Cape Breton West Islanders defencemen Lucas Chisholm and Sam Trenholm team up to protect Jack Bell’s blue paint during Saturday’s U18 Major game in Port Hood.
October 8, 2025
-by Bill Dunphy
“Sometimes you find the puck, sometimes the puck finds you.”
That’s how Cape Breton West Islanders captain described the wild scramble at the Cole Harbour Hunters net that earned him Saturday’s game-winning goal.
Tied 2-2 midway through the third period of their Nova Scotia U18 Major Hockey League game in Port Hood, Thomas MacEachern took a slash that sent a Hunters player to the box.
As the powerplay ended, the Islanders were pressing at the Cole Harbour net. The goalie was down and one of his defencemen was in the net with him. Meanwhile, a loose puck drifted past the open side, with Will Chisholm and Jake MacInnis both getting a look at it, but it was Heukshorst who found the handle and feathered it through all the traffic for the goal.
“Somehow the puck found me and I just put it in,” said Heukshorst, noting that the team wasn’t playing well in the first two periods.
“We had to wake up and stop making mistakes. We really picked it up in the third and found a way to win.”
The Islanders were creating chances in the first period and got on the board at 11:05 with a powerplay goal by Carson MacEachern, a shot from along the goal line while Heukshorst was working the crease. Will Chisholm and Sam Trenholm assisted.
The 1-0 lead held until 8:32 of the second when Cole Harbour tied it on a powerplay of their own.
The 1-1 tie carried over into the third frame where the Hunters took the lead at 5:41 with another powerplay goal.
But 13 seconds later, in what would be the turning point of the game, Kieran MacDonald one-timed a pass in the slot to score the tying goal on a play with Hunter MacDonald and Aiden MacDonald.
After Heukshorst’s winner, Hunter MacDonald added an empty-netter at 19:32, assisted by Kieran MacDonald and Trenholm.
Shots were 31-25 for the Islanders, with Jack Bell recording the win between the pipes.
“We can’t take any team for granted,” said Heukshorst. “We’re at our best when we bring our game for a full 60 minutes.”
Islanders coach Michael MacDonald said they did just that in playing a better game on Sunday, defeating Cole Harbour 5-3.
“We played a lot better; the opportunities were there but we couldn’t capitalize early. And then they got a couple of quick ones, where in the past, that would have deflated us.”
The Hunters struck first again with a goal at 1:06 of the first period.
Will Chisholm answered at 9:01, assisted by Lex Watt and Jonah Ellis.
The second period was scoreless but Cole Harbour came out hard in the third with two goals four seconds apart to take a 3-1 lead.
However, goals by Colby Fleet (Thomas MacEachern and Heukshorst) and Jake MacInnis (Hunter MacDonald and Aiden MacDonald) had the game tied again by 6:25.
Heukshorst came through with the eventual game-winner again, scoring a powerplay goal at 10:07 on a play with Trenholm and Jake MacInnis.
Fleet added an insurance goal at 13:16, assisted by Hunter MacDonald and Ryan Davidson, and Leo Forance closed the door in goal for the 5-3 win. Shots were 41-20 for the Islanders.
With 47 seconds left in the game, the two teams roughed it up a bit, resulting in 10-minute misconducts for most of the players on the ice. One Cole Harbour player received a match penalty for tearing the helmet off an Islander. Penalty minutes were 63-48 for Cole Harbour.
“Realistically, all that stuff at the end was our players protecting each other. You don’t necessarily want to see it happen all the time, but sometimes you have to stick up for yourself,” said MacDonald.
The two wins moved the 3-5-0 Islanders into fifth place, six points back of the 6-4-0 Valley Wildcats.
The Islanders will look to gain ground this weekend when they play a home-and-home with the Sydney Rush. Game one is at Membertou on Saturday at 2 p.m. and the second match is Sunday, 1 p.m., at the Al MacInnis Sports Centre.
