The Maritime Junior Hockey League opens its fifty-eighth season this week.
For the Truro Bearcats, it will be number twenty-eight since returning to the junior ranks in 1997.
The Bearcats have had a successful run to date, winning four championships, capturing eight provincial crowns, one Fred Page Cup Championships and participation in the National Championships.
Appearing in post season play in all but one of those years is quite remarkable. The goal of making the playoffs has been a top priority and it is again this year.
When this year’s Training Camp opened there was concern the talent pool might not be as deep as desired, especially with so few returnees and so many others at major camps.
The return of several from those camps and the acquisition of experienced forwards and defencemen changed all that.
The Bearcats enter this season optimistic, that this mix is ready to do some damage.
The Bearcats open on the road this Friday in Bouctouche, facing the West Kent Steamers. The second year Steamers (formerly the South Shore Lumberjacks) finished second in the Eastlink North Division and third overall in their inaugural season.
Saturday, the Bearcats are at the RECC for their Home Opener when they host the Summerside Capitals. They finished first overall last year, before losing to Miramichi in the Finals.
These games will prove to be tests for the Bearcats. There’s no gently entering the water this time around.
By the end of the weekend most teams will have had their first taste of real competition. Again, this year, teams play a 52-game schedule with eight games against Divisional teams and a home and home with teams in the other Division.
Malartic, QC
6’4”, 175 lbs.
19, Goalie
- Bearcat -of-the-Week honours go to returning goalie, Frederic Cousineau. He appeared in 27 Bearcat games last year, compiling a 3.60 GAA and 10-12-0 record. The 2021 Val-d’Or Foreurs draft pick is ready to go.