Fast-forward
Thomas Casey’s feet pushed him to a line with Alexandrov, Budgell and he’s making the most of it
Advice from his father years ago has served Thomas Casey well.
“My dad always . . . stressed how crucial it was to move your feet,” he said before Thursday’s Charlottetown Islanders practice. “It’s been working for me since I was young, so I kind of stick to it.” Speed has always been Casey’s biggest calling card.
It provided the Charlottetown native a chance to be drafted by his hometown team in 2016 and play an energy role as a 17-yearold for a squad that went to the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) semifinal. But when the club’s coaching staff was looking for someone to complement its dynamic duo of Nikita Alexandrov and Brett Budgell, Casey’s name was floated.
“He’s one of the fastest guys, probably, in our league,” head coach Jim Hulton said. “When he plays in straight lines, he’s a nightmare for defencemen.”
The early returns on the experiment have been very positive. The Alexandrov line has been producing, and it enabled the team to move veteran Derek Gentile to a line with Will Sirman and Liam Peyton while keeping its trio of Daniel Hardie, Keith Getson and Keith Gursoy together.
“It created depth on three lines,” Hulton said. “We’ve been getting production top to bottom, and (Casey has) been a big part of that.”
Casey said he is just trying to keep his game simple while playing on a more offensive line.
“It’s been fun playing with those two,” he said. “My game is playing fast and getting in on the forecheck and distributing the puck, and I think that has been meshing well with Nikita and Brett.” And while Casey was primarily used in an energy role in his rookie season in Charlottetown, his past has included playing with some high-end skill guys.
At the 2015 Canada Games in Prince George, B.C., he played with Jeremy McKenna, who now is one of the top scorers in the league with the Moncton Wildcats, and Carson MacKinnon, who has always been known for his strong two-way game during his four seasons with the Rimouski Oceanic.
He also played on a line at Notre Dame with Seacow Pond native Brad Morrissey, an Islanders draft pick who has seven points in 17 games this season with Tri-City in the United States Hockey League. “He knows how to score,” Hulton
said of Casey. “You combine his hands with his feet, he has a couple of categories that stick out above the crowd. That gives him the opportunity to be a top-six guy.”
Casey grew up near Simmons Sports Centre in Charlottetown and remembers guys like MarcAndre Gragnani, David Laliberte, Chris Doyle, Josh Currie and Ben Duffy wearing the P.E.I. Rocket jersey. The club struggled for a number of years but has dramatically improved under new local ownership and the name change to the Charlottetown Islanders
for the 2013-14 season. It has been to back-to-back league semifinals after not making it that far since arriving in Prince Edward Island in 2003.
The organization’s turnaround made it intriguing for Casey after playing two seasons with the Notre Dame Hounds in Wilcox, Sask. Heading into the 2016 QMJHL draft, Casey had an interview with scout Trevor Birt and knew there was a possibility they could select him.
Casey was just waking up in Saskatchewan when he received the call from Charlottetown they had selected him in the sixth round.
“I was ecstatic. It was an unreal feeling,” Casey said.
Casey’s parents, Tim and Liz, attended the draft at the Eastlink Centre and went down to the floor to the Islanders table to meet the staff and get their son’s jersey.
With the Islanders loading up for a run with veterans like Kameron Kielly, Filip Chlapik and Daniel Sprong, Casey decided to return to Saskatchewan for his second season of midget. He had conversations with United States colleges, but when the Isles offered him a spot with last year’s squad, he quickly made the decision.
“I wanted to play here,” Casey said. “I just really wanted to jump on board.”
After a somewhat inconsistent start to the season, the Islanders appear to be hitting their stride. The Islanders had a 14-7-2-0 record before last night’s game in Bathurst, N.B., and had gone 7-21-0 in their last 10 games. Casey said each line and defence pairing are finding chemistry a third of the way through the campaign.
“We’re starting to gel as a group and find our identity,” he said. “We’re all starting to produce, and it’s been fun to be part of.” The Islanders host the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles tonight at 7 p.m. and the Baie-Comeau Drakkar Sunday at 3 p.m.