League News

   

Colts lose opener in Fox Final

For a second consecutive night, the Capstone Colts gave up a short-handed goal, luckily the one on Friday in their series-clinching win over Liverpool came with the Colts up 3-1.  Saturday night at the C.F.B. Shearwater Forum, it did not work as well for the Colts as Devin Meagher of the East Hants Penguins scored the game winner short-handed with 10:42 left in the second period to carry the Pens to a 3-2 victory and 1-0 lead in their Fred Fox Divisional Final series with the Colts.  The teams were tied 1-1 after forty minutes with Cooper Puma scoring for the Colts in the first period and Morgan Lake on the power-play for East Hants in the second period.  Evan McHenry then gave the Pens a 2-1 lead with his 6th goal of the playoffs to go along with 10 assists for a 2-1 Penguins lead before Meagher’s goal, also his 6th of the playoffs.  It stayed 3-1 East Hants for only 1:21 before the Colts Griffin Peers proved the Colts with their second and last goal of the game.  The Colts outshot East Hants 30-24.  Game 2 in this series goes tonight in East Hants at 6:30 with game 3 back in Cole Harbour Place Wednesday night.
 
The Sid Rowe Divisional Final resumes in Antigonish tonight between the AA Munro Jr. Bulldogs and the Membertou Jr. Miners.  The Jr. Miners will try and even the series after being balanced 3-0 on Friday night.  Game time in Antigonish tonight (Mar 27) is 7:30 p.m.
Mar 27, 2022

Colts advance - Bulldogs win Game 1

It is the way playoff hockey has generated fathoms and fathoms of high octane interest over many years whether it be Junior Hockey or the NHL, that being the 7th game of a playoff-series before a sold-out arena.  This was exactly the case for the C.F.B. Shearwater Forum Friday evening as people were literally standing wherever they could to see as every seat in the house had been sold.  Cheering fans with a large contingent on hand from Liverpool saw a wide-open 7th game of the Fox Divisional Semi-Final.  This time despite four consecutive overtime games, the Colts nosed out the Privateers in regulation 3-2 and will open the Fox Division Final Saturday night in Shearwater against the East Hants Penguins at 7:30.  Game 2 will be back in Lantz Sunday night at 6:30 p.m.
 
As for the thrilling 7th game Friday night,  Liverpool dominated play for different stretches of time in the offensive zone and were rewarded with the first goal of the game as Kayden Nickerson was left alone unprotected to the right of Colts goalie Alex MacVicar and Liverpool took a 1-0 lead after twenty minutes.  Liverpool outshot the Colts 16-9 in the first and 37-27 overall but MacVicar played superbly including key saves on Daniel Kline and Nickerson in front of the net early in the first.  Malcom Bussey had a clear break for the Privateers but he shot it directly on MacVicar who made a pad save.  Bussey missed a golden scoring opportunity when he shot and as it appeared the puck was going into the net, it ended up sliding across the crease and staying out.  On another 1st period opportunity, the Privateers with the puck in the crease, seemingly ready to put it in when the play was blown down rather quickly by an on-ice official.  Tyler Puma missed close in front of the Privateers net and it was the best scoring chance for the Colts in the opening period.
 
In the second, the Privateers Nickerson missed in close to the right of MacVicar.  Nickerson and Daniel Kline both played outstanding games for the Privateers and missed an excellent 2 on 1 scoring chance with about five minutes gone in the second.  The Colts Brayden Hooper-Richard went in on a partial break but he let a clear shot go and it sailed to the far right of Larade in the Liverpool net.  Gage Zwicker of the Privateers took the first penalty of the game with 12:10 left in the second for cross-checking and with 53 seconds left in the Colts power-play, Brady Crossley scored his fifth power-play goal of this year’s playoffs as a shot was tipped in after the puck hit Larade and the game was tied 1-1 after forty minutes.  The Colts Ben King almost made it 2-1 as he missed close in on a sharp shot.  The Colts picked up their play considerably in the second half of the middle period with Hooper-Richard missing in close and Crossley hitting Matt Osborne with likely the stiffest check of the night at the Colts blue line.  Kline had without a doubt the highlight play of the night as he split the Colts defence on a beautiful play but then missed in close.  Dylan Patterson had another excellent chance for Liverpool as he had a wide-open net with the puck laying at his skates but he somehow could not gain proper possession and failed to score.  The Colts then came back and were all over the Liverpool net in every possible manner with 47 seconds remaining in the second but they could not score.  Liverpool had a 13-12 shots advantage in the second.  The third period was somewhat of a different story as the Privateers coughed up the puck in front of their net twice early in the third.  Then in a span of 54 seconds, the Colts Connor McNamara and Tyler Puma connected for the go-ahead goal and then the game winner.  McNamara pounced on the puck directly in front of the Liverpool net to make it 2-1 before Puma tallied the game winner.  The Privateers then took the game’s third minor penalty with 17:01 to play in regulation, only to see Malcom Bussey score short-handed as he was wide open in front of the Colts net.  Bussey and Kline then went in 2 on 1 for Liverpool but Kline’s shot sailed over the Colts net.  With just under 8 minutes to play and the Colts serving the last minor of the game, Liverpool mounted some pressure as they were all over the Colts net but came away frustrated and empty-handed.  Tyler and Cooper Puma came in close on a great passing play but were denied by Larade.  With 3:31 to play, the Privateers were once again all over the Colts net but could not find the magic to tie the game at 3.  Liverpool applied the pressure in the closing stages and pulled Larade twice but somehow could not come up with the tying goal and lost the series 4 games to 3.  Elsewhere Friday Night:
 
Antigonish  3    Membertou  0
 
The opening game of the Sid Rowe Divisional Final was played in Antigonish with Cody MacEachern earning a shut-out in the AA Munro Jr. Bulldogs 3-0 whitewashing of the Jr. Miners. The teams played a scoreless first period but Ryan MacLellan and Jake MacDonald scored in the second for Antigonish before MacDonald added his second of the game in the third to make the final 3-0.  The teams fired 31 shots apiece at each other with Hunter Chenhall playing nets for the Jr. Miners.  Game 2 will be in Antigonish Sunday night at 7:30 p.m.
Mar 26, 2022

Game 7 in Shearwater - Game 1 in Antigonish

The Liverpool Privateers will need another solid performance from net minder Keaghan Larade as they travel to C.F.B. Shearwater Friday night for Game 7 in their Fox Divisional Final with the Capstone Colts in the Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League.  The Colts won the opening three games of the series including the third game 2-1 in overtime, yet the Privateers simply refused to quit and have come back to win the last three games all in overtime by scores of 1-0, 4-3 and 4-3 again, this one in double overtime.  Larade has stopped 199 of 213 shots in this series and has a save percentage of .934 and a Goals Against Average of 1.95.    Joshua McCarther has been strong in the nets for the Colts as well stopping 194 of 209 shots for a .928 save percentage and a Goals Against Average of 2.54.  Both teams have managed one short-handed goal apiece in the six games but the Privateers have proved to be more effective on the power-play scoring 11 times versus the Colts 8.   Of the Colts 8 Power-Play Goals, Brady Crossley has scored 4.   The Colts leading goal scorer and point getter in the series is Cooper Puma who has netted 5 including three power-play markers and Stephen Warwick who has scored twice and added 5 assists. Daniel Kline has garnered 11 points for the Privateers with 3 goals and 8 assists while Kayden Nickerson and Daniel LeBlanc have both scored four times and added 6 assists for 10 points.  The Colts have outscored the Privateers 17-15 over the 6 games while in the regular season despite winning two of three from the Privateers, Liverpool outscored the Colts 11-10.  Buckle your belts as these two teams have played a heckuva series and only one team can leave C.F.B. Shearwater tonight with a berth in the Fox Division Final against the East Hants Penguins. Who that will be is absolutely anyone’s guess at this point. Game Time tonight in Shearwater is 7:30.  Elsewhere Friday night….

 
 
It will be Game 1 in the Rowe Division Final between the AA Munro Antigonish Jr. Bulldogs and the Membertou Jr. Miners at 7:30 in Antigonish.  Both teams have been dynamic on special teams to date in the 21-22 playoffs with the Bulldogs scoring eight power-play goals and 2 short-handed markers while the Jr. Miners have scored 6 power-play goals while adding four short-handed markers.  Blake Cox has been the driving force on offence for the Jr. Miners all season registering 14 goals and 10 assists in the regular season and then scoring 5 additional goals in the playoffs while adding 12 assists.  Josh MacKay has also played a dominant role with 12 goals and 5 assists for 17 points in 9 playoff games.  Andrew McCarron a late season pick-up from the Valley Maple Leafs in a trade has also played remarkably scoring 7 goals and adding 9 assists for 16 points.  Of course, no one should ever forget the League’s MVP Fearghus MacDonald and the Jr. Bulldogs Sam Mattie who put up 31 goals and 81 points during the regular season, a regular season in which the Bulldogs went 21-0-1 and were 23-0-1 before losing two in a row in their semi-final series with the Strait Pirates.  Goaltending has been exemplary as well with Cody MacEachern stopping 402 of 446 shots during the regular season for a .901 save percentage while Spencer Shabib and Hunter Chenhall have shared duties all season for the Jr. Miners.  Shebib recorded a 2.84 Goals Against Average and Chenhall a 3.10 GAA.  Game time tonight in Antigonish at the Arena is 7:30 p.m.
Mar 25, 2022

Bulldogs advance - 7th game for Colts and Privateers

It was likely a tougher battle than the Antigonish Jr. Bulldogs expected but the Jr. Bulldogs finally advanced to the Sid Rowe Divisional Final against the Membertou Jr. Miners with a thrilling 2-1 overtime win over the Port Hawkesbury Strait Pirates Tuesday evening in the Strait.  The Jr. Bulldogs dominated play outshooting Port Hawkesbury 41-15 but incredible goaltending by the Pirates Michael MacMullen kept Port Hawkesbury from advancing to a 7th game until there were 3:32 left in the first overtime when Sam Mattie scored for the Jr. Bulldogs to give them the 2-1 win and the series in  six games.  There was no scoring in the first or third periods but Ethan Price of the Bulldogs and Brady MacNeil traded goals for the two teams in the final 3:47 of the second to knot the game at 1-1 and eventually send it to overtime.

 
Liverpool  4    Capstone Colts  3
 
The Colts began the series riding a 12 game winning streak and then defeated the Privateers in their opening three games to increase their winning streak dating back to the regular season to 15 but Tuesday night at the Eastern Shore Community Centre Sportsplex, the Privateers came out strong and took a 4-0 lead 44 seconds into the second period and hung on from there to defeat the Colts 4-3 and force a seventh game in their Fox Divisional Semi-Final.  Kayden Nickerson was huge offensive plus for the Privateers scoring once and assisting on a pair while Malcom Bussey scored a pair, all of these goals coming in the opening period.  Daniel LeBlanc put the Privateers up 4-0 with a power-play marker before Tyler Puma scored the Colts first goal to leave his team trailing 4-1 after forty minutes.
 
In the third period Cole Good and Griffin Peers tallied for the Colts but it was as far as they could go, unable to score the tying goal.  The Colts outshot Liverpool 31-23.
Mar 23, 2022

Hockey NS Appeals rules on Liverpool Appeal

Monday evening the Appeals Committee of Hockey Nova Scotia issued a statement saying, “HNS Appeals Committee has reviewed the appeal submitted by the Liverpool Privateers.

 
Upon review it was determined that the NSJHL protest committee and therefore the League Executive Decision, which was subsequently upheld by the Protest Committee is the proper authority to have ruled on Game 1 of this series and the decision is being upheld.
 
Therefore the series should be continued as scheduled and if a final game is required to determine a series winner, it will be a full game.

 

Mar 22, 2022

Jr. Miners take Scotians in Six Games

With the series now complete, no doubt the Pictou County Scotians will be doing a lot of hard thinking this spring and summer as to how they could play the Membertou Jr. Miners in a play-off divisional semi-final and win two games by scores of 4-3 in the last minute of play and 5-4 in sudden-death overtime, yet lose so horribly in three of the other four series games by scores of 8-2, 8-2 and 9-1.  The 9-1 loss came in Membertou Monday evening.  The Scotians were outscored in the six games by a count of 37-17, allowing an average of  6.1 goals a game.
 
In Monday night’s game, the Jr. Miners had goals from Ashton Paul, Andrew McCarron, Nathaniel Fuller and Logan Snow to lead 4-0 after twenty minutes.  The two teams exchanged goals in the second period with Matt Carson netting the lone of the night for the Scotians while Riley Seymour scored the first of his two on the evening.  In the third,  Seymour had a power-play marker, Blake Cox a short-handed marker with Josh MacKay and Logan O’Neill tallying singles.  The Jr. Miners held a 52-36 advantage in shots and will now await the winner of the Antigonish-Port Hawkesbury series which the Bulldogs presently lead 3-2 to see who they will play in the Sid Rowe Divisional Final.  Game six between the Jr. Bulldogs and Strait Pirates will be played in Port Hawkesbury Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m.  Game 6 in the Liverpool-Capstone Colts series with the Colts up 3-2 moves to the Eastern Shore Community Centre for an 8:30 start Tuesday night.
Mar 22, 2022
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