Growing pains: Cape Breton Eagles’ young forwards struggle to find goals

Published Oct 28, 2025Last updated 40 minutes ago7 minute readThe Cape Breton Eagles have struggled to find the back of the net early in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League regular season, scoring the second-fewest (32) in the league through their first 13 games of the 2025-26 campaign. JEREMY FRASER/CAPE BRETON POST Jeremy FraserArticle contentThe Cape Breton Eagles are not setting the world on fire in the goal-scoring department through the first 13 games of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League season.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.Subscribe now to access this story and more:Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsSUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES.Subscribe or sign in to your account to continue your reading experience.Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsRegister to unlock more articles.Create an account or sign in to continue your reading experience.Access additional stories every monthShare your thoughts and join the conversation in our commenting communityGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorArticle contentCape Breton has scored the second-fewest goals (32) in the 18-team league, only ahead of the Baie-Comeau Drakkar (30), and it’s hurting the club in the wins and losses column.Article contentArticle contentOne could compare the team’s offensive struggles to the situation the club faced early in the 2024-25 season, when the Eagles also struggled to find the back of the net under then-head coach Louis Robitaille.Article contentArticle contentThe only difference this year is that the Eagles have seven 17-year-old forwards up front, not seven 19-year-old players in the top nine like they did this time last season.Article contentAs the team enters mid-week games against the Saint John Sea Dogs at home, Eagles head coach Jason Clarke acknowledged the team’s offensive struggles.Article content“I think (the fix) is just time and experience,” said Clarke. “We have a lot of guys who are on the power play right now that haven’t scored five-on-five and a lot of guys that are on the power play that have never been on a major junior power play and it’s their first time.Article content“Analytically, we are getting chances and getting pucks to the areas we need to get them to, we just have to be able to find the confidence to bury those chances.”Article contentCape Breton (4-5-1-3) has the second-worst power play (11.4 per cent) in the league, only ahead of the Quebec Remparts (11.3 per cent).Article contentArticle content“The power play, it’s kind of like five-on-five; we struggle to score goals five-on-five,” said Clarke. “It’s not for the lack of effort on the team’s part, it’s just we’re getting looks and analytically we’re actually doing really well, we just can’t seem to finish our plays.Article content“We make two or three really nice plays on the power play, but we just can’t finish it to put it behind the goaltender.Article content“If at any time that we stop generating offence off of our power play, then we should be really concerned, but I think one of those things right now on the power play is we are generating chances and we are getting opportunities to score.”Article contentWhile not making excuses, Eagles general manager Sylvain Couturier believes the team has had a tougher schedule to begin the 2025-26 season compared to the one they had in 2024-25.Article content“It’s a much younger team that we have this year,” said Couturier. “Most of the time, we have a full line of 17-year-old players on our top line with (Maxime) Sauthier, (Adam) Klaus and (Jacob) Hartlin, so there’s a big difference.”Article contentThe only player on the Eagles roster to date to have five or more goals is forward Eliot Litalien, who is currently out of the lineup with a lower-body injury after blocking a shot during the team’s loss to Drummondville on Oct. 19.Article content Eliot Litalien, right, has been one of the Cape Breton Eagles most consistent players early in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League season. Unfortunately, the 19-year-old is currently out of the lineup with a lower-body injury and there’s no timeline for his return as of yet. JEREMY FRASER/CAPE BRETON POST Jeremy FraserArticle contentINJURIES ADDING UPArticle contentCouturier didn’t confirm a timeline for when the 19-year-old Litalien could return to the lineup, only saying “he could be out for a long period of time, unfortunately.”Article contentLitalien isn’t the only injured player on the Eagles roster. In fact, the club has been hit with an injury bug throughout the month of October.Article contentCape Breton was without defenceman Tomas Lavoie for both weekend games because of a groin injury, while fellow defenceman Will Murphy has been out of the lineup since the start of the month with an upper-body injury suffered against Chicoutimi.Article contentMeanwhile, goaltender Félix Hamel and forward Hugo Charron were also among the five players out of the club’s lineup with injuries against Charlottetown on Sunday.Article contentArticle contentCouturier said Murphy and Lavoie could miss another week to 10 days of action. Hamel and Charron are expected to return to the lineup sooner, but he didn’t say if that would be in time for the club’s games against the Sea Dogs on Wednesday and Thursday.Article contentClarke addressed the team’s injury situation.Article content“When you have injuries, it’s an opportunity for guys to grab the bull by the horns and certain guys are going to get a little bit more responsibility and get the opportunity to have more responsibility,” said Clarke.Article content“It’s also sometimes a careful what you wish for thing, where if guys don’t grab the bull by the horns, then when guys get back, it makes it easy for us to slot guys into certain areas. We’ve seen progression with some players that we’re really happy with and some players are coming along a little bit slower than what we would like.”Article content The Cape Breton Eagles enter Wednesday’s game with the Saint John Sea Dogs having won three of their last 10 games. The club is currently on a three-game losing streak and are dealing with several injuries. JEREMY FRASER/CAPE BRETON POST Jeremy FraserArticle contentATTENTION TO DETAILArticle contentDespite winning only three of their last 10 games – three of the team’s losses coming in either overtime or a shootout – Clarke said there are things he likes about his team’s play recently, especially in the club’s shootout loss to Charlottetown on Sunday in P.E.I.Article contentArticle content“It’s a work in progress,” said Clarke. “I really like our work ethic, I really like our attention to detail in specific areas of our game, but our attention to detail needs to be more consistent.Article content“Our work ethic has been really good, but just some systematic stuff needs to be a little bit more consistent, and I think we will start getting a few more results than what we would like.Article content“We took some really good strides on the weekend with making sure that we were a little bit better without the puck and we were really happy with our game in P.E.I. Now, we get another opportunity on Wednesday and Thursday to build on top of that performance. We’re looking at it in a very positive manner of how we played away from the puck and we just need to continue to have that attention to detail.”Article contentCouturier pointed to the team’s compete level in each of the first 13 games of the campaign as a positive for the club.Article content“We play hard and that’s what we said we were going to do and that’s what we’re doing right now,” said Couturier. “The results are not what we hoped for, but we definitely like what we’re seeing with our young group, we compete, we play hard and we’re not an easy team to play against.Article content“Right now, it’s age, experience and maturity. We see a lot of good things, but we’re just not mature enough physically right now to finish. With a few more goals, it’s a different story on our record. It will come with time.”Article contentPlay wise, a bright spot for the Eagles early this season has been the club’s penalty kill. The team has the third-best penalty kill (86.4 per cent) in the league, only behind Sherbrooke (90.7 per cent) and Chicoutimi (90 per cent).Article content“The penalty kill has been very solid all year long and I think we’re very committed to blocking shots, and we’ve had really good goaltending on our penalty kill,” said Clarke. “I think those two things are the biggest key to having a good penalty kill.”Article contentArticle contentSAINT JOHN IN TOWNArticle contentCape Breton will return to home ice for the first time since Oct. 11 after completing a six-game road trip, which saw the club earn a pair of wins over the Drakkar in Baie-Comeau, Que., on Oct. 16 and 17.Article contentCape Breton and Saint John will meet on tonight and Thursday at 7 p.m. at Centre 200 in Sydney.Article contentThe Eagles and Sea Dogs have met twice during the regular season with Cape Breton kicking off its season with a win and a loss to the club in mid-September in Saint John.Article contentLike the Eagles, the young Sea Dogs (5-6-1-0) enter tonight’s game on a three-game losing streak, which saw the club drop a pair of games to the Newfoundland Regiment last weekend in St. John’s, N.L.Article contentLewis Gendron leads the Eagles with two goals and 11 points in 13 games, while Olivier Groulx has three goals and 12 points in 12 games for the Sea Dogs.Article contentSaint John has a talented young core of players highlighted by 2025 first overall pick Alexis Joseph. The club also has Tampa Bay Lightning fifth-round pick in defenceman Everett Baldwin in its lineup.Article contentArticle contentThe games will mark the return of Sea Dogs forward Angelo Fullerton to Centre 200. The 20-year-old, who was loaned to Saint John in July and officially traded to the club in August, spent the first three seasons of his junior career with the Eagles.Article contentClarke confirmed that defenceman William Dubé suffered a concussion in only his second career QMJHL game on Sunday. Dubé, who was called up by the team last week following the departure of Logan Quinn to the Maritime Junior Hockey League’s Truro Bearcats, has since returned home to Quebec.Article contentMeanwhile, defenceman Jax Ginnish of Membertou made his QMJHL debut on Sunday afternoon. Clarke confirmed the 16-year-old will remain with the team and is expected to be in the lineup for both games this week.Article contentCape Breton will hit the road for a five-game trip following Thursday’s contest with games against Newfoundland on Nov. 7-8, as well as back-to-back games with Gatineau on Nov. 13-14 and concluding the trip on Nov. 16 in Rimouski, Que.Article content