The Charlottetown Islanders complete their first two-game Quebec Major Junior Hockey League regular season homestand tonight at 7 p.m. against the visiting Halifax Mooseheads at the Eastlink Centre.
The local club opened the 2014-15 campaign last night against visiting Saint John.
The Mooseheads are a much different club than the one that routed the Islanders in the opening round of last spring’s playoffs, but so are the Islanders, at least for tonight.
The Mooseheads lost talented Jonathan Drouin from last year’s club as well as a pair of solid forwards in Brent Andrews and Darcy Ashley, who have joined the UPEI Panthers.
They have standout goalie Zachary Fucale and the sensational Nikolaj Ehlers back but both are in NHL camps and will be missing this evening.
The Islanders have a great cast of returning players in goaltender Mason McDonald, defenceman David Henley and the gifted duo of Daniel Sprong and Alexandre Goulet.
In addition, veteran defenceman Ryan MacKinnon, acquired via trade, rugged Ross Johnston, who can score, and highly regarded European import Filip Chlapik should make the Islanders a much-improved club from last season.
Head coach Gord Dwyer had many long night’s last spring when the team sent most of their veteran stars packing for future prospects and youth.
It will be interesting to see if this team has enough talent to challenge in what was a weak Maritime Division last season.
Professional hockey
Ex-NHL head coach and general manager Doug MacLean was here last weekend taking part in the Capital Honda Face Off Against Cancer charity hockey tournament at MacLauchlan Arena.
Ray Bourque was the headline star and the NHL great proved to be a great ambassador for the charity and for hockey. Luke Beck and Colin Younker led MacLean’s team to the 7-6 championship game victory.
The city police team finished 2-1 with John Trainor anchoring the defence while Lou Power, Darren MacDougall and Cole Gallant looked after most of the scoring. Former Sherwood Metros blue-liner Steve Gallant proved once again he has absolutely no touch around the net as he was set-up numerous times in the slot but couldn’t pull the trigger.
As for MacLean, I would not be surprised if he landed a GM role during the next year or two.
MacLean is a smart hockey guy and excels at the communication skills, so don’t be surprised when it happens.
Al MacAdam has retired from the NHL scouting scene with the Buffalo Sabres. I think at the end of the day, the travel just got to MacAdam, who will be the No. 1 pick for Mike Hennessey’s team in the city noon-hour hockey league this winter.
Harness racing
Today is a busy one at the Charlottetown track as the P.E.I. colts stakes take centre stage. Four divisions of two-year-old pacing colts at $6,100 and four divisions of two-year-old fillies at $5,800 highlight the special 1 p.m. card.
The evening card features five divisions of three-year-old fillies at $5,400 and four sophomore colts at $6,300. In addition, the evening card has a $2,400 top class with horses like Touch of Lightning, Red Magician, Shock the Rock, Ultimate Luck, Red Rock, All Turain, Astor and Modern Xhibit.
All Turain, who paced a sensational 1:52 mile last fall, is back in action and coming off a big upset win last week in the $7,000 Chippin Memorial over D G’s Camme and Modern Xhibit in 1:55:2 at Fredericton, N.B.
There’s a huge card at Yonkers, New York tonight with eight Night of Champions races each going for $225,000 and Mark MacDonald has a number of great shots for trainers Mark Ford, Casie Coleman, Jimmy Takter, Noel Daley and Jonas Czernyson.
Also tonight, there’s a terrific card at Mohawk where Hambletonian winner Traxton meets stablemate Father Patrick in the $685,000 Canadian Trotting Classic.
The Atlantic Breeders Crown weekend is a little more than a month away and already there’s a great deal of interest in the yearling sale here and in Truro, N.S.
Meridian Farms is having its best year ever in terms of Atlantic sire stakes winners with All Ameripan Gigilo- and Driven To Win-sired youngsters.
Eldrid Nicholson has four in the sale and, as has been the case in previous sales, his babies are named after NHL hockey greats — mostly Toronto.
Mr. Horton is a pacing colt by Brandons Cowboy and a beauty out of Comical Brilla. With so many Toronto Maple Leafs fans out in the Kingston-North Wiltshire area, guys like Garth Holmes, Clifford Green and the most passionate blue and white fan of them all, Dale Boswell, Mr. Horton should be their baby.
I think they should get together and buy this yearling. At least they could have something to cheer about this winter.
(Fred MacDonald’s column appears each Saturday in The Guardian. He can be reached at [email protected].)
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Pigskin Picks
The NFL heads into Week 2 and as I suggested last week, always sit out the first week but keep your eyes and ears open. There are a number of teams that have something to prove this weekend and New England is one of them. Let’s take a closer look at five games, but only bet three to put the odds on your side.
Miami at Buffalo – Miami looked great in trouncing the Patriots last Sunday at home but now travel to Buffalo to tackle the Bills, who upset the Bears in Chicago. Look for E.J. (Manuel) and C.J. (Spiller) to lead the Bills to a close win over Miami.
New Orleans at Cleveland – Drew Brees is an all-star type quarterback and in my view is the difference as the Saints win on the road.
Chicago at San Francisco – The Bears are 7.5-point underdogs and they deserve to be because the defence is not what it once was and Jay Cutler takes too many chances with the ball. Besides, the Bears can’t stop 49ers’ Colin Kaepernick. San Fran covers the spread.
Arizona at New York Giants – The G-men are three-point favourites at home versus a dangerous Cardinals club. The boys from Gotham have a terrible offensive line and will not be able to protect Eli Manning against a stout Arizona D. Carson Palmer is sharp, so here’s an upset for you.
New England at Minnesota – Look for the Pats, who are 3.5-point favourites, to rebound. Betting the Patriots, under Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, to lose two straight to start the season is one way to find yourself in the soup kitchen.
