Players and fans had plenty to be thankful for this week.
The Bearcats haven’t played since the opening week of the schedule. Neither did their Saturday opponent, the Pictou County Crushers. Those teams got down to business at the drop of the puck. The Crushers scored at the mid point of the first period and never relinquished
the lead. The shots were even entering the final period but the Bearcats took over in that department, swarming the Crushers zone, picked up a couple but came up one short. For the Crushers it was revenge for their loss the first meeting. For the Bearcats, it was a demonstration of a strong push back, and the importance of scoring the first goal.
Monday, the Bearcat scored three unanswered goals in the third period to post a convincing win in Amherst. The Bearcat special teams had an impressive day, scoring once on the powerplay, then shutting down Amherst’s seven powerplay opportunities. Those are good stats.
Truro settled for a split, and came away aware the Eastlink South Division will be hotly contested.
This week the team prepares for three games in as many nights, beginning Friday when the Fredericton Red Wings are in town. Saturday, the Bearcats are in Valley, then Sunday in Pictou County. All three have 7:00 pm starts.
Fredericton took over the St. Stephen Ace franchise in 2019. They have iced a competitive team since. This will be the first season meeting of
North competition. Valley entered the week ranking nineteenth in the country. The Wildcats have been busy with eight games under their belt and leading the MHL in points. Truro and Pictou County anticipate, that a hard-fought rubber match is in store when they meet in New Glasgow. Can you expect anything else. It’s a heavy load for a weekend. Playing one game at a time will get the Bearcats through.
Bearcat-of-the-Week honours went to MHL veteran, Merle Putnam. He picked up a pair in the Crusher game, then added a goal and a helper
in Amherst. The Masstown native came through the Colchester West Cobra Program and Truro Program en route to the Truro Bearcat Major
Bantam and Weeks Majors before spending the last two with the Crushers.
His trade to the Bearcats in the off-season serves as a huge acquisition.