AMHERST – Jim Bottomley is not about to panic.
Following a tough 4-2 loss to the Miramichi Timberwolves at home on Wednesday, the Amherst Ramblers hit the road for games against two of the Maritime Junior Hockey League’s top teams.
“I thought we played good on Wednesday, we just ran into a hot goalie. I hope to see the boys keep that effort up for the next two games,” Bottomley said. “That’s hockey. Sometimes you can dominate a team and not win. The effort was there and we get it again this weekend we’ll do fine.”
In the loss, the Ramblers jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, but Timberwolves’ goalie and former Moncton Wildcat Jordan Kennedy stole the show the rest of the way, while some timely scoring allowed Miramichi to earn the win.
The Ramblers are in Woodstock Friday to face the defending league champion Slammers, while the club is in Truro on Sunday to face a team that has yet to lose a regulation time game.
“It’s not going to be an easy weekend, that’s for sure,” Bottomley said. “It will be a good challenge for our club. We don’t have the big goal scorers they have, but we have four solid lines that are balanced.”
Bottomley is not looking at making significant changes for this weekend, although he said he is going to tweak the power play system a little and may juggle the lines a bit.
Amherst defeated Woodstock 4-1 earlier in the season at the Amherst Stadium, while Amherst and Truro split a pair of pre-season games.
“We just have to continue playing our game,” Bottomley said. “We’ve been playing very good defensive hockey and have been getting some offence. We just have to play a solid road game and play hard.”
After this weekend, the Ramblers are off until Saturday, Nov. 3 when they host the Yarmouth Mariners. The Weeks Crushers are here Nov. 10.
dcole@amherstdaily.com
