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Pens-Antg to play for NS Champship

It will be the AA Munro Antigonish Jr. Bulldogs and the East Hants Penguins playing for the 2021-2022 Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League Championship after both teams secured their divisional finals in six games Saturday night.

 
Antigonish  6    Membertou Jr. Miners  3
 
Coming off a 7-2 loss in Game 4 of this series, the Jr. Bulldogs knew they had to somehow shut-down the high flying combo of Blake Cox, Andrew McCarron and Coby McCarron of the Jr. Miners as the 3 players had burned them for a total of 21 points in Games 3 and 4.  This writer is not exactly sure what magical potion was developed by the Jr. Bulldogs in their strategy meetings prior to games 5 and 6 but whatever it was, it was highly effective as the three players after recording 21 points in Games 3 and 4, were held to one assist, that being an assist by Andrew McCarron in Saturday’s loss.  The Bulldogs showed no mercy in Saturday’s game at the Membertou Sport and Wellness Centre as they staked themselves to a 4-0 first period lead and never looked back.  Fearghus MacDonald’s goal with 2:21 left in the opening frame was on the power-play and also the game winner.  Other Bulldogs goals in the first went to Jake MacDonald who finished with a five point night as he also collected 4 assists to go along with his goal.  Sam Mattie scored the first of his 3 on the evening to go along with an assist while the other goal went to Tyler Boyd.  The final 2 goals by the Bulldogs belonged to Mattie, one each in the second and third periods.  For the Jr. Miners, Brandon Grant and Ashton Paul tallied.  Antigonish outshot the Jr. Miners 38-33 and advanced to their first Nova Scotia Junior Championship series since 2007-2008 when they lost a 7 game final to the Windsor Royals.  Antigonish last won a Nova Scotia Junior Hockey Championship in 2005-2006 and last won the Don Johnson Memorial Cup in back-to back seasons of 1982-83 and 1983-84. The Bulldogs did go to a Don Johnson Memorial Cup for Atlantic Hockey Supremacy but this was in a year when the League Champs - the former St. Margaret’s Bay team were unable to go in 2010-2011.  The Nova Scotia Championship series begins with two games this weekend, Friday night in Antigonish at 7:30 with game 2 back in Lantz Saturday night at 7:30 p.m.
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East Hants   3     Capstone   2
 
At the Eastern Shore Community Centre Saturday night, the fourth place Penguins from the regular season advanced to the League Championship with a hard-fought 3-2 win over the Colts.  The Colts took a 2-1 first period lead on goals from Griffin Peers and Brayden Hooper-Richard with only 47 seconds remaining in the opening frame.  AJ Guildford tallied for East Hants.  Devin Meagher then scored the game tying goal in the second and the game winner on a short-handed effort mid-way through the third to give the Pens a berth in the Championship series.  The Colts outshot the Pens 31-22.  East Hants last won a Nova Scotia Junior Championship in 2011-2012 but did appear in a Don Johnson Cup as Nova Scotia’s representative in 2017-2018 as the Jr. Miners played host to the Championship but also won it.  East Hants last won a Provincial Championship and Don Johnson Cup in the same year in 2006-2007.
 
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Apr 4, 2022
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Game 6 Bulldogs and Jr. Miners tonight

The AA Munro Antigonish Jr. Bulldogs are now one win away from advancing to the NSJHL Championship Series following a strong defensive performance before home fans in Antigonish Friday night as they defeated the Membertou Jr. Miners 4-1.  The two teams are going back to Membertou tonight (Saturday) for the 6th game of the series at 7:30 p.m.  The goal which did the Jr. Miners in was a short-handed effort by the League’s MVP Fearghus MacDonald  who tallied only 5:06 into the opening period and came only 32 seconds after Luke Baldwin’s power-play goal had given Antigonish a 1-0 lead.  Baldwin then made it 3-0 before Andrew McCarron scored the Jr. Miners only goal of the night with 1:29 remaining in the opening period.  The score remained 3-1 through two periods before Tyler Boyd put the Jr. Bulldogs by 3 just 1:06 into the third period and it was all the scoring the game would see as the Bulldogs won their third game in this Best-of-Seven Divisional Final.  The game was intense and chippy as 127 minutes in penalties were called including 7 misconducts and a major.  The Jr. Bulldogs are hoping they can catch a breather prior to the start of a provincial championship series against the winner of East Hants and Capstone but they will have to win in Membertou Saturday night.  If a 7th game is required, it will go back to Antigonish Wednesday night for a 7:30 start.  The Colts and East Hants Penguins with the Pens up 3-1 will play Game 5 in their series Saturday night starting at 6:30 at the Eastern Shore Community Centre.  Game 6 if necessary goes back to Lantz Sunday evening.

Apr 2, 2022
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Colts on verge of elimination

The Capstone Colts started their 21-22 NSJHL Season 3-5-0 and then a sudden turn around saw them win their last 9 regular season games and their opening 3 games of their first playoff series with the Liverpool Privateers for 12 consecutive wins.  The Colts eventually won their series with the Privateers in 7 games but their season is now hanging on a tree limb against the East Penguins who will try and advance to the Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League Championship Final when they resume play with the Capstone Colts Saturday evening at the Eastern Shore Community Centre.  The Pens took a 3-1 Fox Divisional Final lead with a 4-1 win over the Colts in Lantz Thursday evening.  The Pens did the majority of their scoring with three goals in the first period on goals from AJ Guildford, Ethan Wheeler and Max Turner.  Will MacRae tallied the lone Colts goal of the game.  Robbie Dowell scored the fourth Pens goal in the second period.  East Hants outshot the Colts 35-28 as Grant Sanford turned away 27 of the 28 shots he faced in the Pens net for the win.  If the Colts can force a 6th game in the Fox Division Final, it will be played Sunday night in Lantz starting at 6:00 p.m.  East Hants took 35 of their own shots at the Colts net.

 
The Antigonish Jr. Bulldogs and Membertou Jr. Miners meanwhile play Game 5 in their Rowe Divisional Final tonight at 7:30 in Antigonish.  This series is tied 2-2 with game 6 back in Membertou Saturday night at 7:30 p.m.
Mar 31, 2022
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Jr. Miners knot series 2-2

Despite a superbly successful regular season, The AA Munro Antigonish Jr. Bulldogs realize it is crunch time now and have learned a couple of lessons in their Rowe Divisional Final with the Membertou Jr. Miners.  The first is that they will somehow have to learn how to shut-down Andrew and Coby McCarron and Blake Cox and the second is how to hang onto leads.  Wednesday night in Membertou they suffered an excruciating loss to the Jr. Miners as after taking a 4-2 lead with 8:45 to play, the Jr. Miners came back with three goals, the winner with only 38 seconds left in the first overtime by Cox.  Dylan MacDonald scored short-handed with only 2:18 left in regulation to tie the game at 4-4.  Brady MacLean brought the Jr. Miners to within a goal on the power play with 8:32 left in regulation.  Jake MacDonald put the Jr. Bulldogs up 4-2 early in the third while Tyler Boyd, Ethan Twolan and Connor Doherty also scored for the Bulldogs who now find themselves tied with the Jr. Miners at two games apiece going into Game 5 in Antigonish Friday evening at 7:30 p.m.  In Monday night’s 7-2 loss to the Jr. Miners,  Cox, Andrew and Coby McCarron connected for a total of 13 points.  Wednesday night, the trio managed a total of 8 points.  Spencer Shebib was a key ingredient in the win for the Jr. Miners as he stopped 48 of 52 shots he faced as the Bulldogs held a 52-39 shots advantage.

Mar 30, 2022
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Colter nets a pair in Pens win

The East Hants Penguins will be looking to take a stranglehold in their Fox Division Final Best-of-Seven series with the Capstone Colts Thursday night in Lantz  after a 4-1 victory Tuesday night.  A win Thursday would give the Pens a 3-1 series lead.  Logan Colter was the key guy for East Hants Tuesday with a pair of goals including the game winner in the second period.  Nico Kane and Morgan Lake also scored for the Pens who held period leads of 1-0 and 3-1.  Brayden Hooper-Richard tallied for the Colts.  Game time Thursday in Lantz is 8:00 p.m. before shifting back to the Eastern Shore Community Centre Saturday for Game 5 at 6:30 p.m.

Mar 30, 2022
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Andrew McCarron and Blake Cox lead the way

Andrew McCarron and Blake Cox of the Jr. Miners stole the show before a home audience Monday evening and paced the Jr. Miners to a 7-2 win over the AA Munro Antigonish Jr. Bulldogs to crawl back into their Divisional Final, they now trail the Jr. Bulldogs 2-1 in the Best-of-Seven.  McCarron and Cox both scored three times with McCarron adding 3 assists and Cox 1.  It enabled both players to move into a tie for the playoff scoring race as McCarron now has 11 goals and 12 assists in 11 playoff games for 23 points and Cox 8 goals and 15 assists for 23 points.
 
Cox kicked the scoring off very early Monday in a game started late because of the Jr. Bulldogs bus breaking down shortly after leaving Antigonish.  Cox’s first goal came 7 seconds into the game, it was the first of five allowed by Bulldogs goalie Cody MacEachern who had one of his very rare off-nights allowing five goals on 13 shots before being replaced by Cole Good after 28 minutes of play.  McCarron scored two more in the first including the game winner at 9:25 while Sam Grant’s power-play goal finally put the Jr. Bulldogs on the board and the Jr. Miners led 3-1 after twenty minutes.  In the second McCarron did not waste any time as he finished his hat-trick 29 seconds into the second period.  Cox and Dylan MacDonald then put the Jr. Miners up 6-1 before Ryan MacLellan netted one for the Bulldogs who trailed 6-2 after forty minutes.  Cox completed his hat-trick in the third for the only goal of the period and the 7-2 win.  Antigonish did outshoot the Jr. Miners 40-33 but Hunter Shebib stood tall in the Jr. Miners net stopping 38 of the 40 shots.  Game 4 will be played in Membertou Wednesday at 7:30 before going back to Antigonish for a fifth game Friday night at 7:30 p.m.  Meanwhile:
 
The East Hants Penguins and Capstone Colts continue with the third game of the Fred Fox Divisional Final tonight at the Eastern Shore Community Centre at 8:30.  Game 4 in this series will be back in Lantz Thursday night.  Game 5 will be back on the Eastern Shore Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
Mar 29, 2022
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