| THE
BEST COULD BE YET TO COME FOR THE WILDCATS

By Dan Robertson
January 27,
2010
Considering
the
injury
problems
they’ve
experienced
this
year,
the
Moncton
Wildcats
record
has
been
remarkable.
As
of
this
writing,
Moncton
is
in
2nd
place
in
the
QMJHL
standings.
They’ve
won 33 of their first 48 games and have won ten in a row, including an impressive
weekend sweep on the road of Victoriaville, Quebec and Drummondville, three of
the top five teams (along with Moncton and first place Saint John) in the league. “Last
year we were basically injury free,” says Wildcats Head Coach and General
Manager Danny Flynn. “This year, it’s been one significant injury
after another. At one point, we had nine guys out. This past weekend, we had
no Simon Jodoin and no Kirill Kabanov. Brandon Gormley got hurt early in the
trip. The depth of the team has really been tested this year.”
During the Christmas trade period, Flynn took steps to appreciably upgrade that
depth. He also turned the offensively-challenged Wildcats into a team with a
cast of forwards that can rival any in the league. Gabriel Bourque (Baie-Comeau),
Nicolas Deschamps (Chicoutimi) and Kelsey Tessier (Quebec) were all added to
the roster for the second half of the season. The impetus behind Flynn’s
buying spree came in the form of an early Christmas present for the organization.
When it was announced on December 17th that goaltender Nicolas Riopel would return
to the club after beginning the season with the Adirondack Phantoms of the AHL,
the wheels were set in motion. “I think we would have been far less aggressive
at the trade period (without the return of Riopel). We were happy with
our goaltending. Both guys (Louis Domingue and Wendell Vye) were playing solid
hockey, but when you get the league MVP back and arguably the best goalie in
the CHL, it causes you to rethink your plan. At the same time, we were looking
at our defense. David Savard’s a fourth-round pick of Columbus, Mark Barberio’s
a sixth-round pick and Brandon Gormley’s going to be a top ten pick. So
we were sitting here and saying that if we wait until next year (to make a run)
because of the season they’ve had and if they all turn pro next year, perhaps
we would have missed both windows of opportunity. We decided we would try to
make our team older and more competitive.”
As
is
the
case
with
the
best
organizations,
Flynn
and
the
Wildcats
were
looking
for quality players who are character kids. “There’s a big difference
between assembling talent and assembling a team,” says Flynn. We did a
lot of research at the type of people we were going to bring in. We had such
a good group in the room it was important that we added people that had the same
dreams and goals that we have here. Three of the people that we added were captains.
Alex Wall (a defenseman acquired from Montreal) is a rock solid guy. Spencer
Metcalfe was a character guy in Halifax…they’ve all made real solid
contributions on and off the ice.
One
of
the
last
trades
Flynn
made
is
potentially
an
expensive
one.
He
moved
Louis
Domingue, a goaltender with star potential and heart-and-soul forward Matt Brown
to Quebec for versatile centre Kelsey Tessier, a player long coveted by the organization. “In
Kelsey’s draft year of 2007, we went to the draft with only a third and
fifth round pick. He was talking about playing NCAA hockey and we didn’t
have the picks to gamble to see if we could recruit him. Assistant Coach Darryl
Seward coached him on championship teams in Pee Wee and Bantam. We knew he was
a competitor, a leader and had significant playoff experience. Along with the
other guys, he’s made significant contributions so far.”
Among
those “other
guys” Flynn
mentions
as
key
contributors
are
goaltender
Shane Owen, a free agent pick up from the OHL who could be the number one guy
in goal next year; hulking Tyler Howe, who had been playing Junior ‘A’ in
Saskatchewan, and former Mooseheads defenseman Alex MacDonald.
Thanks
to
a
blistering
start
by
Saint
John
which
included
a
22-game
winning
streak,
the ‘Cats can’t seem to close ground on the Sea Dogs for first overall.
But Flynn says that his players certainly aren’t consumed with catching
their provincial rivals. “More important than catching Saint John is that
we’ve been in a torrid battle with Cape Breton to secure second place in
the Atlantic Division so we can get home ice in the first round of the playoffs.
You have to give Saint John a lot of credit for staying in first….their
consistency since day one has been remarkable. Our focus is on the process. We
can’t control how Saint John does, we can only take care of things we can
control. We’re looking at PEI and Cape Breton. We know that when you get
down to the short strokes, there are six to eight really good teams in this league.
We know how tough the first round alone is going to be.
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