Bombers fall short at provincials

WESTVILLE ROAD – The margin for error is so close at a provincial hockey championship.

The Pictou County Well Wear Bombers found that out at the Nova Scotia Major Bantam championship tournament, held at the Pictou County Wellness Centre March 14-17.

In a March 14 matchup against the South Shore Lumberjacks – a contest that Pictou County desperately needed to win to remain in the championship hunt – the Bombers were protecting a 4-3 lead when they were assessed two marginal penalties late in the game – one a delay-of-game penalty, the other a questionable interference call.

The penalties cost them dearly: South Shore tied the game on the power play with 37 seconds to go in regulation, and got the winner just six seconds later.

“To see what the kids went through – all weekend they battled, they played their butts off and did a lot of great things,” said coach Jon Sim the next day, trying to sound diplomatic, but clearly frustrated by the late-game calls.

“I’m not one to blame things on other people, but this was very upsetting to myself, the organization, our kids, and the parents who had put in a ton of work.”

The Bombers were still alive after the game, but needed help from other teams the next day and didn’t get it, so their 1-1-2 record in the round-robin eliminated them from contention.

“It hurts a lot,” Sim said. “The kids are the ones that lose. You have to live with it, but hopefully something like that doesn’t happen to another group of kids moving forward.”

The Gulls, who are based out of St. Margaret’s Bay, won the provincial championship with a 2-1 overtime win on March 17 against ACCEL.