AMHERST – Even though his hockey club is on a roll, Amherst CIBC Wood Gundy Ramblers coach Jeff LeBlanc won’t let his players take the foot off the gas.
Entering this weekend with an 8-0-1 record since the Christmas break, the Ramblers are home to a pair of divisional rivals in two games that will give them additional breathing room in third place or propel them closer to the goal of winning the division.
The Ramblers host the South Shore Lumberjacks on Saturday at 7 p.m. and the Truro Bearcats on Sunday at 2 p.m. as the third and fourth games in a five-game homestand.
“The boys are playing really good hockey right now, but we have to keep that up,” LeBlanc said. “These are two very important games for us, just like last weekend’s game were important. We’re tied for second place with the team we’re playing Saturday night and any game against Truro is always big.”
LeBlanc said his players seemed to “flip a switch” after Christmas and have come to the rink every game and practice ready to go to work. He feels several key additions have complimented what was already there by strengthening the team defence and providing some secondary scoring.
The club picked up goalie Cody Porter just before the break and while he’s been out with an upper body injury, Joel Goguen has more than met the challenge in goal. The club also picked up Oliver Troop as insurance and he was spectacular in a win in Berwick two weeks ago.
“We’ve made some big additions. Adding (Will) Bower and (Jordan) Renaud were key for us. Bower is a very good player, is great defensively and does a lot of the little things right while Renaud plays the game very hard. He’s a good player, he’s fast and he wants to win,” LeBlanc said.
Twitter: @ADNdarrell
