maritimesports-blog

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Former Moosehead Shines- U Sports Recap

For the first time in the 58 year history of the David Johnston University Cup, there will be no winner. Many professional sports leagues such as the NHL, NBA, NLL and now the U Sports Hockey Championship have suspended play due to COVID-19. U Sports made the official announcement following the quarterfinal matchup between Saint Mary’s and Guelph. As unfortunate as these circumstances are, it is definitely a good call and in the best interest of everyone involved in the national tournament. Now let’s recap the two quarterfinal games that took place prior to the cancellation of the tournament.

In the first game, we saw the 7th seed Western Mustangs take on the 2nd seed Saskatchewan Huskies. Surprisingly, the Mustangs were able to upset the Huskies with two quick goals in the second to lead them to a 3-2 victory. One of the goals in the 2nd was a shorthand marker by Cordell James. The 23-year-old only had two goals during the regular season, However, his shorthanded goal was a huge part of this victory. Another, top performer was Mustangs goaltender, Luke Peresinni. In this this game he faced a total of 28 shots in the quarterfinal victory and only allowed two goals on the night. The young goaltender also had a off year as he struggled to find his ways, hosting a 3.83 GAA. However, last night he played a great game and insured his team had the opportunity to get this win. One of the big story lines in this game was the Huskies struggling to get anything done on the power play. The Huskies went 0-6 on the PP and had a tough time beating the Mustangs top penalty killer, Luke Peresinni. I strongly believe if the Huskies had a better performance on the power play the outcome of this game would have been a lot different.

Next up was the most anticipated game for the hometown fans, Saint Mary’s Huskies vs Guelph Gryphons. SMU came to play in the first throwing 14 shots at the Guelph goaltender, Andrew Masters. Masters, looked incredibly sharp early on making two huge saves on odd man breaks. Then at 07:52 of the 1st period, first-year player, Sam King brought the Halifax fans to their feet scoring the always important first goal. From that point on the Huskies dominated play with goals from Dunn, Beaton, Hampton and Balmas to secure the 5-1 victory! One player who had a outstanding game was Huskies defender, Nick Welsh. Although, he didn’t make it on the scoresheet, Welsh showed off his terrific skating ability jumping up on the rush to create scoring opportunities! In my opinion, he was the most exciting player on the ice to watch and I look forward to seeing more of what he has to offer in the coming years.

Two well known Former Halifax Mooseheads were in the SMU lineup, Thursday night. The first was SMU’s starting goaltender, Eric Brassard & the other was forward Joel Bishop. Brassard played 69 games with the Mooseheads registering 3 shutouts and tallied over 1500 saves! In the quarterfinals vs Guelph he reminded Halifax fans of what a reliable goaltender he is. He stopped 23 of 24 shots on the night and made some very important saves to lead his team to victory!

Joel Bishop, played in a spectacular 274 games for the Mooseheads and definitely didn’t mind throwing the body and dropping the gloves! He reminds me a bit of Tie Domi, Bishop is a smaller guy but can stand toe to toe with the toughest in the league. In the recent matchup vs Guelph he played a decent game, had a few scoring opportunities and finished the game with a plus minus of +1. It was great watching these 2 former Halifax Mooseheads play at their old stomping grounds and I look forward to watching them play again next season.

[maritimesports-blog]

3 Players To Watch At The U Sports Hockey Championship

This year, the growing sports community of Halifax is host to the U Sports Men’s Hockey Championship. The best university teams from across the nation will face off with one similar goal, winning the championship. During this national tournament, fans will be treated to high-caliber hockey and see tons of young talented hockey players. This year 3 maritime university’s will take part, including Saint Mary’s, Acadia and the number one seed UNB Reds. Now let’s take a look at 3 players to keep an eye on as the tournament gets underway on Thursday!

Tyler Boland- UNB Reds

This Newfoundland native is currently in his third year with the UNB Reds and has definitely been leaving his mark. The young forward has 20 goals, 28 assist for a total of 48 points in only 30 games! His numbers this year were good enough to earn him the University Sport scoring title for the 2019-20 season. Tyler, has a list of exciting accomplishments including being a QMJHL champion, two-time AUS champion, University cup champion and he was chosen to play on the AUS Second All Star Team during the 2018-19 season. Also, back in 2017 he even earned the opportunity to attend the Winnipeg Jets Rookie Camp. The UNB Reds hope Tyler and his natural scoring ability can lead them to back to back University Cup championships!

Nick Welsh- Saint Mary’s Huskies

In my opinion, Nick is without a doubt the best and most exciting defender in this tournament. This second year player from Halifax is an offensive defencemen with 5 goals and 33 helpers this season. The Huskies largely benefit from his ability to create scoring opportunities when on offence. However, when he needs to stay back and defend, he does a excellent job at that as well. Some of his biggest accomplishments include, being named to the AUS All Rookie Team, AUS First All Star Team, All Canadian Second Team and the All Rookie Team. He accomplished all this in his first year and then went on to tally the most assist in all of U Sports this season. Definitely keep an eye on this guy as he can make himself known on the offensive or defensive side of the game!

Cristiano Digiacinto- Acadia Axemen

This young winger from Hamilton may be small but he has proven he can be a reliable goal scorer. This season he scored 20 goals which tied him for 2nd in all of U Sports! On top of that he tallied 17 assist for a total of 37 points in 30 games! The Tampa Bay Lightening saw his talent and drafted him in the sixth round of the 2014 NHL draft. It’s hard to say if he will ever get a shot to play in the pros but one thing is for certain, he’s playing his best hockey! Being drafted into the NHL is definitely his biggest accomplishment but he also won the Memorial Cup back in 2016-17 with the Windsor Spitfires! Cristiano is a gritty winger that will stand up for his teammates when needed but also snipe some goals to help on the scoreboard. Keep an eye on this guy at the U Sports Hockey Championship, he’s a hell of a fun guy to watch!