didn’t win a game at the under-14 and under15 tournaments but recently split four games in Halifax.
“Our team is getting better every single day. They’re putting the work in,” Dunn said.
The roster also includes a number of players who were part of the Dunn-coached Kensington Monaghan Farms Wild or the Central Attack that won the major midget and major bantam divisions, respectively, at the Monctonian on Sunday.
“It doesn’t matter where you’re from, we can compete as long as we put the work in,” Dunn said. “We wanted to get guys that had won championships and . . . know how to win.”
Dunn sees a team that will play with pace and rely on each player to make contributions. “We’re going to be a hard-nosed hockey team,” he said, and “we’re going to be a fast hockey team.”
All but two players are playing in Prince Edward Island. Dunn said it provides them the opportunity to bring the squad together for random team builders. Donovan Arsenault is at the Ontario Hockey Academy and Connor Keough is Notre Dame in Wilcox, Sask. Dunn said there were some very difficult decisions to be made and unfortunately five players were notified they had been released from the squad.
“I hate making those calls. It’s not a part of the job I like,” Dunn said.
But he did let those players know things happen, such as injuries, all the time in hockey and there could be the need to add someone before the squad departs for Alberta.
“We’re still watching,” he said. “Use this as motivation.”