All five teams in the Newfoundland and Labrador Major Midget Hockey League begin play today in New Brunswick in the 2019 version of the Monctonian Challenge, the large annual showcase tournament.
The East Coast Blizzard, Pinnacle Growlers, Tri Pen Osprey, Western Kings and Central Impact are among 28 teams entered in the major midget division. The teams are divided into are seven four-team sections, with each of the Newfoundland entries in a different section.
The Blizzard open up against Quebec’s Seminaire St-Joseph Vert et Or; the Impact take on Nova Scotia’s Steele Subaru Midgets; the Blizzard take on College Claretain Graal, a Quebec prep school; the Kings’ first opponents are the Charlottetown, P.E.I. Bulk Carrier Knights; and the Osprey take on the Cape Breton West Islanders.
The Monctonian also includes minor midget and bantam AAA divisions, but the major midgets draw particular attention from major junior and collegiate scouts.
Maritime broadcaster John Moore (Twitter: @rinkrant), who extensively covers minor and junior hockey in the region, has spotlighted the Growlers’ forward Liam Bridger and Osprey’s goaltender Riley Mercer as being among junior prospects worth watching in the tourney.
Bridger, a 15-year-old from Logy Bay, has eight goals and seven assists in 18 games for the league-leading Growlers.
Bay Roberts native Mercer, who is also 15, has a 7-2-2 record and 2.16 goals-against average. He is tied for the provincial league lead in wins, is second in GAA and has the best save percentage (.934) in the NLMMHL.
The Pennecon Eastern Flyers are the only Newfoundland team entered in the 10-team minor midget division. There are no teams from this province in the bantam competition in Moncton.
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