Crushers have back-to-back games against Ramblers

The Amherst Ramblers have been kicked around for the last couple of Maritime Junior Hockey League seasons.

Those days appear to be over and no one needs to point that out to Benji Curtis and the rest of the Pictou County Crushers.

“They’re rolling,” the captain said of Amherst. “They’ve obviously found their game, but we’ve got to approach them like any other team – show up and play our game.”

Starting Wednesday with a 7 p.m. game at Amherst Stadium, the Crushers will play games on consecutive nights against the surging Ramblers, who have won nine straight games and 12 of their past 13 overall. The two teams play the next night at the Pictou County Wellness Centre.

The Crushers have maintained their lead atop the South Division, helped by an eightgame winning streak in the month of January, before last Thursday’s 3-1 loss to the Yarmouth Mariners.

“Yarmouth were committed to a full 60-minute hockey game,” forward Alex Bonaparte said.

“They simply outworked us and we were too loose out there, after going on such a good win streak after the (Christmas) break. They deserved that one. In the future, we need to be committed to a 60-minute game no matter what the stage and who we’re playing.”

Curtis said the loss to Yarmouth isn’t necessary a bad thing. “Sometimes adversity is good, it gives you a wakeup call.”

The Mariners’ 52 points have them tied with the Truro Bearcats for third spot, although the Ramblers have played two fewer games than Truro heading into this week’s games. The Crushers are four points ahead of Yarmouth (54 points).

News and Notes

Nick Fewer (upper body), Nathan Sanderson (illness) and Quinten Johnson (lower body) will be out of the lineup Wednesday… Daniel Vautour will start in goal in Amherst… The Ramblers are one point away from clinching a playoff spot.