Ed Oates acknowledges this year’s edition of his St. John’s Maple Leafs probably doesn’t have the depth of last year’s Leafs’ squad, which makes an injury to rearguard that much harder to swallow.
“He’s certainly one of our top four defencemen, a third-year guy who brings a lot of experience and leadership to the team, who’s been to a pair of previous Atlantic championships,” Oates said.
“He’s on our second power play unit. What else can you say? We’re going to miss him.”
Oates and the provincial champion Maple Leafs are in Lantz, N.S., about 40 minutes from Halifax, for the Atlantic major midget hockey championship that starts today.
At stake is a berth in the national Telus Cup Canadian major midget championship April 23-29 in Sudbury, Ont.
As a result of the Henley injury, the Leafs headed to Nova Scotia Wednesday short-staffed on the blueline where five players — Paul Norman, Lucas Osmond, Aaron Greenham, Noah Parsons and Nathan Flynn — will be left to shoulder the defensive responsibility.
Henley suffered a fracture of the clavicle last weekend, and the injury couldn’t have come at a worse time. To make matters worse, it occurred during a St. John’s High School Hockey League playoff game Saturday night, and not the provincial midget playdowns.
“We have guys who are used to playing a lot of minutes,” Oates said, “but the thing is, in this tournament the pace will be a whole lot quicker.”
As a result, said the coach, forward Michael McCarthy might be looked upon to take a shift or two on the blueline. McCarthy played forward coming up through the minor ranks and has been spotted on the Leafs’ blueline at times this season.
The Maple Leafs went 3-1 at last year’s Atlantics in Miramichi, N.B., and came very close to clinching a berth in the final game, only to lose out on an unusual tie-breaking formula.
After round-robin play last year, the Leafs, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick all had 3-1 records. The host Miramichi Rivermen were 1-3 and P.E.I.'s Kensington Wild were winless in four games.
"Last year’s team was probably the deepest we’ve had. But we have a good nucleus of our defence back from last season and I don’t see anyone in this tournament being better than (Nick) Gosse.”
St. John’s Maple Leafs head coach Ed Oates
The first tie-breaker was based on goals for and against. Nova Scotia tallied 20 and gave up 11. However, the Leafs and New Brunswick also had identical records in that department, each with 18 goals and 11 against.
That meant the next tie-breaking formula was used, which was the least number of penalty minutes accumulated. New Brunswick totalled 34 PIMS through four round-robin games, while the Leafs had 54.
That meant Nova Scotia and New Brunswick were in, and the Leafs were sent to the sidelines.
“Last year’s team was probably the deepest we’ve had,” Oates said. “(Kyle) McGrath and (Tim) Noble really stepped up for us (McGrath was the tournament MVP). But we have a good nucleus of our defence back from last season,” Oates said, “and I don’t see anyone in this tournament being better than (Nick) Gosse.”
Gosse was the provincial major midget league’s MVP of the playoffs, and the League’s sixth-leading scorer during the regular season.
The Paradise native played last season in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with the Rimouski Oceanic.
“I like the look of our team, but we have to up the pace,” Oates said. “We have to be at our best all the time. We’re taking it to another level, where there’s not a lot of room for error.”
The Leafs meet the Moncton Flyers 5 p.m. (NL time) today, before playing the host Cole Harbour Wolfpack 2 p.m. Friday. The Leafs have two games Saturday — 10 a.m. against Kensington, P.E.I. and 4 p.m. against Dartmouth Steele Subaru.
The top two teams meet for the championship 1:30 p.m. (NL time) Sunday.
The Leafs won their fourth straight provincial championship earlier this month, upsetting the Western Kings in five games in the best-of-seven provincial final.
The Kings had lost only two games all season.
