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Charlottetown Islanders

Round 1 Preview: Charlottetown vs. Cape Breton

March 19, 2019 - Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL)
Charlottetown Islanders News Release


It's been a long, grueling season, and it's all led to this moment. The Charlottetown Islanders will begin their quest for the 2019 President's Cup on Friday, March 22nd, when the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles visit the Eastlink Centre for Game 1 of their first-round series.

These two teams have been connected right from Game 1 this season, where the Islanders defeated the Eagles 4-2 on the opening night of the season. Overall, the Islanders took the regular season series with their Maritime Division opponent with a 5-3-0-1 record, including two crucial back-to-back victories on March 8th and 9th, two victories that ultimately pushed the Islanders ahead of the Eagles for fourth in the final Eastern Conference standings.

The connection between Charlottetown and Cape Breton extends beyond the standings. The two men behind the bench, Jim Hulton and Marc-Andre Dumont, are extremely familiar with one another. The duo were the bench bosses for Team QMJHL at the 2018 CHL Canada-Russia Series, while en route to Vancouver as assistant coaches for Team Canada at the 2019 World Junior Championships.

It was there that the two coaches consummated a big move during the Christmas trading period; Hulton and the Islanders agreed to send Sydney native Derek Gentile back to his home town in exchange for young up-and-coming defenseman Noah Laaouan. The trade has appeared to work out for both sides; Laaouan has gone on to form one half of arguably the best young defensive pairing in the QMJHL alongside Lukas Cormier, while Gentile was instantly inserted in to a strong Screaming Eagles top-six, recording 22 points in 30 games.

Three of Cape Breton's strongest forwards are former Islanders; Gentile, Mitchell Balmas, and Shaun Boudrias. Balmas, to his credit, put forth his best statistical season to date, setting career-highs in goals (43), assists (39), and points (82). Boudrias, the Minnesota Wild draft pick, battled some injury troubles following his arrival in Cape Breton from Gatineau, but still managed to record a healthy 46 points in 56 games this season.

Speaking of best statistical seasons, Charlottetown's Daniel Hardie was an offensive catalyst from Game 1 this season. The 20 year-old from Georgetown set career-highs for himself in goals (34), assists (44), and points (78). His 34 goals are the most by an Islander since Filip Chlapik and Kameron Kielly each hit 34 in 2016-2017, and is just the fifth player in team history to break the 30-goal plateau as an Islander (Chlapik, Kielly, Daniel Sprong, Alexandre Goulet).

Another player who broke records in Charlottetown this season was Lukas Cormier. The 16 year-old defender set the organization's single-season mark by a rookie defenseman, breaking the record held be PEI Rocket defender Adam Polasek set in 2009-2010. To accentuate how impressive Cormier's goal-scoring was, the 15 goals he scored are also the 10th-most scored by a 16 year-old defenseman in Canadia Hockey League history.

In goal, two of the best netminders in the QMJHL will go head-to-head. Matthew Welsh took on a massive workload in the second half of the regular season, playing out the final 16 games for Charlottetown. The 19 year-old finished the season first among all QMJHL netminders in games played (56) and minutes (3,330.34), playing 185 more minutes than his closest counterpart. In doing so, Welsh set a new career-high with 32 victories, leading the Isles to just their fourth 40-win season in organization history.

In the opposite goalcrease, Kevin Mandolese was handed full reigns by Dumont in the offseason when Kyle Jessiman was dealt to Baie-Comeau at the QMJHL Draft. The Ottawa Senators draft pick took full advantage of the opportunity, nearly doubling his win total from last season, registered over 400 more saves, and set a new career-high with a .895 save percentage.

Don't miss a second of heart-pounding QMJHL playoff action at the Eastlink Centre! Tickets for Games 1 and 2 are on sale at the Eastlink Centre box office, by phone at 902-629-6625, or online at https://boxoffice.eastlinkcentrepei.com!

Check out the Charlottetown Islanders Statistics

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Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League Stories from March 19, 2019


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