By Daniel Nugent-Bowman /
Not too many teams have the capability to go undefeated through their first 13 games without two of their best players.
But then again, the Kanata Blazers AA Bantams aren’t like most teams.
Kanata has a 9-0-4 record in their Ontario East Minor Hockey League standings, which is good for a four-point lead on the Ottawa Silver Sevens; all this while playing two less games than the Silver Sevens through Nov. 30 and while playing a good portion of their games without centre Mickey Day and forward Brendan Wong.
“The thing we’re most proud of is how we’ve done so far without two of our top players who’ve missed about half the season,” head coach Jeff Kyle said.
“What it speaks to is the other guys on the team have really stepped up and taken on different roles. We’re hopeful that that’ll proceed further as the season progresses.”
Day has been able to play only seven games and still has 11 points, while Wong has just managed to compete in four contests after breaking his collarbone in a practice five weeks ago.
Wong, who has nine points, is still scheduled to miss three weeks.
The Blazers have barely missed a beat however. In addition to their league play, Kanata also won the Fall Classic at the Bell Sensplex in Ottawa Nov. 6 to 8 – hosted by the same Silver Sevens.
“Our guys realize that although we’ve had a good start to the year, they’re focused on getting better and hopefully they’ll be bigger and better things ahead,” Kyle said. |