Patience, dedication rewarded for Acadie-Bathurst's Huggan

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In the closely connected Prince Edward Island hockey fraternity, it is not surprising Colby Huggan of Charlottetown was acquainted with Gordie Dwyer, an Island resident who is now serving as head coach and general manager of the Acadie-Bathurst Titan.

“We knew each other because P.E.I. is such a small province, so everyone knows everyone,” Huggan jokes when talking about their past relationship even before he landed in Bathurst and became an integral aspect of the second half surge for the Titan.

It is not surprising Dwyer was aware of Huggan’s potential, watching him and other Island stars such as Cape Breton Eagles forward Cam Squires, a former Huggan linemate in their minor hockey days on the Island.

So when Huggan made his way to the Blainville-Boisbriand lineup for parts of the past two QMJHL seasons and then to the Amherst Ramblers of the Maritime Junior Hockey League, Dwyer was keeping an eye on the now 19-year-old forward.

And when they happened to chat at the rink in the summer during an Island ice time, Dwyer followed by trading an eight-round pick to the Armada for Huggan toward the end of the summer’s trading window.

“Sometimes at this level you have to be patient and you have to find the right fit,” Dwyer said. “He was someone I had known and have seen grow up and develop as a pee wee player and as a bantam player with the great teams in Charlottetown with Jeff Squires behind the bench.

“I always had an appreciation for his talent and what kind of player he could be……but credit to Colby, he took advantage of the opportunity presented to him.”

Huggan, an original third-round Cape Breton pick in 2020, clicked almost immediately in his new home in northern New Brunswick, with 11 points in six pre-season contests, stats that carried over the early part of the year. That production came mostly on a line with since departed Titan forwards Joseph Henneberry and Donovan Arsenault where he picked up 16 points in his first 24 games into late November.

“I was very excited (about the trade) and I was very fortunate at the same time,” Huggan said. “I wanted to prove myself in this league.”

Then he hit another gear, with more than a point-a-game pace the rest of the way (47 points in 44 games), mostly lined up with veteran Milo Roelens and Robert Orr after the Christmas trading period.

Those were remarkable totals, considering he had seven points in each of his first two seasons with the Armada before moving to junior A.

“I have to give the coaching staff credit,” Huggan said. “They were great to me from the very first this time I stepped into this organization. They had lots of confidence in me. They put me in every situation possible to succeed and my linemates were very good.”

In the opening round of the playoffs, he registered five points in a decisive 7-2 victory in Game 3 at the K.C. Irving Regional Centre, and followed in Game 4 with a goal and assist – both shorthanded – as the Titan rallied from an early deficit to post a 3-2 victory and sweep the favoured Mooseheads in four games.

“That was a big statement game for us,” Huggan said of Game 3. “We came out and played hard. We had a good first period and then we just took over. We started playing with more confidence, more swagger and we just took it over.”

Huggan, listed at five-foot-11 and 143 pounds, was huge throughout as he finished the series with a team-high eight points.

He feels he can produce in all areas of the ice and likes to hunker down in the defensive end in critical areas and situations as part of a full 200-foot game.

He is proud of “the big step I took into producing for my team, helping my team win games. That’s the biggest thing, knowing I can make a difference in the game.”

In all, the Titan have defeated the Mooseheads in eight of their last nine games, including four in a row in Halifax to end their season series, which provided ample confidence entering the playoffs.

“In Games 1 and 2, we knew our experience that we had in Halifax,” Huggan said. “We had a lot of confidence going into that series and it showed when we started Game 1, right from the opening puck drop.”

Now, the stage is set for Round 2 and the No. 1 overall Baie-Comeau Drakkar.

Games 1 and 2 are slated for Baie Comeau on Friday (8 p.m. ADT) and Saturday (5 p.m. ADT) with Game 3 in Bathurst on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ADT followed by Game 4 on Wednesday, also at 7 p.m. ADT.

If necessary, Game 5 will be at Bathurst on April 19 before the series switches to Baie-Comeau for Games 6 and 7 if required on April 22 and 23.

“We have to give them respect as the top team in the league right now,” Huggan said. “You have to give the respect where it is deserved but going into this, we’re 1-1 in the regular-season series against them, so I think it should be a good matchup.”