Islanders back to regular routine

After a busy month, Islanders happy to have chance for quality practice time

After a busy month, Charlottetown Islanders general manager and head coach Jim Hulton welcomed the opportunity for the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League team to get back into a regular practice routine.

With the Islanders playing 15 games between Oct. 27 and Nov. 27 that included two trips to Quebec and one to Cape Breton, the team has had limited opportunity to work on their game.

“For the first time in a long time, we’ve had a full week of practice,” Hulton told Saltwire Network in a phone interview Nov. 30. “We kind of got through the grinding part of our schedule in November with a couple of long trips and there wasn’t a lot of practice time.

“With a young team, I think, some habits have slid, and this week has given us a chance to get back to work on the practice ice. Hopefully, it pays off in some sharper details in our game.”

The Islanders, coming off a 4-3 shootout win against the Cape Breton Eagles in Sydney, N.S., on Nov. 27, bring a record of 11-12-2-0 (wonlost-overtime losses-shootout losses) into back-to-back games at Eastlink Centre this weekend. The Victoriaville Tigres (17-6-1-2) visit on Dec. 2 at 7:30 p.m., and the

Eagles make a return visit for the Islanders’ Hockey Fights Cancer Night on Dec. 3 at 7 p.m.

The Tigres cracked the Canadian Hockey League’s top10 rankings for the first time this week at No. 10.

“They are one of the hottest teams in the league coming in,” said Hulton. “They have been a surprise this season and are off to a wonderful start and ranked in the top 10 in Canada this week.

“It will be a formidable challenge for us against a team that plays pretty tight defence. It will be two teams trying to play the same way.”

It will mark the first meeting of the regular season between the Islanders and Tigres.

“(The Tigres) are going to be a tough opponent and we’ll get to do some pre-scouting and figure out our plan of attack,” said Islanders forward Owen Hollingsworth, who added the team had some good practices this week.