Bombers to host major bantam provincials next March

The Pictou County Wear Well Bombers will host the provincial major bantam championship next March.

It will be March 14 to 16 at the Pictou County Wellness Centre.

“It’s a great opportunity for our Wear Well Bombers team (and) it’s going to be pretty cool for the kids,” said Bombers’ head coach Jon Sim.

“It’ll show off our local talent and show off our county.”

More than half of the current major bantam roster was part of the team that went to peewee Atlantics in March of 2016.

“A lot of these kids have had some success. They know what it takes,” Sim added.

After a sluggish start to their season, the Bombers have gone 5-2-1 over its past eight games. This past weekend at home, they won two tight games, starting with Saturday’s 5-4 win over the Landmark Gulls (a 5-4 shootout victory that saw each team use 15 players before the Bombers finally won it).

Keifer Avery and Lucas Canning each had two goals and an assist in regulation for Pictou County and Blaise MacDonald helped set up two goals.

On Sunday, Canning had the only goal of the game and Thomas Gariepy made 25 saves in the Bombers’ 1-0 squeaker over the Dartmouth Whalers.

“They’re coming along, they’re buying in,” Sim said of his players.

“They’re feeling pretty good about themselves right now.”

This week, the Bombers are in New Brunswick for the annual Monctonian Challenge tournament, which will feature major bantam and major midget teams from Atlantic Canada.

Major midgets off to Moncton

The Pictou County Weeks major Midgets are also taking part in the Monctonian Challenge.

Weeks has a 5-12 record this season in the Nova Scotia Major Midget Hockey League, although they are coming off a 4-1 win Nov. 11 over the Steele Subaru Major Midgets.

In a game played at the Pictou County Wellness Centre, Blake Kontuk, Matthew Hunter, Scott Long and Jacob Melanson each had goals, Colin MacGillivray and Merle Putnam both counted two assists and Ben Gibbon chalked up 16 saves in goal to get credit for the win.

On Nov. 10 at the Dartmouth Sportsplex, Melanson had a goal and two assists, Matthew Carson scored twice and Kontuk had a single for Weeks in their 5-4 loss to Steele Subaru.