WESTVILLE ROAD, N.S.
After six months of waiting, the Junior A Crushers are ready to get the season going.
The Maritime Hockey League club kicks off the regular season with a Sept. 12 encounter against the Fredericton Red Wings (7 p.m. at the Pictou County Wellness Centre).
“I’m definitely antsy (about the start of the season),” said new head coach Mike Danton.
“I want to get this started. We should have real high expectations this year.”
The Crushers officially named Jake Martin as team captain, with Jaden Mason, Aiden Hockey and Evan Gallant to serve as assistant captains.
Martin, who still has two years of junior eligibility remaining, called it “an honour’” to be wearing the ‘C’.
“Being a home town guy, it’s a pretty big deal for me to be a leader,” said Martin, who is from New Glasgow.
He sees both himself and Gallant as being more of the quiet, lead-by-example types, while Mason and Hickey are more vocal in their approach.
“I just try to work as hard as I can, and focus on the small details. It’s just something I’ve always done – it’s a habit now.”
The Crushers had a bit of trouble scoring goals in the exhibition season, but Martin is confident that once the players have a firmer grasp of the systems being installed, and become more familiar with regular linemates, “we’ll be able to create a lot more offence.”
Danton said he had a lot of candidates who could have worn a letter on their jerseys this season.
“Jake came to camp in impeccable shape, he works hard, he’s relentless,” Danton added.
“And those are things we want all the players to value this year. Same thing with Evan – he plays with determination and drive. Aiden is the dad of the dressing room, he and Jaden are more of the talkative type.”
Parker, entering his third season as a Crushers’ defenceman, believes the team can contend for a league title, which would be its first since 2016.
“That’s the goal – to win,” said the Bedford native.
“We have the team to do it, all we have to do is execute.”
CRUSHER NOTES:
Pictou County dropped their final exhibition game on Sept. 5, a 5-4 loss to the Truro Bearcats. The Crushers were down 5-1 midway through the game at the Pictou County Wellness Centre (“I could feel the eyes on the back of my head,” said coach Danton, referring to the fans in the seats), but they got their stuff together, scoring three unanswered goals to make a game of it. Jaden Mason had a goal and two assists in the game.
CRUSHERS ROSTER:
Forwards:
Andrew Burden
Evan Gallant
Maxime Grandmaison
Sam LeBlanc
Malcolm MacEachern
Calum MacPherson
Jake Martin
Jaden Mason
Kevin Mason
Colin Parker
Brayden Ryan
Craig Ryan
Sullivan Sparkes
Defence:
Malcolm Genge
Keenan Gillis
Aiden Hickey
Ryan MacLennan
Jack Morris
Alexis Quane-Arsenault
Logan Vande Meerakker
Goaltenders:
Andrew MacLeod
Matt Normore
