Showdown in K Town

Wild hosts Flyers as battle for first place continues

It’s one of those games where not much has to be said.

The Kensington Monaghan Farms Wild will host the Moncton Flyers tonight in another anticipated clash between the top two teams in the New Brunswick/P.E.I. Major Midget Hockey League. Puck drop at Credit Union Centre in Kensington is 7:30 p.m.

“Both are really good organizations and really good teams,” said Wild sophomore defenceman Will Proud of Stratford. “Every time we play each other, everyone brings the best out of each other, and everyone is trying to get the win for their team. That makes for a really good game every time.”

The Wild is 14-2-1, two points behind the league-leading Flyers (15-1-1). A Kensington road win over the third-place Saint John Vitos (10-6-1) on Friday night would set up a showdown for sole possession of first place versus Moncton. Results were unavailable at press time.

“It’s just developed into such a good rivalry really over the last couple of years between Moncton and Kensington,” said Flyers head coach John DeCourcey. “Those games are a lot of fun for the players and everybody involved.”

It will be Flyers final visit to Kensington this season, and the teams will meet twice in Moncton after Christmas.

“They are really four-point games when you have two teams chasing first place,” said DeCourcey. “We have a long way to go, but it will probably come right down to the end of the year.”

Previous head-to-head matchups this season illustrates the parity between the Wild and Flyers. Overall, the teams have met five times – four league games and in the quarter-finals of the Monctonian AAA Challenge – and three of those contests have required overtime, including a 4-3 Wild win in Kensington on Nov. 24.

“It was a great back-and-forth game,” said Wild head coach Kyle Dunn in describing last week’s game. “It was a good matchup between two good hockey teams. The pressure was on at both ends, and it was an exciting game to be a part of.

“I’m sure it was exciting to watch as a fan.”

DeCourcey agrees the head-tohead games between the Flyers and Wild have been great commercials for major midget hockey.