BATHURST, N.B. — Cole Larkin is pumped.
After more than two months of practice, the 18-year-old Mermaid native and his Acadie-Bathurst Titan will play a game.
Not a scrimmage, but a regular season Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) game.
The Titan and the other two New Brunswick-based teams in the 18-team league have not played since mid-November due to COVID-19.
“It’s definitely going to be awesome. We’ve been waiting for this time for a while, and it’s going to be great,” said Larkin, a six-foot-two, 190-defenceman. “We’re definitely ready to get back into action and get playing some more games.”
The Titan host the Saint John Sea Dogs tonight and travel to Moncton Thursday to play the Wildcats.
“It’s almost like another home-opener for us,” Larkin said.
“We’ve been playing a few intrasquad games, where we play against each other, but it’s really not the same thing,” he added. “I think it’s going to be really good to be able to go and play against another team other than our own teammates.”
Larkin is one of four Islanders on the Titan. He trained with Portage’s Zach Biggar at Synergy Fitness & Nutrition this summer, played on provincial teams in the past with Chad Arsenault of St-Raphael and played against Summerside’s Bennett MacArthur growing up.
The quartet also quarantined for two weeks together when they came back to the Island for the Christmas break.
Simon Hughes started the season at Mount Saint Charles Academy, a prep school in Rhode Island.
The 17-year-old Stratford native came back to the Island in October and signed with the Sea Dogs. His first practice was in January and tonight could be his first game.
“I’m super excited to play tomorrow,” he said Monday, noting he would find out today if he would be in the lineup. “It’s a feeling I’ve been missing. I haven’t played a game since early in October.”
Hughes isn’t the only Islander inside the Sea Dogs’ dressing room. Charlie DesRoches is a defenceman from Days Corner, while Charlottetown native Tyler Jay is the team’s trainer.
The players said there were times during the winter where it looked like they were going to be able to play, but things didn’t come to fruition due to the pandemic.
“To kind of get that noise out of the way now and be able to play, it’s a great feeling,” said Hughes, six-foot-two, 170-pound left-winger.
Defenceman Anthony Hamel started the season with the Charlottetown Islanders, but was traded to Moncton on Dec. 28 in the deal that brought blue-liner Sean Stewart to Charlottetown.
Hamel packed up his things at his Gatineau, Que., home and went straight to Moncton, quarantining upon arrival.
“We practised a lot,” he said, “but it’s good for me because it’s a new team so I got a little more time to learn the system.”
Hamel said he’s rested and ready for the games to begin. He said it’s good they start by playing the other New Brunswick teams as it is a more level playing field since the other Maritime teams have been competing since late-January. There has been no indication when the New Brunswick teams will be able to resume play against the other Maritime squads.
Acadie-Bathurst’s last game was Nov. 20 against Halifax, while Saint John played Cape Breton on Nov. 18 and Moncton competed against the Titan on Nov. 14. The three teams have played the fewest games in the league with Moncton at 13 and the other two with 15. The rest of the league has played between 20 and 34 games.
Jason Malloy is The Guardian's sports editor. He can be reached by email at [email protected] and followed on Twitter at @SportsGuardian.
