Bantam Memorial Tournament this weekend

WESTVILLE ROAD, N.S. — They will play for the jersey numbers on those black armbands, and for the teenage boys who once wore them with pride. The annual Bantam Memorial Tournament takes place in Pictou County on Feb. 7-8, as it has every year since 1985. On a Sunday night in February 1984, somewhere outside Amherst, four lives were lost in a tragic highway accident. Pictou County bantam rep team players players Donald Gladwin, John Allan MacDonald and Shawn McKay, along with a mother – Lee Marie McKay – all died as the team was driving home from a tournament in New Brunswick. The players’ jersey numbers (2, 9 and 20) were subsequently retired by local minor hockey associations of the day (as well, no Junior A Crushers’ players have ever worn those numbers). The memorial tournament was started a year later and has been going ever since; waning interest from other teams led to its current format, with the bantam AA and bantam A Crushers co-hosting the event. A total of 12 bantam AA teams and eight bantam A teams are scheduled to take part. The semifinal games are Feb. 9 at 9 a.m. and 9:15 a.m. for the ‘A’ division, and 1:30 a.m. and 14:45 a.m. for the ‘AA’ division. The championship games are 12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. respectively.

Feb. 7

Antigonish vs. Pictou ▪ County (11:10 a.m.) Chebucto vs. Pictou ▪ County (6:45 p.m.)

Feb. 8

Pictou County vs. Clare ▪ (3:05 p.m.)

BANTAM AA CRUSHERS SCHEDULE

Sydney vs. Pictou County ▪ (4:50 p.m.) Pictou County vs. Strait ▪ Richmond (10:50 a.m.) ▪ The Pictou County Major Bantam Bombers have a 6:30 p.m. game against Glace Bay, as part of the tournament schedule.

Feb. 7 Feb. 8