Newfoundland Regiment exceed all expectations for opening weekend
“Who are we?” Yelled the commanding officer of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment.
“NEWFOUNDLANDERS!” Over 6,000 voices roared back.
One blast of a ceremonial cannon later, the puck was dropped and it was game time. This is how opening weekend for the Newfoundland Regiment hockey club began, and with it, a highly successful first chapter was inked for the newest team to call St. John’s home.
The Regiment won both games this past week against the reigning QMJHL champion Moncton Wildcats, the inaugural game on Thursday by a score of 7-5 and Friday’s follow-up requiring overtime heroics, with a final score of 5-4.
“I’m happy with the outcome, happy with the win,” said head coach and general manager Gordie Dwyer after the first game. “There was a lot of excitement and a lot of pressure on our players to perform well here in front of our fans. Love the way our team responded (to Moncton taking an early lead).”
Tyson Goguen of Ste-Foy, Quebec scored the first goal in team history and leads the team in goals through two games with four total, all coming on the power play. Goguen, along with team captain Justin Larose of St-Lazare, Quebec, and Czech import Marek Danicek all share the team lead in points so far with six each.
“It felt unreal for sure,” said Goguen on scoring the first ever Newfoundland Regiment goal. “A couple of the guys were debating who was gonna get it this morning, and for me to put that one in to tie the game, settle the boys down early on, it was really exciting.”
Off the ice, opening weekend may have been even more successful than the result of the games. Mary Brown’s Centre was packed to the rafters both nights, with over 6,000 fans attending each game, and on Thursday, a large contingent of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment in the stands and on the ice for an opening ceremony that honoured the history of the team’s namesake. And at first intermission on opening night, the fans were given another reason to rant and roar like true Newfoundlanders with a re-introduction to beloved long-time St. John’s hockey mascot Buddy the Puffin.
Looking ahead, the Regiment will continue their inaugural homestand this weekend, Sept. 27-28, by welcoming the Charlottetown Islanders to The Rock. The Regiment’s roster will be bolstered by the additions of forward Dawson Sharkey and defenseman Will Reynolds, who were re-assigned to the Regiment on Monday after attending NHL training camps with the Dallas Stars and Seattle Kraken respectively. Another defenseman, Noah Laberge, is still at Buffalo Sabres camp, but is expected to re-join the Regiment soon.
