More fans in the stands for Islanders
Isles scheduled to host Herd tonight with season ticket holders allowed back at rink
The Charlottetown Islanders will have more fans in the stands tonight than they have had since mid-November.
The Islanders (17-4-0-0) are scheduled to host the Halifax Mooseheads (8-112-3) in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action at the Eastlink Centre with season ticket holders now permitted back in the rink. Game time is 7 p.m., if Mother Nature cooperates.
After COVID-19 limited the number of fans the past few weeks, the Isles played games before 1,500 people in Halifax on Saturday and nearly 1,100 in Sydney, N.S., on Sunday.
“The atmosphere improves when there’s people there,” Islanders head coach Jim Hulton said Monday. “There was a little bit more life in the building and we’ll look forward to the same on home ice.”
Charlottetown won both games on the weekend (3-0 in Halifax and 5-2 at Cape Breton) and there were improvements in the team’s game.
“It was a step in the right direction, but we still have a ways to go,” Hulton said. “I thought our play away from the puck, and our commitment to that, was much improved.”
Pat Guay scored the first two goals of his Charlottetown career Sunday.
He now has five points in five games since being acquired in a trade with the Sherbrooke Phoenix.
“Patty was a much different player with a) some rest and b) a week of practice under his belt,” Hulton said.
“His analytic numbers were through the roof (in Sunday) night’s game and you can just see him getting more and more comfortable with the surroundings and with the systems.”
Hulton earned his 200th win as the Islanders’ bench boss Friday in Halifax. The native of Wolfe Island, Ont., near Kingston, has been the team’s coach since 2015. Gordie Dwyer is second on the franchise’s all-time wins list with 116. He coached the squad from 2011 to 2015.
Goalie Colten Ellis is expected to start tonight. He earned his fourth shutout of the season Saturday in Halifax.
He is tied with Ryan Mior, a former P.E.I. Rocket and Gatineau goalie, Samuel Harvey (Rouyn-Noranda) and Louis-Philip Guindon (Drummondville/Rimouski) for third all-time in league shutouts with 15. Alex Dubeau (Shawinigan/Moncton) is second with 16 while Philippe Cadorette (BaieComeau/Shawinigan) leads with 17.
Jacob Goobie earned the win Sunday in Sydney.