CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. – The Charlottetown Islanders aren’t getting much love as the pre-season pundits make their picks for the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s top teams.
And that’s probably just fine with the Isles.
A lot of people have hitched their wagons to the Halifax Mooseheads, Dummondville Voltigeurs and the Rimouski Oceanic as the teams to beat this year. Halifax, which is hosting the Memorial Cup, Drummondville and Rimouski are ranked in the Canadian Hockey League’s pre-season top 10 and the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles received an honourable mention.
The Isles, not a sniff.
That’s OK, they’ll earn it just like a year ago.
Remember this is a team that has proven itself when the games mean something in the spring of the year. They have gone to the league semifinal in back-to-back years.
While not all the players are back from those squads there is a core.
It includes fifth-year centre Keith Getson, a heart-and-soul type who can beat you in a number of ways, backbone Matthew Welsh in goal and potentially captain Pierre-Olivier Joseph patrolling the blue-line.
Top teams are usually built around a solid core of 19-year-olds who have been through the trenches. The Isles have that in Welsh, Joseph, if he doesn’t make the Arizona Coyotes, Derek Gentile, Sullivan Sparkes and Brendon Clavelle.
But they also have a core of young players who have shown they have elite talent. It is driven by centre Nikita Alexandrov and his wing man Brett Budgell. Both blossomed when they were put together after Budgell arrived at Christmas time. They didn't slow down in the playoffs.
The Isles used the fourth overall pick on slick-skating Lukas Cormier and their import pick on six-foot-two, 180-pound Alexander Dersch. The defencemen appear to have forged good chemistry and will be fun to watch grow in their first major junior season.
The squad still is waiting to hear if Hunter Drew will be part of this year’s squad as he is in camp with the Anaheim Ducks. He would be one of the team three overage players. The team will have three in its lineup tonight to start the regular season with Getson, Daniel Hardie and Sam King. A decision will have to be made down the road if Drew comes back.
It is hard to replicate the magic that led the Islanders to the verge of its first trip to the league final in the spring. The coaching staff is preaching a similar game plan but will need buy-in for its charges to achieve success.
“We have to play fast because we’re not a big, physical team,” head coach Jim Hulton said. “We have to play to our strengths. And two things we think are our strengths are our speed and quickness.”
Another is their depth. However, you crunch the roster, the 13th forward sitting out will be a good player.
“There’s going to be an internal competition for lineup spots every night and that’s usually a good thing for a team,” Hulton said.
Camp was competitive with tough decisions made.
Young guys like Xavier Fortin, Drew Johnston, Zachary Beauregard, Greg Kehoe and Zac Arsenault made the club and will push for bigger roles as the season progresses.
Hulton has done another nice job of augmenting the roster with the Ontario additions of Cole Edwards and Colin Van Den Hurk and acquired 19-year-old Kevin Gursoy from Saint John prior to the roster freeze.
And players like Dakota Lund-Cornish, Thomas Casey and Liam Peyton are looking to take another step after their first junior season.
The CHL top 10 was released Wednesday evening, hours after I spoke with Hulton about his team and what others might think of it.
“What happens in September has no bearing on what happens in May,” he said. “As we proved last year, games are won and loss on the ice, not on paper. No matter what people think you’re going to be, it’s another thing to really emerge and prove what you are.”
Jason Malloy is The Guardian’s sports editor. He has covered the P.E.I. Rocket/Charlottetown Islanders franchise since 2012.
Pre-season rankingsThe Canadian Hockey League announced its pre-season edition of the CHL Top-10 Rankings on Wednesday. The weekly rankings are selected by a panel of NHL scouts.
1. Halifax Mooseheads
2. London Knights
3. Lethbridge Hurricanes
4. Drummondville Voltigeurs
5. Niagara IceDogs
6. Spokane Chiefs
7. Portland Winterhawks
8. Saginaw Spirit
9. Rimouski Oceanic
10. Ottawa 67’s
Honourable mentions
Cape Breton Screaming Eagles
Vancouver Giants
Oshawa Generals
