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 [...]

NEW GLASGOW – The Pictou County Minor Hockey Association will consider Hockey Nova Scotia’s decision to address the consumption of energy drinks by young players. Minor hockey president Lori Peters says the topic is important and will be discussed at the assocation’s next meeting. HNS has teamed up with the Department of Health and Wellness, Addiction Prevention and Treatment Services of Capital District Health and Doctors Nova Scotia to develop [...]

WESTVILLE – Organizers are hoping the annual Westville Miners peewee hockey tournament will be an enjoyable one for the host Miners and the visiting teams. Westville’s Peewee B and Peewee Rec Division teams will be participating, as well as five other Peewee B teams and six other Peewee Rec teams from around the province. “We want to focus on fun as part of the game,” says Westville Miner Hockey Association [...]

WESTVILLE – Nearly 40 teams combined to raise almost $16,000 Friday at the 2012 Westville Curl for Cancer at the Westville Curling Club. Draws began at 6 p.m. and ended with a 10 p.m. draw as unofficial figures put total funds raised at $15,805. That’s down from the more than $18,000 raised by 48 teams. “You couldn’t find a better place to curl,” said Stephanie Fortune, one of the 150 [...]

How great it was to see Pictou County’s Joey MacDonald summoned from the minors by the Detroit Red Wings and given another chance to display his abilities as a National Hockey League goaltender. And how especially great it was to see him get the opportunity to backstop the Wings to their record-setting 21st consecutive home win, another impressive mark by one of the league’s most historic franchises. Joey has shown [...]

NEW GLASGOW – The Pictou County Weeks Crushers are down to four games in their regular season schedule. The Crushers will host the Amherst Ramblers Thursday in New Glasgow and will visit the Yarmouth Mariners Friday in their next MHL games. All four remaining games are against rivals in the Bent Division, where the standings remain extremely close among the top five teams. A win over the Ramblers would allow [...]

NEW GLASGOW – The Scotsburn Crushers hope they can keep their momentum going as they prepare for the 2012 Pictou County Memorial Bantam Hockey Tournament. Crushers coach Richard White says the tournament is an opportunity for the team to get ready for the league playoffs. “It’s a good opportunity for us to get some confidence and work on some things for the playoffs,” he said. “We’re ready for it.” The [...]

TRENTON – The Pictou County Wonder Muffler Bantam AA Crushers are looking forward to competing in the 28th annual Pictou County Memorial Bantam hockey tournament. They will be among eight teams in the Bantam AA Division to go with 12 Major Bantam teams in this year’s event that includes the Pictou County Scotsburn Crushers in a schedule that starts Thursday and ends Sunday. The tournament is played each year in [...]

LINACY – A local golf course may have a new owner when it opens for the 2012 golf season. Linacy Greens owner Romeo Roy recently put the 18-hole course between Route 4 and Highway 104 up for sale, although he says he’s under no time line to sell it and may keep it if no one responds. “If we sell it, we sell it, but if we don’t we’ll keep [...]

I was just eight years old and a grade three student in New Glasgow on the day in 1946 when Viola Desmond challenged the Roseland Theatre’s regulation that only whites were allowed to sit downstairs. I’m sure I wasn’t old enough at the time to understand the ramifications of the incident. But I’ve never forgotten the discussions I heard at home and at school about the black woman who was [...]

The Pictou County Weeks Crushers will host the Yarmouth Mariners Thursday in their most important hockey game so far this season. The Mariners lead the Bent Division of the Maritime Hockey League with 59 points, while the Crushers are tied for third place with the Metro Marauders. Just six points separate the top five teams in the division. The Crushers will also visit the Bridgewater Lumberjacks Friday and host the [...]

Bay View’s Carmen MacDonald had completed an award-winning month in U.S. university hockey. The goaltender helped the St. Lawrence Saints to a 7-1-1 record while posting a 1.49 goals-against average and a .943 save percentage to goaltender of the month honours in women’s hockey action in the East Coast Athletic Conference. Two of the Saints’ wins came against Boston College, fourth-ranked in NCAA women’s hockey, and seventh-ranked Northeastern. The Saints [...]

The Highland Tennis Association is well on its way toward accumulating enough votes for a contest offering funding for its proposed tennis courts in Pictou. As of last Friday, the association needed just 30 more votes to reach the 225-vote threshold by Feb. 17 in the Molson Coors Community Cheer contest. It would allow the association a portion of the $1 million the brewery is offering in support of more [...]

STELLARTON – The new Highland Region Tier 1 (AAA) soccer club, Highland XFC, selected a female team to attend the 2012 invitational university/college showcase tournament in Bridgewater last weekend. College and university coaches from across the Maritimes attended the event, scouting for soccer talent, as well as senior coaching staff from Soccer Nova Scotia. XFC covers the Antigonish, Pictou, Colchester and Cumberland Counties and draws elite players from supporting Tier [...]

For those of us growing up in Pictou County in the early 1950s, there was some pretty darn good senior hockey to watch. Thanks to the old APC Hockey League. Thanks to the New Glasgow Rangers, Stellarton Royals, Pictou Maripacs, Antigonish Bulldogs, Truro Bearcats and, for brief periods, Trenton Scotias and St. Francis Xavier X-Men. They played at a level of senior hockey that led the winners along the Allan [...]

PICTOU – For Don English, winning is wonderful and winning at home is even better. English skipped his New Caledonian Curling Club foursome to victory on home ice Sunday in the championship game of the 40th annual Ship Hector Curling Cashspiel. His foursome of Mike MacKenzie Larry Sutherland and Andrew LeBlanc defeated the Kevin Woodward team from the Halifax Mayflower Club 5-3 to claim the Ship Hector Trophy. English previously [...]

PICTOU – Voting is going well for the Highland Tennis Association in a contest with a brewing company to secure funding for its proposed tennis courts in Pictou. As of Tuesday, the association had 163 votes in the Molson Community Cheer Contest, and association members are optimistic they can achieve their goal. “We need 225 votes by Feb. 17 to be considered for funding,” Margo Hilchey says. “We now have [...]

PICTOU – Kendra MacKinnon loves basketball and feels fortunate to be playing the game at a high level. A Grade 8 student at Dr. Thomas McCulloch Middle School in Pictou, MacKinnon is a rare example of unusually young players who are able to help high school teams succeed. Despite standing six-feet tall, MacKinnon is a point guard with the Pictou Academy Pitbulls female varsity team and says she enjoys the [...]

NEW GLASGOW – It was a landmark evening of celebration for local Special Olympics volunteers and patrons. Cathy Mason, Terry Richardson and Ross MacIntosh of Special Olympics Pictou County were honoured for their contributions last Wednesday at the Special Olympics NS Festival Dinner and Auction in Halifax. Defence Minister Peter MacKay also attended as a friend of Special Olympics to present the First Annual Dr. Frank Hayden Award and to [...]

The Pictou County Sports Heritage Hall of Fame is doing its part to honour Black History Month in Nova Scotia. Acting volunteer curator Barry Trenholm spent part of Saturday with Ruth Paris gleaning photos and recorded history on African Nova Scotia athletes of note in order to showcase them starting today and continuing throughout February. “We have quite a collection,” Trenholm says. “We’ll have several spots for displays.” The athletes [...]

There’s no question Pictou County has more than held its own in recent years in getting players into the National Hockey League. Fans in the area certainly don’t need to be reminded about the achievements of defenceman Colin White, forwards Jon Sim and Derrick Walser and goaltender Joey MacDonald. The four made the county proud. But if you’re looking to name the most successful NHL personality from northern Nova Scotia [...]

NEW GLASGOW – The Pictou County Weeks Crushers will try to rebound from a big loss last Saturday when they host the Amherst Ramblers Thursday. The Ramblers snapped the Crushers’ five-game winning streak in MHL action last Saturday in Amherst where the Ramblers prevailed 6 -3. The loss followed the Crushers’3-2 overtime victory last Thursday over the visiting Truro Bearcats and a 3-2 shootout win Friday over the host Metro [...]

STELLARTON – A rare event will transform the Stellarton Memorial Rink in March. The hometown Royals are getting ready to host the provincial Midget C minor hockey champion tournament in March. Organizers have not yet confirmed when Stellarton last hosted a provincial event, and so far they have traced back more than 40 years to 1979 when its peewee team hosted and won a provincial banner. “It’s been a long [...]

TRENTON – The Pictou County Scotsburn Crushers are starting to get their opponents’ attention. One of the reasons for the Crushers’ recent surge is team captain Lane Cormier, who has become their top offensive weapon. “We started slow but we’re picking it up,” Cormier says. “We played two great games.” The Crushers secured three of a possible four points last weekend in the Nova Scotia Major Bantam Hockey League with [...]

Geno Scattolon was born in Dominion, the son of a coal miner, and spent his growing-up years in Cape Breton where he played hockey and baseball in local youth leagues. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he studied at St. Francis Xavier University and was an offensive force and team captain with the varsity hockey X-Men. He was also captain and an all-star with the university’s rugby team. When [...]