“The Quiet Cat”

12 goals and 18 assists. 30 points in 45 games.

Those are solid numbers, but yet somehow missed or considered as secondary on offensive team.

Alex Mercier doesn’t get the fan fair, attention or accolades, he just does his job and he does it well.

Alex Mercier is the quiet Cat.

The 3rd year skilled winger doesn’t need or demand all of the attention of a top 6 forward, if anything, he has as blue collar mentality to his game that many top 6 forwards around the circuit just don’t have.

The quiet unassuming kid from Sainte-Foy, Quebec is as fierce of a competitor as they come. His resiliency has been tested time and time again. A season ago and even this year Mercier found himself on the outside looking in when it came to a top 6 position on the Cats. The “Quiet Cat” had to earn and claw his way into his role time and time again. That’s a hard thing to do when you know self-consciously you deserve to be there from a skill and work ethic perspective.

Mercier didn’t let the numbers game and constant shuffling of the deck derail

his style of play, if anything it motivated him to get better and better each and every day to prove not only to himself, but everyone else that he belongs in a top 6 offensive role.

Everyone is questioning why some Wildcats are struggling or not having the best of seasons right now. You can point to several areas, but in the case of Alex Mercier, he quietly reinvented himself over the summer. It was a noticeable difference in his game right from the get go, that the “Quiet Cat” put on tons of muscle in the off season which only made the already speedy elusive forward even faster.

Mercier on several occasions this season has been the bright light of positivity and energy for the Cats.

You don’t have to watch to long to see how passionate and driven Mercier is when it comes to playing his role and the game of hockey.

He might be the most unassuming or underrated of Wildcat players, but he’s a monster competitor.

What was his secret this off season, what did he do or who did he train with to make him that much faster and stronger?

Well, let’s just keep that aspect of things quiet and appreciate the impact he has had on a team that on most nights definitely needed a shot of energy, grit and competitiveness in the arm. Let’s just say, he trained with a damn good former Wildcat.

You see when people think of the Moncton Wildcats offensive structure they don’t think of Alex Mercier. In many ways he has been the perfect complementary player for the Cats top line, hence the “Quiet Cat” moniker.

Complementary players never get the spotlight or credit they deserve.

In many ways their as equally or even more valuable than the upper echelon of forwards because of their ability to make everyone that they play with better.

From the 4th line to the top line, Alex Mercier brings the same passion and compete level to his game. When things got tough and out of his control, Mercier doubled down and bet on his ability, character, resiliency and skill.

12 goals, 20 assists for 30 points in 45 games. That’s as quiet as a 30 points as you will see.

It might be his 3rd foray in the league but Alex Mercier is just getting started.

The “Quiet Cat” has been making tons of noise all season long even if people haven’t noticed, and it’s going to get even louder next year.