Lots of hockey left to be played
Balmas part of team which came back from 3-0 deficit to force Game 7 two years ago
Mitchell Balmas has been down this road before.
Two years ago, the Sydney, N.S., sniper was with the Gatineau Olympiques playing his hometown Cape Breton Screaming Eagles.
“They were up 3-0 on us and we came back (to force) a Game 7 (into) overtime,” the former Charlottetown Islanders first-round pick said Saturday. “Like they always say, ‘It’s never over until it’s over’.”
Balmas is now a member of the Screaming Eagles who find themselves trailing the Islanders 2-0 in the first-round of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoffs. Balmas said he can lean on past experience as he and his teammates prepare for Game 3 at home.
In 2017, the Screaming Eagles won the first two games in overtime on home ice (1-0 and 7-6) and then won the deciding game (5-4) in extra time at Sydney 200 on Jordan Ty Fournier’s goal. Shawn Boudrias, another former Islander now with the Screaming Eagles, was on the Olympiques that season.
The Screaming Eagles were swept by the Islanders in the second round.
A year ago, Balmas was with the second-ranked Acadie-Bathurst Titan playing No. 15 Chicoutimi.
“They didn’t give us anything,” Balmas recalled.
It took six games for the Titan to eliminate the Saguenéens before sweeping Sherbrooke and Victoriaville to reach the final, where they beat the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada in six games for the President Cup.
They went on to win the Memorial Cup in Regina.
On the other side of the ice, the Islanders split the first two games a year ago in Quebec City in the opening round before winning Game 7.