Going green
Eagles wearing Irish-themed jerseys for tonight’s game
When his playoff-bound Cape Breton Screaming Eagles face the Acadie-Bathurst Titan tonight it won’t be captain Olivier LeBlanc’s last home game but it will be his last one in a green jersey.
LeBlanc and his teammates will be wearing special green Irish-themed uniforms as part of an annual Eagles fundraiser for the Cape Breton Regional Hospital Foundation in memory of late team president Greg Lynch.
For LeBlanc and the playoffbound Eagles, it will be more about hard work than the luck of the Irish, however, as they look to make a statement in their final home game before the team hits the road for its final two regular-season games.
He said the team’s hallmarks this season have been work ethic and urgency, and they want to continue that heading into the postseason.
“It’s just to make sure that every last game that we play our game and make sure that when we go into the playoffs that we’ve played the right way all along,” the Quebec City native said following team practice Tuesday afternoon at Centre 200. ”We don’t want to get away from that the last couple games.”
It’s also the final season for LeBlanc and fellow 20-yearolds Massimo Carozza and Giovanni Fiore, a fact he says makes them even more determined to have a strong playoff run to cap off their Quebec Major Junior Hockey career.
“Sometimes you don’t realize when you’re young that it goes fast, but now it’s your last one so you just want to make it as far as you can,” said the standout defenceman who was drafted by the Columbus Bluejackets in 2014 and has since attended three NHL training camps, most recently as a free agent with the Arizona Coyotes.
“Every year you want to make it as far as you can but really this one is do or die — you don’t get another chance at it.”
Eagles head coach and general manager Marc-André Dumont said the leadership of overage players LeBlanc, Carozza and Fiore has been key to the team’s success so far this season.
He called LeBlanc the team’s “voice,” saying he has the ability to “reassure anyone in the dressing room.” Carozza’s playoff experience will be a huge asset, said Dumont, noting that the high-scoring centre went to the Memorial Cup with the Quebec Remparts in 2015 and has 38 post-season games under his belt: “Talk about a guy who’s been there — he’s seen Game 7s, he’s seen the Memorial Cup in big buildings, intense games — so he’s seen it all.” And Fiore, who is lighting the lamp at a torrid pace this season, has already netted 50 goals and has a chance to eclipse Cam Fergus’s team record of 53, and has been a “true example of believing in yourself and taking action” despite bouncing around the league with four different teams. “Dreaming with his eyes open — that’s what he’s been doing the last couple of years, and that’s the reason why at 19 he had a breakthrough season, and this year he’s doing better.”
“They all contribute in a different way and all very well,” Dumont said. “There’s no doubt that when you have good leaders in the room like we have now, it makes the coach’s job a lot easier. Our older guys from the get-go wanted to have quality seasons and wanted to be successful, and they knew that they needed to be good role models for the younger guys. I think that throughout the season that’s what they’ve displayed, and our younger guys fed off of that.”
In addition to being their final regular-season home game of the season, Dumont said tonight’s game is special to the organization because it’s in memory of Lynch, who died in 2004.
It’s the 11th straight season the Screaming Eagles have worn the St. Patrick’s Day jerseys — the first time was also against the Titan — and over that time the club has raised more than $120,000 for the hospital foundation. During the game, which starts at 7 p.m., fans can purchase raffle tickets for their chance to win one of the 22 game-worn sweaters, with the winning tickets drawn during the third period.
“We know how important this game is to the community and we know how important it is to our organization, too, in memory of
Greg Lynch,” Dumont said. “There’s no doubt that we need to be ready and have a good start.”
Now in his third year with the team, LeBlanc said he wants to do everything he can to extend his time in Cape Breton.
“It’s been a great ride and l’m looking forward to making it an even longer ride going into the playoffs.”
“Every year you want to make it as far as you can but really this one is do or die — you don’t get another chance at it.”
Olivier LeBlanc