In his second year with the Weeks Crushers, Cody Squires is enjoying a larger role with the Pictou County squad.
Coming in last season he said he wanted to bring his high energy to the team with the focus of shutting down top players on opposing teams. This year the 20-year-old says he’s being looked to more to do that.
“This year I’ve been killing more penalties, which has been a bonus for me,” he said. “I’ve improved my fore-checking this year too.”
Squires joined the Crushers last season after a partial season with the Metro Marauders. After his season with Metro he said he was unhappy playing there and was going to stay home in St. John’s, N.L., to play junior B hockey until the Crushers traded for him at the 2011 draft.
“Nobody from Metro said anything to me and the first I heard of the trade was from Jason Malone,” said Squires. “I was happy to have a second chance to play in this league after my experience in Metro. I moved into a bigger role, was playing more and have been looked to be a leader more.”
Tonight Squires and the Crushers will look to shut down the Yarmouth Mariners at home at the Pictou County Wellness Centre at 7 p.m. Losing 8-2 in their last meeting with the Mariners, Squires said that is still in the players’ minds and they want to show they can compete with them.
“It definitely sticks in the back of your head and we’re 0-2 against them,” he said. “This is our first game against them in our new rink and we want to start off fresh against them. We have to keep things more simple because we over-handled pucks there, but I think we’re ready for them.”
Squire also said that the team has been putting more focus into personal preparation off the ice lately.
“The guys have been doing more away from the rink and going to the gym more,” he said. “Everyone is getting more prepared and fired up for games. We have a good feeling coming off the break.”
Gameday sidebar
Weeks Crushers
17-12-5
Goals for: 125
Goals against: 123
Vs. Yarmouth Mariners
25-5-1
Goals for: 137
Goals against: 72
Record against Lumberjacks: 0-2
Game time: 7 p.m. at the Pictou County Wellness Centre
