Two years ago, as an 18-year-old, Moody played in the Memorial Cup CHL championship as a member of the Quebec Remparts.
The Remparts went 1-2 in the round-robin portion of that tournament, then won a tiebreaker, before losing to the Kelowna Rockets in a semifinal game. The experience Moody gained by playing on the big stage was invaluable.
This week, the veteran forward for the Truro Bearcats will apply lessons learned from that tournament to the Fred Page Cup Eastern Canadian junior A championship in Terrebonne, Que.
“You can definitely learn from it,” said Moody, an alternate captain of the Bearcats. “You have to figure out how to play with the emotions of the crowd.”
The Bearcats will get an opportunity to do that early, as they open the four-team tournament Wednesday against the host and Quebec champion Terrebonne Cobras. Following that contest, Truro meets Longueuil College (Quebec) Thursday and Carleton Place (Ontario) Friday.
The Bearcats earned their berth into the tournament after winning the Maritime Junior Hockey League title last Friday in the seventh and deciding game against the Miramichi Timberwolves.
Moody said the team is confident heading into this week’s event.
“We’re excited,” he said. “I think we’re going to come out flying; I can’t really see it going any other way. We’re a good team, we’re fast and I think we’re going to show a lot of people how good we are.”
This is the sixth Fred Page Cup appearance for the Bearcats. They won the event as host team in 2013.
Bearcats coach Shawn Evans said his club needs to be mentally prepared for the opening game, but equally important is making sure the compete level is high, regardless of the outcome.
“You want to win Game 1, but you want to know after that first game you’re in a tournament and that you can compete and you can win.”
The winner of the Fred Page Cup will attend the RBC Cup in Cobourg, Ont., May 13 to 21.
“We have a 25 per cent chance,” Evans said. “There’s four teams, so why not us. I don’t think a lot of people thought we’d be going to the tournament. These kids are a resilient bunch of young men and it’s the tightest team I’ve had in a long time.”
The Bearcats left for Quebec on Monday afternoon.
