Lighting the lamp
Sydney’s Nick Mahar having no problem producing offense in major midget league this season
SYDNEY — Nick Mahar has never had any problem producing offense for any of the teams he’s played for in his hockey career.
The Sydney forward really found his offensive game when he reached the bantam ‘AA’ division, notching 21 goals and 40 points in 28 games for the Sydney Steelers during the 2016-17 season.
After one year with the Steelers, the centreman made the jump to the Nova Scotia Major Bantam Hockey League, posting 18 goals and 34 points in 32 games for the North Sydneybased Joneljim Cougars.
He continued the offense in his rookie campaign with the then Cape Breton Unionized Tradesmen last season, finding the back of the net seven times and recording 24 points in 36 games.
As the trend would indicate, the 16-year-old hasn’t taken his foot off the peddle this season and currently leads the Sydney Mitsubishi Rush with 19 goals and 33 points in 29 games.
“I think I’ve always been that point-producer type of guy — I feel I’ve produced at every level I played,” said Mahar. “I think my game is just being smart with the puck on both sides of the rink and being a good two-way guy.
“I put the puck in the net a bit, but I’m more of a team player, so if I’m getting points and we’re winning, great, but if we’re winning and I’m not putting up points, that’s OK as well.”
Mahar and the Rush will continue their Nova Scotia Eastlink Major Midget Hockey League regular season tonight when they play the Cape Breton West Islanders.
Puck drop is slated for 7:30 p.m. at the Al MacInnis Sports Centre in Port Hood.
Cape Breton West currently leads the regular season series with Sydney 4-2. However, the Rush and Islanders met recently at the East Coast Ice Jam in Bedford on Jan. 11, with Sydney winning the game 4-3.
“We’ve gone back-and-forth with them guys all season,” said Mahar, who played his minor hockey with the Sydney Minor Hockey Association.
“We have a really good rivalry with them and all the boys really get up for the games — we consider the battle of Cape Breton to be our biggest games and series of the season.”
The Islanders are currently sixth in the eight-team major midget league with a 10-19-0-1 record. The team is coming off a 6-1 loss to the Weeks Major Midgets of Pictou County last Saturday in New Glashow.
As for the Rush (7-20-3-0), the team is last in the league, but is only four points back of the Islanders in the standings and has been playing better as of late.
“We’ve brought our game up a notch, but there’s still a couple of levels to go,” said Mahar, who was drafted by the South Shore Lumberjacks in the 10th-round, No. 115 overall, at the Maritime Junior Hockey League Entry Draft last June.
“I think the boys are buying into the system and realizing what we can do with this team, so we’re going to make some noise come the playoffs.”
Mahar considers the Rush and Islanders rivalry to be one of the best in the province and games fans should circle on their calendar to attend.
“We’ve all been playing against each other over the years going through the ranks, we know what to expect from them and they know us well too,” said
Mahar. “I have some friends on the team, but at the end of the day, I’m on the Rush and they’re on the Islanders and I want to win.”
Tonight's game will mark the final contest of the regular season between the Rush and Islanders.
Mahar encourages Cape Breton hockey fans to attend.
“It’s the battle of Cape Breton, why not come out and watch the two teams play,” said Mahar. “If any fan misses the game, it will be their loss because we know it’s going to be a good game.”
The Nova Scotia Eastlink Major Midget Hockey League playoffs are scheduled to begin in mid-February.
“I put the puck in the net a bit, but I’m more of a team player.”
Nick Mahar
Rush forward