Millbrook’s G Blackmore was at a hockey crossroads this summer and he wasn’t sure whether a return to his hometown Truro Bearcats would be on his path.
The 20-year-old forward eventually agreed to stick with the Maritime Hockey League team, but Blackmore believed that he and the Bearcats needed a fresh start to maximize their potential.
“We had a bit of a rough year last year on the Bearcats,” he said. “I just wasn’t really feeling it. But the coaches made some moves, made the atmosphere a little bit different in the (dressing) room, and it’s been a lot better this year. I’m having a lot of fun. I just hope it keeps going this way (and) we maybe get a couple of (more) wins, but it’s pretty good right now.”
Last season’s Bearcats didn’t always perform at their best because of what Blackmore described as a lack of leadership from some players.
“To sum it up, we weren’t really a team,” he said. “Some foolishness off the ice had to be dealt with. A little bit of the leadership role wasn’t there. But all of that (trouble) seems to be gone this year, off-the-ice things.
“When the team is having trouble off the ice, it’s hard to focus on on-the-ice things. We’ve been able to focus on the ice, and it just gets better from there.”
When he sensed the Bearcats would be more focused this season, Blackmore decided to return for his final year of junior eligibility. That decision became easier when Truro received a summertime commitment from Bible Hill’s Ben Higgins to finish his junior career back home. Higgins, who had played with the Bearcats in his 16-year-old season, skated with the major junior Halifax Mooseheads for the next three seasons, including an appearance in the Memorial Cup final last spring.
“I played with Ben my whole life,” Blackmore said of his minor hockey days with Higgins as a teammate. “I wasn’t really looking to come back to play this year for the Bearcats, but one of the reasons (for returning) was because Ben was coming back. He’s a longtime friend of mine, we grew up playing hockey together and had that one year in the (QMJHL) where we played against each other. But other than that, we hadn’t played together since bantam, so it’s really good to have him back. We sit beside each other in the locker-room and have a lot of laughs, so it’s great.”
Higgins is the Bearcats’ captain and Blackmore – a former Moncton Wildcat – is one of the assistants. They’ve been reunited on Truro’s top line, along with Spencer Blackwell, a 19-year-old Bearcats newcomer from Ontario who had QMJHL experience with the Quebec Remparts.
The Bearcats’ top three scorers rank among the top 20 in the MHL. After 24 games, Higgins and Blackwell each had 31 points and Blackmore had 28. With a combined 40 goals, the trio had accounted for more than half of the Bearcats’ 73 goals through 25 games.
“Usually when one of us scores, the other two assist on it,” said Blackmore, the centre between Higgins on the right side and Blackwell on the left. “We’re really moving the puck well, getting in the other team’s end and just getting the points, helping our team out.”
The Bearcats stumbled out of the gate this season, but they’ve trended upward in the past month. Coach and general manager Shawn Evans is counting on continued leadership from the likes of Higgins and Blackmore, whose popular first name G is derived from Gerald.
“They’re dynamic offensive players,” Evans said. “They’ve got a lot of pressure on themselves, those fellas, because we’re relying on them to score. But at the same time, we need them to be 200-foot hockey players. It’s a team that wins in the end. You need your best players to lead the way and play two-way hockey. In the last half of the season, that’s what we need from G and from Ben and from Blackwell, too. Blackwell is a heckuva hockey player, too.
“All those guys kind of fit in the same category – they’re really skilled players. We’re really lucky to have them, (but) they’ve got one more level that they can go to, as well.”
The Bearcats consider themselves fortunate Blackmore decided to play his final year of junior, after earlier contemplating not doing so.
“We had many discussions with G,” Evans said. “I don’t want to speak for G, but when he got let go from Moncton (in 2018), that set him back. That was a big disappointment for G. I can totally understand that. So, after last season, he had some thinking to do. Did Ben (Higgins) coming on board help with G (returning)? Certainly, it did.
“When G is on his game, he’s a heckuva player at our level of hockey.”
Blackmore is a busy boy, juggling hockey with his college studies in Dartmouth, while living in Halifax and making frequent trips to Truro.
“He’s not with us every day, but that was part of the deal we made when we tried to put the team together,” Evans said. “Not everybody is going to the NHL, so I’m pleased that he’s in school full time. He’s got his eye on his future, too, besides hockey.”
Hockey fans in the Truro area, and certainly on Millbrook First Nation, keep a close eye on Blackmore, one of their own.
“I think it’s awesome,” Blackmore said of playing just minutes from his family home on the reserve. “Last (summer), I told (the Bearcats) that there was nowhere (else) I’d play. I’d only play in Truro if I was coming back.
“I have lots of family and friends that come out from the reserve that watch every game. Lots of kids come out. It’s awesome, having people watching you that you know and being able to do something for your community. There’s lots of kids running around (the rink) and lots of special-needs people that I like to talk to before the games. One in particular, her name is Toby, she’s awesome. It’s a lot of fun.”
@JohnnyMacHockey
