Kent Cup Final promises to be a battle

The Caps and the Bearcats are a close match as the start of the Kent Cup approaches.

The two met 4 times in regular season play in 08-09. Each team had two wins, but the Caps’ wins both came via the shootout, so Truro holds the season record 6 points to 4. All of the wins were by just 1 point and each team won at home and on the road. The Caps enter the finals without a playoff loss, having swept both Dieppe and Miramichi. The Bearcats took 5 games to down Pictou and needed 6 games to get past Amherst.

The teams are close in all stats categories against each other, including penalties and power plays, although Truro was the least penalized team in the MJAHL and Summerside the most. Summerside has 4 power goals on 19 tries (21%) while Truro had 5 on 20 tries (25%). Summerside lead the league in scoring with 249 goals, while Truro was third with 212. Truro allowed the fewest goals against at 127; Summerside the third fewest with 149.

Brad Smith has 3 of Summerside’s 9 goals against Truro, 2 of them at even strength. In all, 4 of the Caps’ goals were power play markers. Colin Beck and Dana Fraser, each with 2, are the only Bearcats with multiple goals against Summerside. 5 of the team’s 11 goals were on the power play.

Truro brings the top goaltending duo in the league, Richard Gagnon and Kirk Rafuse to the finals. Gagnon led the MJAHL among regular goalies with a 1.86 GAA and a .937 save %. Gagnon has been the workhorse for theBearcats in the finals, covering all 698 minutes of play and leading all playoff goaltenders with a 2.15 GAA. He played all 250 minutes against the Caps, earning a 2.16 GAA and a .928 save %. Gagnon’s counterpart, Alex Dupuis, posted a 2.61 GAA for the Caps and a .912 save % during the regular season and was 2.80 and .916 in the eight playoff games. Dupuis was the only Caps goalie to play against the Bearcats, and had a 2.67 GAA and .910 save % in the 4 games.