Back on the ice
Weeks Major Midgets have Saturday home opener against Wolfpack
The Pictou County Weeks Major Midgets will look for a bounce-back against the Cole Harbour Wolfpack on Saturday.
The Major Midgets will hold their regular season home opener at the Pictou County Wellness Centre, starting at 6:30 p.m.
Against the Halifax McDonalds on Wednesday in their league season-opener, Pictou County lost 3-2 in overtime. Carson Lanceleve and Mason Hawley had the Pictou County goals and netminder Andrew MacLeod kept his team in the game with 38 stops.
Lanceleve is wearing the captain’s C this year, with his assistant being Rowan Sears, Ryan MacLennan and Oliver Schnare.
“I was very excited to be awarded captain of this team, with a first class organization with the history and pride this team has, it was a true honour to be named captain,” said Lanceleve, a Stewiacke native who collected 54 points last season (16G, 38A).
“Something I’ve strived for my entire hockey career is to be captain. I’m very excited to be a part of this team, and we have a lot of potential to be a great team.”
Head coach Kyle MacLennan said offensive players like G Blackmore (Moncton Wildcats) and Kevin Mason (Junior A Crushers) won’t be easily replaced, but he likes his group’s willingness to put in the work.
“So far, I’m highly excited about the overall attitude of our group,” MacLennan said earlier in the week. “They’re real professional, and eager to learn and compete. And that’s the first step — if there’s a good culture, a good environment, we’re going to get better.”
The Major Midgets had a memorable post-season run last March: they were down three games to none to Cole Harbour in the first round of the Nova Scotia Major Midget Hockey League playoffs, but won four games in four nights to stun the Wolfpack.
Pictou County would be eliminated in the next round against the Cape Breton West Islanders, but not before winning a game against the team that, a few weeks later, would win a national title.
“We consider last year’s playoff run a success,” said MacLennan, a veteran blueliner with the Weeks program.
“Obviously coming back from a 3-0 series deficit is a huge accomplishment in itself, but the fact that we were able to take a game from the Telus Cup champions to me, is just as big of an accomplishment as the comeback. There’s a lot of new faces in the room this year and even though it’s early in the year, I can tell we’re really starting to gel together already, which is going to help translate to success on the ice.”