Joe MacIntyre talks about why realignment may not be a bad thing for MHL.
Islanders’ success will result in raised expectations next season
The MHL (Maritime Junior Hockey League) is down to 11 teams after the Woodstock Slammers announced they will be taking a year’s leave of absence for the 2018-19 season. The Slammers are saying their decision is based on a number of factors, and no doubt the biggest factor is money.
They averaged only 655 fans per game this year, and that is not enough to make a go of it in this league. They are not alone as eight of the 12 teams drew just over 700 fans or less per game, and those numbers must have other teams thinking along the same lines as the Slammers.
Travel costs take up a big part of a team’s budget, and it may be time for the league to try and do something about a cost that will continue to go up. In the days of the Island Junior Hockey League and the Metro Valley Junior Hockey League, the winners of those two leagues would play for a Maritime championship and the J. Pius Callaghan Cup. If that were the case today, a lot less travel – and better provincial rivalries – would be the result.
Would Woodstock be taking a year off if they played in a fiveteam New Brunswick division or league with Miramichi, St. Stephen, Campbellton and Edmundston? Increased fan attendance, and far less travel, would do a lot for the bottom lines of teams, and I think it would be a matter of time before other teams would want to join. The Summerside D. Alex MacDonald Ford Western Capitals, P.E.I.’s lone team in the MHL, would save a lot of travel playing Nova Scotia-based teams, and no doubt stronger rivalries would develop by playing clubs like Amherst and Truro more often. All teams could still play under the umbrella of the MHL, but only face the other division for a Maritime championship. The absence of Woodstock in the coming year makes this scenario unlikely, but maybe it would be enough to make sure they do come back next year.
Charlottetown Islanders
The Charlottetown Islanders’ Game 7 loss to the BlainvilleBoisbriand Armada was disappointing. But the Islanders can feel very proud of what they accomplished this season. They were the most successful major junior hockey team ever to play out of Charlottetown, and at the same time set a new winning standard for future teams to look to. Since this franchise took flight as the Montreal Rocket in 1999, before moving to Charlottetown in 2003, they have been mired in mediocrity with very little success up until last year, when they lost to the Armada in five games in the league semifinal. The Islanders were geared to win last year, and fell short. They were not supposed to win this year, but overachieved. Classy and likeable Islanders head coach Jim Hulton did a fantastic job with this young team, and deserves credit for the Isles’ success.
With the Memorial Cup in Halifax next year, the Islanders should have their sights set on being the other Quebec Major Junior Hockey League team there.
That would seem like a natural progression for a young team, which will lose only a handful of players to overage next year. They have built a foundation for success and learned how to win, and we should not be surprised if a year from now they are preparing for a league championship series that they just missed out on this year.
With winning comes expectations and, without doubt, the Islanders and their supporters will expect even more next year. That is the way it should be.
NHL playoffs
As fans, could we ask for anything more with the NHL playoffs?
Three of the four series are tied 2-2, with a good chance of all four being tied after Friday night’s Tampa Bay-Boston game in Boston. There is very little to choose from the eight remaining teams, and really no clear-cut favourite to win any one of the four series.
A lot of local fans are hoping the Vegas Golden Knights will advance to the next round, but they have their hands full with a very good San Jose team. It would seem that whoever won Friday night’s late game in Vegas would have the upper hand, especially if it was San Jose, which returns home for Game 6 on Sunday. It will be great hockey in the coming week, and no doubt there will be at least a couple of Game 7s. Sit back, enjoy and have a great week!