Up to the challenge
Attack not backing down with tough road ahead as defending Monctonian champs
Luke Coughlin and Cam Squires know their Central Attack squad won’t sneak up on any teams this week when they play the top teams in Atlantic Canada.
The Attack enters the Monctonian Challenge as the defending champs of the major bantam division. They open play this morning at 8:30 a.m. against the Moncton Hawks before ending the day against the ACA Rangers from Nova Scotia at 7 p.m.
“We have a big target on our back, playing the best team from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia,” said Coughlin, a twoway defenceman who wears the C for the Attack. “Everyone is going to come at us. We’ll just play our game and hopefully get the job done again this year.”
Central has outscored the opposition 65-14 while compiling an 8-1-0 record to sit atop the Prince Edward Island Major Bantam AAA Hockey League. They have a tough road to get to this weekend’s playoffs, but they aren’t complaining.
The Attack plays the Hawks (7-0-0) and the Rangers (10-40), who are tied with The Gulls (9-3-2) for the Nova Scotia lead.
“It’s a good challenge, having the big expectations and having every other team gunning for you,” said Squires, a fast, smart forward. “We just have to be ready and we have to play our way and find ways to get things done.”
Coughlin and Squires are half of the four players back from last year’s squad. Forward Brett Arsenault and blue-liner Nathan Mossey are the others.
“It’s a tough tournament,” said head coach Jeff Squires. “We’re going in there optimistic and with the same strategy as last year.
“I think people may have been surprised last year when a team from P.E.I. won that major bantam division, but we’re going in there with the same attitude to play one period at a time and show them what we got.”
Cam, a 14-year-old Charlottetown native, said one of the moments that sticks out from last year’s tournament was Saturday night’s semifinal against The Gulls, playing in an electric atmosphere and coming out with a 4-0 victory.
“That’s when we really came together,” said the five-foot-six, 120-pound centre who scored three times in the victory.
The squad went on to win the championship in triple overtime against the Rangers on Cam’s goal off a backdoor pass from Kal White.
“It was a great experience,” the bench boss said. “It was one of those special tournaments.”
The Monctonian is well attended
by scouts with all the top teams in one city for the weekend.
“You try to keep your focus on the game, but I’m sure you catch them out of the corner of your eye sometimes,” Cam Squires said.
Coughlin, a five-foot-nine, 150-pound Charlottetown native, said speed is a key calling card for his squad.
“All of our players are so quick moving through the neutral zone,” he said. “We just have to pressure their D, get in low and then obviously work it back to our points and get some point shots.”
The Attack’s goalies from last year have both moved on. Jack Howatt is with the Charlottetown Bulk Carriers Knights while Shannon MacDonald is at Ontario Hockey Academy.
This year’s netminders are
Ethan Clark from peewee AAA and Thomas MacAdam, who won the bantam AA provincials in 2018.
The roster also includes boys who played major bantam elsewhere in 2018-19, bantam AA or graduates from peewee.
“The locker room is tight,” Cam said. “It’s a good team, everybody . . . gets along, (and there’s) lots of good mojo in the room.”