[neilhoskins77]

4th September 2019
Last week I received an encouraging report about the development of some of the prospects and players we hold the rights for. Truth be told, we could use a few of them now. But getting a report on our current roster made me feel a bit better about what we have now. Apart from trying to push some square pegs into round holes here and there, we look okay right now. We’ll find out more tomorrow, when we got into our pre-season opener in our home barn, the Eastlink Centre, against Victoriaville Tigres. It’s the first of seven pre-season tilts.

5th September 2019
New goaltender Zachary Bouthillier gets a first chance to prove his worth after his trade to us, in front of just over 2,000 fans. It started so well too, Patrick LeBlanc put us in front with three minutes to play in the first on the Powerplay, and he then picked up a secondary assist as Cole Edwards doubled our lead with 21 seconds to play in the opening period.

Tigres came out firing for the second, pulling one back less than 30 seconds into a Brett Budgell minor penalty. But our heads stayed up, and LeBlanc scored once more on the PP midway through the period. We were being undisciplined though, and Sean Larochelle scored on the man advantage, before adding another two minutes later in 5 on 5 play, and the score was knotted at 3 after two.

The third period was a tight one, with both sides closing things up, while still taking minors. And neither our PP or Penalty Kill got the job done. Tigres found the winner with just under 90 seconds played on Zac Arsenault’s minor for delay of game, Mikhail Abramov finding the net with 17:12 of the period played, Larochelle picking up a third point of the game on the game winning goal.

So, the Powerplay was hot, the Penalty Kill not so much. Bouthillier saved 28 of 32 fired at him, Michael Welsh will get his go tomorrow night. Plenty of positives though, we out-shot and out-hit our visitors. We also beat them on giveaways and takeaways, and dominated proceedings in the face-off circles.

Pre-Season Record :- 0-1-0

6th September 2019
3,480 were at the Harbour Station Arena in Saint John, New Brunswick the following night as we continue our pre-season schedule with an opening road game, and a first chance to assert ourselves against a Divisional rival from the six team Maritimes Division of the Eastern Conference of the QMJHL. And asserting ourselves will be important, as we take on the Sea Dogs in four of our seven warm-up games. We go with the same lines as last night, and with Welsh between the pipes.

Mark this as an ‘F’......for frustrating! Don’t look at the box score, and we did everything right for the opening half hour, dominating the game in pretty much every aspect you care to mention, particularly in the first period. Indiscipline continued to raise its head in the 2nd, and we had to kill off almost a full two minutes of 5-on-3 Powerplay for the Sea Dogs. But with just under six minutes left in the middle session, Maxim Čajkovič ripped home a shot with the extra man after Cédric Desruisseaux took a hooking penalty. That was only the sixth shot on goal they had registered at Welsh, while we up in the mid 20’s.

Thankfully, we finally found someone who could pick out the net in the 3rd. It was right wing Kevin Gursoy who stepped up, after I had switched the C’s around on the top line. He scored just over two minutes in, and then with five to play in the game, netted on the PP, with Desruisseaux assisting on both markers after moving up to the top unit. We wouldn’t manage to hold on though, Benjamin Badalamenti scoring with 71 seconds remaining on the clock and before they had managed to pull Stewart Bagnall for the extra skater. I’m happy to report we would pick the ‘W’ though. When OT didn’t provide a result, the shootout would, and comprehensively. Josh Lawrence missed, and our other top six C took his chance to shine, Russian/German newly drafted St Louis Blues prospect Nikita Alexandrov, the son of DEL stalwart Igor, found a way through, and when Badalamenti missed, D’man Zac Arsenault finished the job, and we have our first win on the board.

Pre-Season Record :- 1-1-0

7th September 2019
It’s a day off before we’re back in action tomorrow for the first of a double header of home games, before we take on Saint John three times in a four day spell. We out-shot them 42-21 last night, yet still needed overtime and a shootout to get the job done.

I’m acutely aware that we’ve only had two games together, and that there is still plenty of time to build line chemistry and discover better combinations and match-ups. I’m also very aware that I have an owner expecting big things, and I need some sniping skills further up our lineup. Two trade offers are sent out, for two of the best in the League. There are risks attached to such a move, not least that I’d be ramping up the pressure and expectations on myself and the team if I pull the deals off. Also to be considered, I could be moving out a lot of pieces to receive back something that I might only get for a year if they were to be drafted high in the NHL Entry Draft, and given a shot at the Big League.