Valley Wildcats still finding their groove after MHL showcase
The Valley Junior A Wildcats keep getting themselves into close hockey games, but as the old saying goes, close only counts in horseshoes.
The team dropped a pair of narrow decisions at the 2018 Maritime Hockey League Showcase, played Oct. 8 and 9 at the Pictou County Wellness Centre in New Glasgow. That followed a road trip to New Brunswick the previous weekend that saw the club take a single point from an overtime loss in Miramichi on Oct. 6 versus the Timberwolves.
On Oct. 8, Valley fell 3–2 against the County Aces from St. Stephen, N.B., and they dropped a 4–2 game against the Campbellton Tigers on Oct. 9. Matt Warner scored in both games for Valley, with Riley MacInnis and Tristan Bowlby adding the other Wildcat goals.
Being involved in close decisions night after night is a positive for a young Wildcats squad, but Head Coach Travis Young says after a while the moral victories aren’t enough.
“I thought we gave ourselves a chance to win in the last three games,” says Young. “We’re obviously having a tough time scoring goals at the moment, and unfortunately we seem to be making those one or two big mistakes each night that are ending up in the back of our net. That’s the difference between winning 2–1 and losing 3–2.”
All twelve MHL clubs played two games each at the showcase event, which is a chance to shine the spotlight on players in front of scouts from various levels. League President Brian Whitehead says it’s hard to say exactly how many scouts took in the games in Pictou County, but he saw several familiar faces over the two days.
“We have some people here from Team Canada East for the World Junior A Challenge. The coaches have been here taking notes. They will select players we will take to the Eastern Canada Cup Challenge in Trenton, Ont. in November and the World Junior A Challenge in December. We have scouts here from the AUS. Quebec Major Junior Hockey League has scouts here. You’ll see a few of the NCAA scouts as well. There’s a few D3 schools around here looking to find that diamond in the rough for their program.”
The Valley Junior A Wildcats have one game coming up this weekend, a matchup against the Ramblers in Amherst on Oct. 13. You can follow the action with live play-by-play at mixlr.com/jra_wildcats beginning at 7 p.m.
Valley should have more offensive firepower for that match with the addition of 19-year-old forwards Tommy Roger and Felix Meunier. Both players were acquired Oct. 10 from the Portage Terriers of the Manitoba Junior A League in exchange for future considerations.