[Professional Blog] Pearl senior club turns out to be a gem

I take my hat off to Harry Bartlett, Ed OBrien, Jim Hare and the rest of the Mount Pearl H.J. Bartlett Electric Blades organization. Nine months after finishing a dismal 3-21, the Blades are an impressive 6-5-2 and find themselves tied for points (14) with the defending Avalon East champs from C.B.N. a team they bested in two games last week. Plus, the team leads the league in goals for (57) and has two of the top three scorers in the league in rookies Steve Pearson (10G, 9A) and Cory Blackmore (10G, 7A) and another three in the top 10 (Mark Chaplin, Trevor Thorne and Brian Sutherland). Id like to say its a surprising start, but considering the investment in the team during the off-season bringing in twelve new bodies in senior hockey veterans and Mount Pearl natives its anything but. About the only place the Pearl crew are struggling is between the pipes where keepers Mark Abbott and rookie Devin Sherm OBrien have allowed a league high 54 goals. If theyre this good with inconsistent netminding, imagine how good they would be had Doug Jewer stuck around instead of signing with the Grand Fall-Windsor Cataracts in the West. The Blades strengthened their lineup earlier this week by signing Brent Power. Power, known more for his play on the diamond with the Shamrocks in St. Johns senior baseball league action, played with the former Blades senior club from 2005 to 2007, registering 24 points over 34 games. Power spent the previous two seasons with the West Coast leagues Clarenville Caribous notching one goal and 10 assists over 44 games. In his first game, a 7-3 win over Bell Island last night, Power had his first point as a Blade; an assist on Trevor Thornes third period marker.