Sounding Off
The Stanley Cup playoffs are just around the corner and already there are key matchups worth watching as the Toronto Maple Leafs fans wonder if they’re playing Tampa Bay or Boston.
The Leafs have outstanding goaltending in Frederik Andersen and two young superstars in Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, plus a great supporting cast, but the defence is the Achilles heel.
That statement may not go down well with the huge Leafs following in this province, which leads me to this following story.
It’s not every day the boys in the Charlottetown catch-basin (manhole) crew appear in this column, but this is too good to miss.
Last July, while working on Sydney Street in the centre of the city, Brent MacRae spotted a man and woman coming towards him near Sydney and Queen streets and without missing a beat darts out his hand in friendship.
“Welcome Mr. Babcock what brings you this way?”
Stunned that he was recognized, the Toronto Maple Leafs head coach shakes MacRae’s hand and just as he does Brent’s partner on the city crew, Leo Murray, takes off his Toronto Maple Leafs hat and asks the coach to sign it. Babcock obliged.
Not to miss out on an autograph, MacRae asks, “Do you mind signing mine too?” Babcock and his wife are surprised as MacRae rolled up his shirt sleeve displaying a large Toronto Maple Leafs tattoo.
With the playoffs starting in two weeks, Leafs fans are out in force sporting their team with hats, jerseys, license plates, flags, mugs and even in some cases — tattoos.
Major junior
The Charlottetown Islanders and Quebec Ramparts playoff series was expected to be a long, tight affair and that’s exactly what it looked like heading into Friday’s Game 4 in Charlottetown.
The Islanders deserved a better fate than their 4-2 loss in Wednesday’s Game 3 at the Eastlink Centre, as they held the shots-on-goal advantage and territorial edge although that did not translate into a victory.
The Islanders are sound defensively but there’s a shortage of pure goal-scorers. They make up for it with hard work, getting pucks on the net and taking advantage of close-in chances, which unfortunately they didn’t do in Game 3. The Ramparts are a similar team, hard working and limited offensively so the team that gets the breaks and the better goaltending wins this series.
Can Islanders head coach Jim Hulton squeeze enough out of this club to pull the mild upset is the question? We can answer it next Saturday. It’s possible but it will be tough.
Minor hockey
The Island minor hockey playoffs are coming to an end and the junior B series between A&S Scrap Metal Metros and Kensington Moase Plumbing and Heating Vipers is starting to heat up. The Metros, under head coach Alex Smith, extended the series with the Wednesday night win as his club got standout performances from With the Remparts-Islanders series shifting to Charlottetown on Wednesday, our weekly Fiddler video was posted early this week. To hear Freddy and sports editor Jason Malloy talk about the series, Paralympic hero Mark Arendz, MLB’s opening day and the NHL with playoffs nearing, click on this column online at www.theguardian.pe.ca.
Connor McGregor, Patty McGuigan, Zach Ladner and Tanner Lund while goaltender Alex Kelly came up with a clutch performance. Game 6 went Friday night in Kensington and if Game 7 is necessary, it is set for Sunday evening at Cody Banks Arena.
Cameron Trainor, a standout with Jeremy Pierce’s Pownal novice AA club, completed his season and in the process earned his nickname Sharpshooter. He’s former Charlottetown Abbies star Darren Trainor’s son, so he gets the scoring touch naturally.
Squash
I don’t often write about the racket sports, but many of the best players in the squash world will be here for a big professional event in Charlottetown, April 4-8 at The Spa.
The final rounds will be played at UPEI and some of locals competing include Mike Buchanan, the top-rated Islander on the national stage, Liam Jinks, the 2015 Canadian junior champion, Connor Jinks, Mitch Chaisson and Nathan Phillips. More on this next week.
On the local tennis front, ageless Wes MacAleer and his partner Lam Tran appeared to be getting the best of Dave Jenkins and Milford Quinn in play that I watched Thursday at The Spa. For a guy like Wes, who was playing football and hockey before these other competitors were born, he gets my first star award.
Harness racing
The annual Prince County Horsemens Club Awards dinner goes tonight at Credit Union Place in Summerside and it’s sold out.
The greatest driver in harness racing history, John Campbell, who retired last summer and who now heads the Hambletonian Society, will be the guest speaker.
Steve Charlton, son of Saint John-based Chick Charlton, trains a top three-year-old in Beachin Lindy (by Somebeachsomewhere) and he’s won three straight, most recently 1:54 Thursday in the mud at Woodbine.
Maritime-bred The Rev was second in 1:52 and change in the $34,000 top class a week ago at Woodbine. Howmacfiesty (by Carnivore) won the $9,000 mares preferred in 1:57 on the same night at Flamboro. At Yonkers, New York, Western Fame, who won a heat of the 2016 Little Brown Jug, took one of the four divisions a week ago at $50,000 of the Levy series for Mark MacDonald in 1:53:1.
Maritime-bred All About Madi was sixth beaten just three lengths in 1:54 in her $40,000 blue chip series for mares on March 23 at Yonkers. Also at Yonkers this past week, Do Over Hanover handled the $40,000 claimers, going gate to wire in 1:54:1 for Allard Racing and Steven MacRae of P.E.I.