Bearcats pleased with roster
TRURO - After all the uncertainty surrounding COVID19, Truro Bearcats coach and general manager Shawn Evans is happy to be back behind a bench.
As hard as it is to compare this year’s edition of the Bearcats to the 2019-20 version, Evans likes what he has with a solid mix of veteran experience and new faces.
“It’s a new season and a new group of players,” Evans told Truro News. “I know they’re excited to play. I’m not a predictions guy, or a guy that’s going to tell you we’re going to be good, because we haven’t proven anything yet. Still, I do like the makeup of the team and the personality of the group.”
The Bearcats have a solid group of returning players backstopped by goalie Alec Macdonald, who was like a wall for Truro heading into the playoffs and figured prominently in the club’s stretch drive.
“We’re all about team, but if there’s one player we will be counting on it will be Alec Macdonald. He had a great 19-year-old season last year and we’re hoping he’ll be a leader for us in goal. If he’s able to do that, we’ll build from out front. Everybody’s important, but certainly goaltending is vital.”
Defensively, returnees include Jack Mcgovern, Dell Welton, Dylan Macleod and Marc Aucoin while up front key returnees include Gavin Hart, who played last season for the Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL, Caleb Hart, Lucas Parsons, Ben Sheffar, Cole Julian and Ben Fraser as well as Bryan Laureigh and Jaden Hewes, who remain in the U.S. waiting for the border to reopen.
Some of the new faces include defenceman Zach Bennett, acquired from Campbellton; forward Carson Gallant, picked up from the Valley Wildcats; and import forwards Holden Kodak from British Columbia; Brandon Cianflone, who played in Manitoba and Ontario last year; and Tristan Therrien, who played in Que
bec and Manitoba last year.
After a bit of a slow start last season, the Bearcats were among the hottest teams in the Maritime Junior Hockey League heading down the stretch before finishing fourth in the Eastlink South standings and continuing their streak of making the MHL playoffs.
It was all for naught, however, as the COVID-19 pandemic shut down hockey across Nova Scotia and Canada in mid-march and never resumed.
Evans is appreciative of the work of a lot of people across the league to get into the position where a new regular season is able to get underway.
“It took a lot of work to get this season started. A lot of people deserve a lot of credit,”
he said.
This season, the Bearcats will play in a mini-division with the Amherst Ramblers and the Pictou County Weeks Crushers, while Yarmouth, South Shore and Valley will make up the other mini-division.
Teams will play eight games against each team in their own mini-division and four games against each team in the other mini-division in the Eastlink South. There will also be two games each against teams in the Eastlink North, which is also broken into two mini-divisions with Campbellton, Miramichi and Summerside in one and Edmundston, Grand Falls and Fredericton in the other.
Every team makes the playoffs. Truro's home opener was
Sunday.
The Bearcats defeated the Valley Wildcats 5-3.
The home team jumped out to a 4-0 lead before the Wildcats scored late in the second to give them some hope with just more than 21 minutes to go.
That hope increased with a goal at the 4:45 mark of the third, but hulking Bearcats’ defenceman Zack Bennett answered less than a minute later to restore a three-goal lead, and the hometown ‘Cats were able to hold on, despite a late powerplay marker from Valley.
Also scoring for the Bearcats were the game’s first star Cole Julian, Brandon Cianflone, Ben Fraser and Holden Kodak. Fourth-year goaltender Alec Macdonald picked up the win making 29 stops.
“It wasn’t a Picasso painting but we worked hard and found a way to win,” Evans said.
“They found ways in, found holes,” Evans said of goals, before turning his attention to an early “lesson” for his club.
“The big lesson for us was the third period; our opponents don’t give up. As soon as you take your foot off the gas for second, they will not let up. I’m hoping we learned you have to play all 60 (minutes).”
The Bearcats are on the road for two games this weekend - Friday at South Shore and Saturday in Amherst. The Bearcats next home game is Nov. 14 as they host the Lumberjacks. Puck drop is 7 p.m.