SYDNEY: The Cape Breton Eagles drafted one member of the Cape Breton West Islanders and invited two others, as well as a former Port Hawkesbury resident to its training camp as free agents.
During the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Draft on June 5-6, the Eagles took Islanders defenseman Liam Trenholm in Round 12, 216th overall. A 5’11, 163 pound blueliner, Trenholm recorded 15 points in 33 games with Cape Breton West last season.
Additionally, on Sunday the Eagles announced that four players from the Nova Scotia Major Midget Hockey League have accepted invitations to attend training camp as free agents. The four players include Islanders winger James Beaton and defenseman Dylan Chisholm, as well as former Port Hawkesbury resident and defenseman Whalen Matthews. The other player invited was goaltender Jeremy Robar from the South Shore.
After the weekend was over, the Eagles drafted 17 players and made multiple trades as the QMJHL draft unfolded over two days.
After choosing goaltender Nicolas Ruccia of the Laval-Montréal midget AAA club in the first round on Friday night, the Eagles moved closer to home selecting Maritime forwards in rounds two and three.
Ruccia is one of 23 goaltenders who has named to Hockey Canada’s Program of Excellence goaltending camp. In all, 12 goaltenders were selected in the Under-17 category, five of whom were chosen in this past weekend’s QMJHL draft. Last season Ruccia played for Laval-Montréal Rousseau Royal in the Quebec Midget AAA league. He collected 14 wins while posting a 2.54 goals against average and a 903 save percentage.
Round two saw the Eagles nab Pictou County winger Lucas Canning, who recorded 38 points in 34 games playing major midget in Nova Scotia last season. In round three Cape Breton chose Colby Huggan, who collected 37 points in 33 contests playing with Charlottetown in the New Brunswick/PEI midget AAA league.
The Eagles first dove into the pool of defensemen in round five, drafting François-James Buteau of Collège Esther-Blondin in the Quebec midget AAA league and Jacob Long of Fredericton in the New Brunswick/PEI midget AAA league. By the draft’s conclusion the Eagles selected nine forwards, six defensemen, and two goaltenders.
Cape Breton took another Cape Bretoner with its final choices, including forward Reese Allen of Sydney, also with the Nova Scotia Major Midget Hockey league.
In total the Eagles picked seven players from Nova Scotia, six from Quebec, and two from each New Brunswick and PEI. With the exception of forward Davis Cooper (2003), all draft picks were 2004 born players.