No shortage of storylines with QMJHL’s Charlottetown Islanders

Advertisement 1 This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Breadcrumb Trail Links HomeAtlantic CanadaPrince Edward IslandPEI SportsSummersideSportsHockeyLocal Sports No shortage of storylines with QMJHL’s Charlottetown Islanders P.E.I.’s major-junior franchise kicks off new campaign on home ice vs. Moncton Wildcats Author of the article: By Jason Simmonds Published Sep 18, 2026 5 minute read Charlottetown Islanders defenceman Artyom Mate, 5, controls the puck in a QMJHL pre-season game against the Halifax Mooseheads at Simmons Sports Centre in Charlottetown on Aug. 29. Mate, from Russia, was the Islanders' first selection in the 2026 CHL Import Draft. The Islanders open the 2026-27 QMJHL regular season on home ice at Eastlink Centre against the Moncton Wildcats on Sept. 18 at 7 p.m. PHOTO BY JASON SIMMONDS /The Guardian Article content Regardless of the sport, there are always many storylines to follow when a team opens a new season. Article content From new leadership at the top of the organization and behind the bench, and a roster featuring 14 new faces, there will be no shortage of topics surrounding the Charlottetown Islanders, who raise the curtain on the 2026-27 QMJHL regular season against the Moncton Wildcats on Sept. 18. Game time at the Eastlink Centre in Charlottetown is 7 p.m. Article content Article content Article content “I liked our training camp,” said first-year Islanders head coach John Mitchell, who spent the last four years as head coach of the Okanagan Hockey Academy Colorado 16U AAA program in Denver. Article content “We had some good players come in, and we had some obviously tough decisions to make, which, I mean, is inevitable when you have a decent amount of kids coming to camp and guys jockeying for position and trying to make the team, so I was happy with that. Article content “I was happy with the compete level that we had and the buy-in that we’re getting from all of our players. I was really happy with camp and how it went,” Mitchell said. Article content New era Article content The 2026-27 season marks a new era for the Islanders, who posted a regular-season record of 33-23-2-6 (won-lost-overtime losses-shootout losses) last season and lost in seven games to the Quebec Remparts in Round 1 of the playoffs. Article content Longtime general manager and head coach Jim Hulton stepped down in late May to pursue other opportunities and is now the head coach of the QMJHL’s Saint John…