Local teams face tough challenge

Bantam AA Crushers goaltender watches as his teammates attempt to clear away the puck against the TASA Ducks Friday in New Glasgow. (Goodwin photo)

Neither host team got to contest their respective division championships at the 26th annual Pictou County Memorial Bantam Hockey Tournament that ended Sunday in New Glasgow.
But the head coaches of both teams felt it was a good experience for their teams as playoffs approach.
The Scotsburn Crushers lost their three games against opponents in the Nova Scotia Major Bantam Hockey League by scores of 2-0 to the Bedford Barons Thursday, 5-2 to the Bubba Ray Gulls Friday and 6-0 to the Halifax ACCEL Hawks Saturday.
The Crushers got a good goaltending effort from Connor Hoeg while outshooting the Barons 24-16 Thursday in Trenton.
The Barons broke open a scoreless game with their two goals in the third period.
The Crushers’ game Friday in New Glasgow against the Rays followed the tournament’s official opening.
After a scoreless first period, Chris Brooker opened the scoring for the Crushers, but they needed Craig P. Murray’s goal late in the period to tie the game 2-2.
The Gulls scored two power-play goals in the third period and added their fifth goal with 31 seconds left while outshooting the Crushers 26-19.
The Hawks outshot the Crushers 33-26 as they scored twice in the first period and three times in the third.
“I thought we played really well in the first two games but the bounces didn’t go our way,” Crushers’ head coach Richard White said. “With the history of this tournament, it’s really important to the kids to do well, and I thought we got terrific support from our fans. It’s going to help as we’re moving forward to the playoffs.”
The Hawks lost 7-6 to Kings Mutual in their crossover match, while the Gulls shut out the Western Hurricanes 3-0 in the other one.
The Gulls won the division championship with a 4-3 win over Kings Mutual.
The Bantam AA Crushers gave themselves a chance to advance to Sunday’s crossover games with a 3-1 win Saturday against the Northside Vikings.
The Crushers rallied from a 6-1 loss to the Glace Bay Miners Thursday in Trenton to tie the TASA Ducks 4-4 Friday in New Glasgow. But it wasn’t enough as the Miners and Ducks each won twice to advance. Glace Bay topped South Shore 4-2 and won the championship with a 5-3 victory over Halifax.
Halifax advanced with a 4-3 win over TASA in their crossover.
Besides beating the Crushers, the Miners clipped Northside 6-1, while TASA also whipped the Vikings 6-1.
The Crushers hopes ended when TASA defeated Glace Bay 4-2 Saturday.
“It was a great effort,” Crushers’ head coach John Coffin said. “We had a few nerves in the first game and then played two solid games. The boys elevated their game to a new level, and we hope they can maintain that level.”
The Crushers host Cumberland at noon Saturday in one of three weekend games to complete their regular season. They will be in Antigonish the following for a league qualifying tournament.
Two members of the Bantam AA Crushers were named to the tournament all-star team: Kieran MacGillivray in goal and Morgan Peters on defence.
Matt Doubleday from the West Hants Warriors was also named on defence, while the forwards named are Jordan MacInnis of the Glace Bay Miners, Jeremy Key of the South Shore Sharks and Colin MacQuarrie of the Warriors.
Major Bantam all-stars are goalie Luke Melanson of the Truro Bearcats, defencemen Nick Welsh of the Hawks and Mitchell Baker of the Hurricanes and forwards Jessie Murphy of the Gulls, Mitchell Balmas of the Cape Breton Cougars and Layton Parsons of the Harbour Storm.
Cody Haas of the Bantam AA Crushers and Jarvis Mattatall of the Major Bantam Crushers earned I.C.E. awards presented to Pictou County players who best exemplifies intensity, contribution and effort.
Major awards were also presented. Matt O’Brien of the Bantam AA Miners and Tyler Pike of the Major Bantam Gulls received McKay trophies for best defencemen. Dylan Buchanan of the Miners and Blade Mann-Dixon of the Major Bantam Nova Jr. X-Men earned Gladwin awards for best goalies.
Matt Bryant of TASA and Campbell Pickard of the Major Bantam Hawks were presented with MacDonald trophies for top scorer. Jordan Hill was named the Bantam AA most valuable player and Jessie Hamer of the Gulls was named the Major Bantam MVP.