Hope is high for QMJHL prospect

South Shore power forward brings size, scoring touch to draft table

South Shore Mustangs U18 major forward Sam Hope skated one step closer to junior hockey when he participated in the QMJHL Cup scouting showcase.

The big right-winger from Plymouth, Yarmouth County, was part of a select group of QMJHL draft prospects invited to the six-team, fourday tournament, which ran through May 1 at Boisbriand, Que.

“It felt really good to go,” said Hope, 16. “It was one of the best experiences of my life, hockey career-wise.”

It’s been an eventful spring for Hope, who just one week later was part of host Team Atlantic for the National Aboriginal Hockey Championship at Membertou First Nation in Cape Breton. His Atlantic teammates included a familiar face in Dartmouth Steele Subaru goaltender

Joey Hawco of Upper Tantallon. Hawco and Hope played major bantam together with South Shore three seasons ago.

“I’m definitely excited for that,” Hope said before the Aboriginal championship began May 9.

At the QMJHL Cup, Hope suited up with Team Blue, one of two Atlantic entries in a tournament that included four teams of Quebec-born prospects. Overall, 120 players were invited.

Blue posted a 1-2-1 record in front of scouts from the QMJHL and each of its 18 teams.

“The coaches set up a lot of team-builders to help us to get to know each other quite a bit during the week,” Hope said. “We had lots of fun little games at the hotel. I really liked that. The team played a lot better together when we started to know each other.”

In similar fashion, Hope played his best hockey as the tournament progressed.

“My first game, I started off a little weak,” he said. “But, after that, I played some good hockey.”

His lone goal in the tournament came as Blue opened with a 9-8 shootout loss to Grey, one of the Quebec teams.

“I battled in front and the puck got loose, so I just put it top corner,” said Hope, who had just celebrated his 16th birthday April 27.

Known for his size and goal-scoring ability, the almost five-foot-11, 205-pound Hope scored 14 goals and 19 points in 31 games this season as a rookie with South Shore in the Nova Scotia U18 major league. He added two goals and five points in four playoff games as the last-place Mustangs fell 3-1 to the pennantwinning Halifax McDonald’s, the eventual provincial champions.

“Sam has got good size and he has a pro shot already,” said South Shore coach and general manager Ian Haverstock. “That’s his biggest asset. He can shoot a puck, he can score.

“I guess you’d classify him as more of a power forward type than anything. That’s probably a fair assessment of what people and the scouts would call him in today’s and age — a power forward.

“Sam had a fairly decent showing (at the QMJHL Cup).”

In his final year of U15 major hockey, Hope scored 23 goals and 33 points in 25 games with the Western Hurricanes.

He honed his shot in his backyard, shooting pucks on a daily basis in his shed, equipped with a hockey net and a shooting pad.

“I find I have good speed, so I use my speed and size as an advantage,” said Hope, a fan of Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers.

“And my shot as well. Usually, I can score, I can put the puck in the back of the net and I can be physical. I’m not scared to get physical, at all.”

And he’s not afraid of physical labour.

“I worked at the fish plant last summer in Wedgeport, just 10 minutes away from my house,” he said. “Eight hours a day of just throwing 100pound boxes.”

This spring, Hope has complemented his hockey training with gym workouts in Yarmouth four days per week.

He hopes to be chosen in separate July drafts for the QMJHL and the junior A Maritime Hockey League.

“I’m definitely going to try to get to junior next year,” said Hope, whose backup plan is a return to South Shore as a leader with the Mustangs.

“Oh, I think I’d do really good in U18 next year.”

PITMAN ALSO ON THE RADAR

Haverstock anticipates Hope and another Mustang from Yarmouth County, centre Jared Pitman of Tusket, will hear their names called in both the QMJHL and MHL drafts this summer.

“There’s a handful of other kids that are definitely on the lists and on the radar for both levels,” said the thirdyear South Shore coach. “I don’t know how many will make the jump (to junior) right away. As you know, it’s tough to make that jump as a 16-year-old. We’ll have to see how the drafts go.”

Hope and Pitman are Grade 10 students at Par-en-Bas, the French high school in Tusket. They were also linemates for most of this past season and travel partners as their families rotated trips to Bridgewater for practices and games.

Haverstock said they were dedicated road warriors as both families committed to making the regular commute between home and the Mustangs’ arena, the Lunenburg County Lifestyle Centre.

Hope and Haverstock believe that Pitman should also have been selected for the QMJHL Cup tournament.

“It’s a little disappointing that Jared Pitman didn’t get the call,” Haverstock said. “He’s a really good 200-foot centreman for us, especially as a first-year kid. He played in all situations. I just think maybe where he’s more of a 200-foot guy and the points weren’t there, maybe that kind of overlooked him a bit.

“So, I’m hopeful he gets drafted. I’m expecting some real big things from Jared Pitman this (coming) year. I think he’s going to surprise a lot of people and open a lot of eyes.”

Pitman scored six goals and 13 points in 33 regularseason games. In four playoff contests, he fired four goals and seven points, including a hat trick in South Shore’s lone post-season win, 6-5 over Halifax.

“He’s always good in the defensive end (as a forward) and he can move the puck really good,” Hope said of his buddy Pitman.