Minor Midget Red Devils look to keep strong season alive against Whitby

By William Proulx

BELLEVILLE – Minor Midget Quinte Red Devils head coach Patrick Shearer says he’s thrilled with his team’s undefeated record this season.

“They are a hard working group with a winning attitude,” said Shearer.

Shearer has been with the team for five seasons and says he’s excited about what this team has accomplished so far.

The minor midget Quinte Red Devils got off to an excellent start to their season, having won 26 of a possible 28 games. Although the Red Devils have had great success in the regular season, the team has lost four games in tournament play.

Shearer says that like most sports teams, the Red Devils hate losing – but they bounce back really well.

It may seem like the Red Devils have the perfect team. However,  Shearer believes there are some things to work on when in comes to offence. As much as the team has scored, Shearer believes the power play could use some work.

Shearer added that, no matter if the team wins or loses, the coaching staff likes to keep things fresh at practice in order to get the team back into it.

The Red Devils Minor Midget team is part of a league in which players can only play one season. Each season has a qualifying age. This season’s birth year is  1999 – making every player on the team 15 years old. The team is made up of players from all over Quinte, Northumberland, and Napanee areas.

The team’s captain, Brady Gilmour, leads the Red Devils in points with 48, in 28 contests. At 15 years old, Gilmour is one of the top hockey prospects in the province and is expected to go in the first round of the Ontario Hockey League Priority Selection draft. Along with Gilmour, left winger Aidan Mcfarland has put up 20 goals through 28 games this season. Jakob Brahaney has also put up impressive numbers for a defencemen, with 28 points.

Both goaltenders, Anthony Bertucca and Anthony Popovich, are rotated game to game.  The two Anthonys have also had strong seasons, and they lead the Ontario in goals-against average and save percentage.

The Red Devils will look for their fourth win in a row Wednesday night as they play host to the Whitby Wildcats tonight at the Yardmen Arena.

The Red Devils currently sit first in the Minor Midget East division in the Ontario Minor Hockey Association with their 26-0-2 record.

The Wildcats, on the other hand, sit in third place in the East Division and have a 14-7-5 record.

The two teams have faced each other twice this season, the first resulting in a 6-1 Quinte win, while the other finished at a 1-1 tie.

QNet News will be reporting live from the Yardmen Wednesday night on Twitter at #QNetNews with puck drop is at 8:30.