AMHERST - The Amherst CIBC Wood Gundy Ramblers hope, come Wednesday night, they are in first place in the Maritime Hockey League's East Link Division.
Tonight they travel to Halifax to play the Shipbuilders, and then on Wednesday night they host the Pictou County Weeks Crushers at Amherst Stadium.
"My goal for these two games is that we want to be in first place, and we'll see what happens with the other teams and continue on," said Jim Bottomley, Ramblers coach and general manager.
The Ramblers are in third place in the division with 68 points. The Yarmouth Mariners lead the division with 72 points, followed by the Truro Bearcats with 71 points. Neither the Mariners nor Bearcats play until Friday night.
"Yarmouth and Truro are playing each other (Friday) and that gives us an opportunity, and hopefully we'll get a break here and there," said Bottomley.
The Shipbuilders are at the bottom of the MHL with 10 points but Bottomley said they will not be taken lightly.
"The guys (Ramblers) are going to go hard," said Bottomley. "They've been going hard all along and I don't suspect any of them not to go hard against the Shipbuilders. If we come in over confident and not ready to work, the they are due for an upset."
Bottomley said he respects the Shipbuilders work ethic.
"You have to give them a lot of credit," he said. "Stan (Hennigar, head coach) and the rest of the coaching staff keep the team battling every night even though they've been out of it since before Christmas.
"My hats off to the kids who are still coming out to battle hard."
Any Rambler deciding to coast against the Shipbuilders will get noticed by Bottomley.
"We can see early in the game who is motivated and who isn't, and anybody who isn't will definitely have their ice time limited," he said. "We don't want any bad habits creeping in."
Tonight's game and tomorrow night's game at Amherst Stadium begin at 7 p.m.
dmathieson@amherstdaily.com
