Wildcats to play Islanders in first round of playoffs

A familiar opponent stands between the Kohltech Valley Wildcats and a berth in the Nova Scotia Under-18 Major Hockey League semifinals.

The Wildcats, who finished third in the eight-team league with a 19-12-3 record, meet the sixth-place Cape Breton West Islanders (12-20-2) in the best-of-five quarter-final. Games 1 and 2 are at the Kings Mutual Century Centre

in Berwick on March 12 at 4:30 p.m. and March 13 at noon.

The two teams have met in the post-season in three of the past four seasons with Cape Breton West coming out on top each time.

“There’s still some guys on our team that have been involved in those series,” said Wildcats head coach Mike Lyle. “You don’t forget. But at the same time, each and every year it’s a new year, it’s a different opportunity, it’s a different challenge.”

Games 3 and 4 are set for

March 18 and 19 at the Al MacInnis Sports Centre in Port Hood. The Wildcats would host Game 5, if necessary. A date has not been set.

The teams met in the first round last season with Cape Breton West winning in four games. The Islanders, who were also the sixth seed a year ago, won the opening games on the road. Valley took Game 3 in quadruple overtime but lost the following day, also in overtime.

“Cape Breton West is always a tough opponent,” Lyle said.

The Wildcats went 4-1-1 against the Islanders this season, including winning the last meeting 7-2 on Feb. 27. It was their first meeting since Oct. 17.

Lyle said they are looking to continue to build on its recent play.

“Guys are starting to get their rhythm,” he said. “Especially with the (COVID-19) pause, guys are a lot more excited to be back (as) hockey had been taken away from them.”

The Wildcats forfeited their last two games of the regular season due to COVID-19, but the team is expecting to have a full lineup available for Game 1 of the playoffs.

Ryan MacIntyre led the team in points (41) and assists (28) in 32 regular-season games while Carter Graves had the most goals with 17. Samuel Sinclair was 8-3 in 13 games with a 2.34 goalsagainst average (GAA) and .918 save percentage while Chase Crowell was 9-9 in 20 games this season with a 3.73 GAA and a .868 save percentage.

Sinclair is expected to start Game 1.