Hockey team has something to prove

Top-seeded Charlottetown Islanders excited to showcase team in QMJHL playoffs

The Charlottetown Islanders have heard the white noise.

How good are they? Who have they beaten? Should there be an asterisk associated with their season? It goes on and on.

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s regular season champs are ready to answer the doubters beginning tonight when they play their first playoff game in Shawinigan, Que., against the Acadie-Bathurst Titan.

“I think in the room, we know how good we are,” captain Brett Budgell said. “Now we’ve been given the opportunity to go and prove it even more.”

The Islanders (35-5-0-0) finished 14 percentage points ahead of Val-d’Or (29-3-2-2) for top spot in the 18-team circuit during a season impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’re really just hungry to prove to everyone that we are that No. 1 seed team that can make a splash in the playoffs and have a chance to win it,” said defenceman Oscar Plandowski.

Due to COVID-19, the Isles were only ever going to play within the Maritimes Division during the regular season. It was restricted even further following an outbreak in November in New Brunswick, leaving the Islanders to play their final 29 games against Halifax and Cape Breton.

“I do think this is a chance for us to legitimize our record and our season because certainly there are some doubters and some naysayers,” head coach Jim Hulton said. “This gives us the chance to go up against the best in our league, and really that’s all you want.”

The Islanders earned a bye into the division finals while the three New Brunswick teams played a nine-game round robin to determine Charlottetown’s opponent. Acadie-Bathurst went 4-2, clinching the berth a week ago with a 5-4 win in double overtime. Meanwhile, the Isles have been practising for three weeks.

“I don’t think it’s going to take anybody long to get into it,” said Isles goalie Colten Ellis.

“I do think this is a chance for us to legitimize our record and our season because certainly there are some doubters and some naysayers.

Jim Hulton Charlottetown Islanders’ head coach

Plandowski said Charlottetown has great goaltending and guys who can put the puck in the net, but its success starts with foundational traits that have led the franchise to its recent success.

“I think the identity of our team is our forecheck, how hard we work and hound the puck. I think that’s Islander hockey,” Plandowski said.

To play that way, the team needs to be able to roll its four forward lines and three pairs of defencemen.

“The whole year, everyone has contributed to our success, and I think that has to stay the same,” Budgell said. “I think that everyone has to contribute and play their role.”

Forward Cédric Desruisseaux said fans can expect more of the same.

“Honestly, I don’t think we should change the way we played all season,” the league’s scoring champ said. “Jim is reminding us often that we finished first for a reason. … It’s not our job to adjust our style to the opposition, it’s the opposition (who) has to adjust to us.”

Budgell and Thomas Casey are the lone holdovers from the Islanders’ deepest playoff run in franchise history. The squad made it to Game 7 of the 2018 semifinals before losing to the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada.

“I certainly gained a lot of experience that year,” said Budgell. “Being able to play with that group of guys and go that far in the playoffs is certainly something that I won’t forget. It’s definitely something I am going to be thinking back to, to draw on for this year.”

On the other end of the spectrum is Plandowski, a sophomore with the Islanders who has 99 regular season games under his belt. He’ll play his first playoff game tonight after last year’s postseason was cancelled before it began due to the pandemic.

“I’m pumped. It’s going to be great.”

Plandowski said they recognize how fortunate they are to have played a 40-game season and now getting to start their playoffs.

“There’s lot of guys I know from around the CHL that didn’t even get a chance to play hockey this year, and we get to have the chance to win a trophy,” he said. “We’ve made a lot of sacrifices, so I don’t think we want to go up there just to go up there. We’re looking to go and make a statement and try to win it.”