Bearcats ready to roll

TRURO, N.S. – The Truro Bearcats don’t exactly ease into the new Maritime Junior Hockey League season.
The Bearcats hit the road to Yarmouth on Friday to open the 2019-20 campaign against the reigning league-champion Mariners – the first of four road games to start the season. They won’t play their home opener until Sept. 28 when they host the Valley Wildcats.
“I like the group,” said Bearcats coach Shawn Evans. “I don’t want to compare years, this is a new year, but I like the makeup of the team, I like the makeup of personalities.”
Many new faces dot the Truro lineup – a mix of young and veteran talent, who will be counted on to turn the team into a contender once more after a disappointing 2018-2019 season in which the Bearcats finished fourth in their division and suffered an early playoff exit at the hands of the rival Mariners.
“I think we have more speed than we have previously,” said Evans. “I think we’ve got a little more skill, and it’s a team, and it’s more than half a new team from last year and they’re excited and they’re bringing some good energy to the rink.”
The Bearcats have 22 players on their roster. Their most recent addition is 18-year-old forward Matt Gordon, who was recently cut from the Halifax Mooseheads of the Quebec major junior league. Gordon played junior B last season in Cambridge, Ont.
“We’re excited to have him,” said Evans. “We think he’s a good, young, skilled hockey player.”
The Bearcats sent local defenceman Tanner Greatorex back to major midget in Pictou County late last week. Greatorex was one of Truro’s territorial selections, who acquitted himself well during training camp.  
Veteran goaltender Alec MacDonald will start between the pipes on Friday. He will share the net during the early going with Aidan Dunford. The Bearcats added goalie Sébastien Plamondon this summer, however, he is currently sidelined with a broken knuckle.
Seven players on this year’s Truro roster are from Colchester County – Carson Lanceleve, Luke Macmillan, G Blackmore, Ben Higgins, Marc Aucoin, Ben Fraser and MacDonald.