BY DAVE MATHIESON
AMHERST NEWS
AMHERST, N.S.– The Amherst CIBC Wood Gundy Ramblers Annual General Meeting was May 30 at the Knights of Columbus hall in Amherst.
Jeff LeBlanc, Ramblers coach and general manager, is on vacation in Florida with his family, so assistant coach Pat Leger gave the year-end report at the AGM.
Leger started by highlighting a regular season that saw the Ramblers win 21 of their 25 home games, with three losses in regulation and one shootout loss. The Ramblers also won 36 of their 50 regular season games.
Legere then talked about the Ramblers first-round exit from the playoffs after losing 5-4 to the South Shore Lumberjacks in Game 7, double overtime.
“That’s not something we wanted,” said Leger.
He also talked about the heartbreaking loss to Ontario in the semi-final game of the Fred Page Cup where the game-winning goal was scored with less than one second left in the game.
“It was a very exciting game, especially for the other team,” said Leger.
Like most teams in the Maritime Hockey League, Leger pointed to the challenges the Ramblers face in battling injuries and recruiting top defencemen from Canada.
Despite those challenges, Leger said the team has improved over the past four years and has recruited players with no off-ice issues.
“We’ve had four years with no major incidents off the ice. That’s a big thing we’re proud of,” said Leger. “And achievement is very high in school.”
He concluded by saying next year’s roster will bring a wealth of experience.
“We have 13 possible veterans coming back with Fred Page experience,” he said.
Executives and directors elected at the AGM for the 2019-2020 season are as follows:
President – Gary Brown
1st Vice – Bill Chapman
2nd Vice – Ron Lake
Secretary – Muriel Morrison
Treasurer – Allan Chapman
Directors – Paul Morrison, Allison Landry, Jason Dickie, Sharlene Carter-Earle, Kim Campbell, Gary Boudreau, Bruce Sangster, Walter Maltby, Wayne MacKenzie, Keith Blenkhorn, Eric Black, and Kevin Duguay.
