SUMMERSIDE – The Summerside D. Alex MacDonald Ford Western Capitals stayed close to home in selecting their two territorial picks.
The Capitals took 2001-born forwards and Summerside natives Colby MacArthur and Bennett MacArthur, who both have one year of midget eligibility remaining. The MHL (Maritime Junior Hockey League) announced the territorial picks of each team on Monday night. Teams who wish to pass on territorial picks receive an extra pick at the end of the second and third rounds of Saturday’s annual draft in Berwick, N.S.
“We really like Colby and Bennett,” said Caps general manager Pat McIver in an interview with the Journal Pioneer on Monday night. “We had a tough decision this year, there were five or six guys (available), and we could have taken any one of them.
“We felt with both Colby and Bennett being ‘01s that it made sense to draft these guys this year, and hopefully we can pick up some of the other guys in the draft.”
Both draft picks, who are no strangers to the Caps, feature good size. Colby is listed as six foot two and 165 pounds while Bennett is five foot 11 and 190 pounds.
“They both had good camps with us last year, and we feel they will push for spots this year,” said McIver. “We feel that they could potentially step in and play this year, but if it does not work out they will definitely be players for us down the road.”
McIver is also excited to add two local players.
“It helps with the model we are going with trying to be more local, and from a financial standpoint it all makes sense,” offered McIver. “In order for us to try and survive, we need to have as many local guys as we can. . . We interviewed both before we made our decision, and both seemed really excited to be part of the Western Capitals.”
Numbers
Colby, who is the younger brother of Caps forward Brodie MacArthur, is coming off a 41-point season in his second year with the Kensington Monaghan Farms Wild of the New Brunswick/P.E.I. Major Midget Hockey League. He had 11 points in 35 regular-season games in his rookie year.
“Colby is a strong 200-foot player,” said McIver. “His offensive game progressed last year, and he put up good numbers in Kensington. He’s working hard, and we feel he’ll be a good Western Capital.
Bennett, who notched 24 points in 35 regular-season games with the Wild in 2016-17, played the 2017-18 season with the Rothesay-Netherwood Riverhawks of New Brunswick. He had 24 points in 21 games.
“Bennett is another kid with good size, is extremely skilled and has a good shot,” explained McIver. “We feel he will be a goal scorer with the Caps for a number of years. It’s hard to teach goal scoring, and he has that ability.”
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