Hockey provides topics for this week’s Hot Corner column.

Golden Knights finding Year 2 a bit more challenging

The Summerside D. Alex MacDonald Ford Western Capitals played their first game of the 2018-19 campaign back on Sept 1.

It was a Saturday exhibition game, and now 26 weeks later the Caps are getting set to play the final week of the regular season. By the time they close out the regular season on March 9, the Caps will have logged over 9,000 miles, with most of those over the roads of northern New Brunswick.

Who could blame this team for being a little travel weary – they travelled the most of all MHL (Maritime Junior Hockey League) teams during the 50-game schedule.

The Caps are expected to go on an extended playoff run, which should include a berth in the Fred Page Cup Eastern Canadian junior A hockey championship tournament in Amherst, N.S., in early May. I will not be surprised if the Caps win the Fred Page Cup, and secure a spot in the RBC Cup national championship.

If the Caps do go all the way, they will have played 37 weeks of hockey, and that is in addition to all the practice time throughout the season. That is one heck of a lot of time, travel and commitment. If there was ever a Caps’ team that deserves your support, this squad has to be it.

They start their playoffs in about 10 days, and are destined for an opening-round series against either St. Stephen or Miramichi. Caps’ fans are excited and, like the team, anxious to get the playoffs going. Hopefully, the Caps have that extended run and make all those travel miles very worthwhile.

NHL

The Vegas Golden Knights are finding their second year in the NHL a bit more challenging than their first. At this point of the season they need to put together a string of wins to secure a playoff spot.

The Knights will finish no higher than third in their division, and have only a four- and five-point lead on the two wildcard teams. They have a record of 34-26-5 (won-lost-overtime losses) for 73 points, and have 14 fewer points than on March 1 last year.

Vegas was third overall in the league at this point last year, and is 15th overall this year on the same date.

They were a record-setting expansion team last year that was making some long-established teams seem ordinary, and a bit embarrassed with the results when they played the Golden Knights. Vegas was not supposed to make it all the way to the Stanley Cup Final, especially with established teams like Arizona, Winnipeg, Columbus and Minnesota never making it that far.

The Golden Knights are a marked team this year, and opponents are very well prepared. Combine that, and the fact that they have yet to fully establish the passion they played with last year, and one can understand the drop off from a year ago.

The addition of Mark Stone this week will pay dividends before this season is over. Back-toback wins over Dallas and Florida this week should help point the Knights in the right direction.

The fact that they have a lot of talent and are very well coached give room for optimism over their final 17 regular-season games. They will be heard from before this season is over.

JOHN TAVARES

I have watched a lot of NHL hockey in my lifetime, but rarely do I remember a crowd as revved up as the New York Islanders’ fans were with the return of former captain John Tavares to Long Island on Thursday night. It was a fun game to watch with a loud playoff atmosphere that showed just how passionate Islander fans are about their team.

Tavares was so well respected and a fan favourite during his time with the Islanders, and New York fans were hurt greatly when he left for Toronto as a free agent.

Hockey brings out great emotions in fans, and that was evident with all the signs and chants throughout the game. The chant of “We don’t need you” was priceless. It was fueled by the fact that the Islanders are doing so well this year and in first place in their division.

The 6-1 win against Leafs was icing on the cake for New York fans, who no doubt had this game circled on their calendar since Tavares signed with the Leafs on July 1.

The sad part about the night, and all the booing, is the fact that Tavares is a class act, and can be compared to retired class acts like Joe Sakic, Ray Bourque and Steve Yzerman to name but a few. As he often does, Mike Babcock said it best at the post-game news conference, “You must be a real special player and a real special person for them to honour you like that, because they only boo if you were important.”

The Leafs and Islanders will meet again on April 1 in New York, but I can’t imagine it having in more emotion to it than Thursday’s game. Or can it?

Have a great week!