By Ashley Thompson
THE HANTS JOURNAL
NovaNewsNow.com
Ryan Legere, general manager of the Junior B East Hants Penguins, says this is the season they’ve been waiting for.
“We had this year in our minds a year and a half ago when we first started putting this team together,” Legere said.
About 55 potential Penguins hit the ice Aug. 31 to start a week and a half long training camp. Drafted players will suit up Sept. 11 for a pre-season tournament in St. Margaret’s Bay.
“We have a good core of returning players,” Legere said.
“We had a young team last year. We had to fill 23 roster spots, so last year was kind of a tough year as far as wins and losses go.”
This is the first season the Junior B hockey league has approved trades and waiver drafts. With 55 hopefuls at tryouts, and two experienced players drafted from competing teams, Legere is optimistic the East Hants Penguins will be a force to be reckoned with.
“We traded one of our young goal tenders for a speedy forward, and we traded a defenceman for an older defenseman who is a pretty tough guy,” Legere said.
He is confident the reasons for these trades will be visible on the ice and the scoreboards. The Penguins scooped forward Alex Porter from the Port Hawkesbury Strait Pirates and former Sackville Blazers defenseman, Kyle Colp.
“Our goal is to contend for a championship.”
Despite the team’s inconsistent performance last year, Legere says, the Penguins continued to fill arenas, with their games drawing the second largest crowds in the league.
“It was really encouraging to see that even though we weren’t winning, we were still packing the fans into the arena. We can have 300 (fans) on a dull night, 500 on an average night and… 800 to 1,000 on a good night.”
Legere says the Penguins recognize the importance of having a supportive fan base and try to reciprocate on and off the ice by meeting their fans, and giving back to their community in every means possible - even if that means dropping the gloves and hitting the boards every now and then.
“As long as we’re running this team there’ll be plenty of aggression, hard hitting and some rough stuff – the fans will be happy,” Legere said.
The Penguins will square off against the Cape Breton Canadians for their home opener at the East Hants Sportsplex in Lantz, Friday, Sept. 24, at 7:30 p.m.
Visit the team's website by clicking HERE.
