Coughler chooses SMU
Former Islanders forward commits to Huskies
Jake Coughler isn’t going anywhere.
The St. Catharines, Ont., native has committed to the Saint Mary’s Huskies men’s hockey team if he doesn’t receive a pro opportunity. He finished his junior career with the Halifax Mooseheads after playing a year with the Charlottetown Islanders of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
“The people there are incredible. Everywhere I went in the East Coast . . . everybody was so welcoming and so polite,” Coughler said. “I knew I wanted to stay out there.”
Coughler, who turns 21 on April 23, said he did his homework as he looked at Atlantic University Sport (AUS) schools and teams.
“I kind of stripped them down and started from scratch and wrote out the pros and cons,” he said. “Playing in Halifax, I got to know the city really well and I really enjoyed it.
“I think that program has a lot of potential and I wanted to be part of it.”
He played with current Huskies Noah Zilbert and Taylor Burke in Gatineau and against former Moncton Wildcats captain Stephen Johnson. Coughler
also knows AUS rookie of the year Hunter Garlent from their days growing up together in Ontario.
Garlent is a year older, but the two played some minor hockey and lacrosse together.
Huskies head coach Trevor Stienburg said he watched Coughler play and talked with Islanders head coach Jim Hulton and his own players who knew Coughler.
“They really liked him as a teammate,” Stienburg said.
He sees Coughler being a topsix forward who skates well and has a good shot.
“He’s good on both side of the puck. He kills penalties, so the sky’s the limit for him,” Stienburg said. “All of the boxes were easy to check for him.”
Coughler played part of three seasons with the Gatineau Olympiques before the Islanders acquired him on Jan. 4, 2016, for a fifth-round pick in 2016. He quickly found chemistry with Kameron Kielly and Samuel Blais and had 14 goals and 22 points in 28 games with the Isles.
“It changed my career. It also changed my life,” Coughler said of the trade. “I struggled in Gatineau a lot. . .
“Charlottetown, for me, was a fresh start and I can’t say enough about the organization. I thank them for everything.”
The Islanders traded Coughler to the Mooseheads on Jan. 6 after acquiring overage centre Francois Beauchemin from the Val-d’Or Foreurs.
The Herd sent a 2017 fifthround pick to the Isles in the deal.
Coughler had 11 goals and 21 points in 27 games with Halifax. He added three points in five games as the Mooseheads were eliminated from the playoffs by the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.