AMHERST, N.S. - The Amherst CIBC Wood Gundy Ramblers have taken another step toward building their roster that will compete for the Fred Page Cup next spring.
The Ramblers, who open training camp later today, announced a pair of trades early Monday that will bring them a veteran goaltender as well as a forward, who played in the Island Junior Hockey League.
Amherst has sent a conditional third round pick and prospect goalie Daniel Thompson to the Summerside Western Capitals for the junior A rights to goalie Matt Williams.
In a separate trade, Amherst dealt future considerations and forward Brandon Stone to the Caps for the rights to 20-year-old forward Hunter McIntyre.
“I’ve watched Matt play since he’s been 16. He’s played in some big games and has that experience. I also coach him in the Eastern Canada Cup and liked his work ethic and attitude,” Ramblers coach and GM Jeff LeBlanc said. “He competes at a high level; he battles for everything. We felt, we needed a goalie with major junior experience for our Fred Page Cup tournament. If Matt commits to us, we feel we’d have one of the top two goalie duos in the league. That’s a pretty good feeling in August.”
Williams is still in the camp of the Saint John Seadogs of the QMJHL.
Listed at 6’0″ and 200 lbs., Williams is 20 years old. The native of Halifax, played 20 games last season for the Saint John Seadogs of the QMJHL. In the two previous MHL seasons with Summerside, Matt appeared in 67 games and had a .900 save percentage.
LeBlanc said McIntyre brings speed, vision and junior A experience to the lineup.
“Our goal at the start of the summer was to improve our forward group, get faster and add a 20-year-old goalie. We feel we’ve done that with more trades on the horizon later this week” said LeBlanc .
McIntyre, a native of Kilmuir, P.E.I., split time last season between Summerside and the Down East Maniacs of the ISJHL. His best season was 2016-17 when he had 36 points in 43 games, including 15 goals.
Training camp opens today with registration at 4 p.m. at the Super 8. Practice for Team 1 will be at 7 p.m. while Team 2 hits the ice at 8 p.m.
