Eager to play

Islanders host Screaming Eagles tonight in Game 1 of second round

There was some renewed intensity at Wednesday’s Charlottetown Islanders practice.

The Islanders have been waiting since March 29 to find out who they would play in the second round of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoffs. The answer came Tuesday night when Jordan Ty Fournier scored in overtime of Game 7 as the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles eliminated the Gatineau Olympiques. Charlottetown hosts Cape Breton tonight for Game 1 at 7 p.m. Game 2 is Saturday in Charlottetown at 7:30 p.m.

“Everybody is pretty antsy,” Islanders forward Dillon Boucher said after Wednesday’s practice. “Now that we know who we’re going to play, we’re pretty excited” to play a game.

While the rest is always better than playing three extra games, Isles head coach Jim Hulton said there is a concern the team will be rusty tonight.

“The first 10 minutes could be a little bit sloppy,” he said. “We’re really rested and they’re not, so you never know what’s going to come out of that.” Charlottetown went 3-4-2-0 against Cape Breton during the regular season. The last game occurred Jan. 27 with the two previous matchups taking place Jan. 6 and 7, the day the trade window closed and the next day.

Charlottetown players aren’t putting too much stock in the first nine games.

“It’s a new season,” captain Guillaume Brisebois said.

“A lot of the guys were still new to all of the systems,” Boucher added. “Since then, we really grew as a team and really bought into the systems, so I think it will be a different look.” Boucher knows the Screaming Eagles better than anyone wearing the Islanders jersey, having played 2.5 seasons in Sydney, N.S.

“They’re a good team, they’re fast and they’re not going to quit,” he said. “We just have to stay tight defensively and really limit their chances.”

The Screaming Eagles have some top-end offensive threats, including Giovanni Fiore, who scored 52 goals in the regular season and added four more in the first round.

“You’re probably not going to shut a guy like Fiore completely down, but you have to make it difficult for him,” Hulton said, by reducing the turnovers in the neutral zone and not giving him too many shots. “He gets his looks, he’s going to score goals. He scored 50 for a reason.” The Islanders are making their third straight appearance in the second round and looking to get to the league semifinal for the first time.

“It’s awesome, three years in a row, but this year’s different because our expectations are really high,” centre Filip Chlapik said.

Hulton said it’s outside noise the team can’t control and it will continue approaching the series as it did the season, one game at a time.

The Islanders are healthy and will start Mark Grametbauer in goal.