Weeks back home for playoff games against Dartmouth
They have home ice advantage and will be looking to keep it.
Tied 1-1 in their Nova Scotia Major Midget Hockey League playoff series with Dartmouthbased Steele Subaru, the Pictou County Weeks Major Midgets are back home for two games this weekend.
“We’re pretty hungry, and eager to get going on home ice,” said coach Kyle MacLennan.
The two teams will play Game 3 on Friday at 7 p.m. at the Pictou County Wellness Centre, and then play Game 4 on Sunday (8 p.m.). Weeks won the series opener last Saturday with a 4-3 result, but lost big in the second game, an 8-0 pasting.
“We didn’t compete like we should have,” in Game 2, said captain Carson Lanceleve, although the team was content with getting a split in Dartmouth before heading back home.
“Having home ice will help us — our own fans in our own rink, (and) we know we can play with (Steele Subaru).”
MacLennan said the team may have been emotionally and physically taxed after the first game of the series.
“We really came out with a chip on our shoulder,” in the first game. We were disciplined and kept out feet moving,” said MacLennan, noting that his team is a big underdog against a Steele Subaru club, which had a regular-season record of 27-61, compared to Weeks’s 10-23-3 mark.
“I don’t think anyone thought we’d win a game (in the series), so we’re already over one hurdle, and now it’s on to the next one.”
The Major Midgets are banged up: gone for the season are forward Rowan Sears, along with two defencemen: Scott Long and Jack Hartery.
Defender Hunter Martin is also out and “could be day-to-day, or week-to-week,” said MacLennan, who had to move Marc Aucoin back to defence to help shore up a battered blue line.
“I think Marc played defence up into Bantam, he’s a good skater and playing pretty well back there. He loves it, so no issues there.”