GrayJay Sports
League News
Two Divisional Finals set to start
The Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League Divisional Finals will begin Friday night after an incredible first round of games which featured overtimes, last minute regulation goals and a comeback from a 3-0 series deficit for the first time in almost a quarter-of-a-century.
The South Shore Lumberjacks will travel to Shearwater Friday night for Game 1 in their Fred Fox Division Final with the Capstone Colts at 7:30 p.m. The Lumberjacks finished one point behind the Colts for first place in the Fox Division during the regular season. The two clubs battled four times in the regular season with the Lumberjacks going 2-1-1 and the Colts 2-2-0 in the four games. Three of the four games were decided by one goal and the other was a 4-2 Colts victory. The Colts outscored the Lumberjacks over the four games 11-10.
Can you say close?? This series could conceivably go seven games with the calibre of play exemplified by both teams in their opening rounds. Granted the Lumberjacks got off to a rough start but still played exceptionally well to take the final four games in their series with East Hants.
When you look at the offence in the opening round, the Lumberjacks surprisingly only had one player with stand-out stats as Alec Howie with a pair goals in the seventh and and deciding game, scored seven goals and garnered four assists in the seven games for 11 points. Keegan Greencorn despite his 4-3-0 record still finished with a 2.29 GAA while stopping 221 of 237 shots and recording a .932 save percentage. With goaltending like this, it is a Coaches Dream which they can only hope will continue.
The Colts meantime got by the Sackville Blazers 4-1 in their opening series. They also received standout goaltending from Conar Brace who recorded a 2.20 GAA in the Colts five games stopping 163 of 174 shots while recording a save percentage of .937
The following is a series schedule for the Fred Fox Divisional Final:
Game 1 - Friday, March 15 — at Shearwater — 7:30 p.m,
Game 2 — Saturday, March 16 — at Bridgewater — 7:00 p.m
Game 3 — Wednesday, March 20 — at Shearwater — 7:30 p.m.
Game 4 — Friday, March 22 — at Bridgewater — 7:30 p.m,
xxxx - only if necessary
Game 5 — Saturday, March 23 — at Shearwater — 7:30 p.m.
Game 6 — Tuesday, March 26 — at Bridgewater — 7:30 p.m.
Game 7 — at Shearwater…time still to be detained.
In the Sid Rowe Divisional Final:
Despite the Bulldogs easily capturing first place in the Division, the four games played between the 2 clubs during the season were anyone’s guess. The Bulldogs finished with a 3-1-0 record agains the Jr. Miners but every game was decided by a single goal with the Bulldogs winning 3-2, 3-2 and 4-3 while the Jr. Miners won 3-2. The Bulldogs outscored the Jr. Miners 12-10 in the four regular season games.
Antigonish despite being the defending Atlantic Don Johnson Memorial Cup Champions and having won the Nova Scotia Provincial Championship for two consecutive years realize it will be far from easy against the Jr. Miners because as anyone knows, anything can happen in playoff hockey — just ask the recently defeated East Hants Penguins.
The Jr. Bulldogs understand they will have to keep a close eye on the Jr. Miners top line who have come alive. In their four game sweep of the Port Hawkesbury Jr. Pirates, Sonny Kabatay who won the League Scoring Championship with Eskasoni in 22-23, recorded five goals and eight assists in four games against the Strait. Nathaniel Fuller was close behind for Membertou with five goals and seven assists for 12 points.
Meanwhile the Bulldogs scoring machine was not exactly quiet in their five game series win over Pictou as the League’s top defencman for 23-24 Ethan Twolan recorded 10 points on two goals and eight assists while Will Fitzsimmons racked up 9 points with four goals and five assists. The following is the series schedule for the Jr. Bulldogs and Jr. Miners:
Tues Mar 19 — at Antigonish 7:30 p.m.
Wed Mar 20 — at Membertou 7:30 p.m.
xxxxxxx - only if necessary
xx Game 5 Fri Mar 22 — at Antigonish — 7:30 p.m.
xx Game 6 - Sat Mar 23 — at Membertou — 7:30 p.m.
xx Game 7 - Tues Mar 26 — at Antigonish — 7:30 p.m.