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QMJHL Charlottetown Islanders

Charlottetown's Second Half Begins with Road Trip to Moncton

December 28, 2019 - Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL)
Charlottetown Islanders News Release


With Christmas in the rearview mirror and a two-week vacation now over, the Charlottetown Islanders are now revamped and ready for the second half of the season. It begins today with a trip to Moncton to take on the Moncton Wildcats.

Charlottetown (20-12-4-0) had a great first half of the season despite a number of key injuries and the heaviest schedule in the QMJHL. The Isles sit just four points back of Moncton (24-9-0-0) although the Wildcats have three games in hand. The last time these two teams met, Matthew Welsh turned aside 25 shots as the Isles defeated the Cats 2-1 on home ice.

The teams that will take the ice today will look much different than the teams that played then. The Isles shook things up over the Christmas trading period, making a series of trades and bringing in three new faces in the process. Forwards Ethan Crossman and Drew Elliott, along with defenseman Chris McQuaid, will all make their Isles debuts today in Moncton.

Crossman, the 20-year-old who won a Memorial Cup with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan in 2018, will look to begin his tenure with the Isles on a high note. Entering the home stretch of his junior career, Crossman has six goals and 16 points in 33 games so far this season. Elliott, meanwhile, is just beginning his QMJHL career after being selected 26th overall by the Baie-Comeau Drakkar in the 2019 QMJHL Draft. In 30 games so far, Elliott has six assists.

McQuaid returns home to play for the team he grew up watching. The Charlottetown native is a four-year QMJHL veteran, having played 186 games since entering the league as a 16-year-old in 2016-2017. He'll be re-united with friend and longtime minor hockey teammate Thomas Casey.

Speaking of Casey, the speedy winger was the hottest player on the Isles prior to the Christmas break. He's recorded an astounding nine goals in his past eight games, and has since taken over the team's goal scoring lead with 16 so far this season.

Like Charlottetown, Moncton will have a new-look team both on the ice and off. As one of the strongest teams in the QMJHL the Wildcats have gotten even stronger, bolstering their offense with the acquisition of star centre Benoit-Olivier Groulx from the Halifax Mooseheads. Groulx has 41 points in just 26 games so far this season. Behind the bench, the Wildcats overhauled their coaching staff by hiring former Montreal Canadiens assistant coach Dan Lacroix as the team's head coach, and re-hiring Josh Hepditch as an assistant.

The Wildcats will be without a few key players in this game. Groulx will take a few extra maintenance days after being made the last cut from Team Canada's World Junior training camp. Goaltender Olivier Rodrigue remains with Team Canada for the duration of the World Juniors, while Alexander Khovanov is with Team Russia. Calgary Flames prospect Jakob Pelletier is questionable for the game as he remains out with an undisclosed injury.

The Islanders will also not have a full complement of players, as Nikita Alexandrov and Gaetan Jobin will be on international duty at the World Juniors until January 5th.

You can catch all of the action on Ocean 100's Saturday Night Hockey with George Matthews and Cory Arsenault. Puck drop is at 4:00pm. Don't forget to tune in!

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Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League Stories from December 28, 2019


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