By Tina Comeau
THE VANGUARD
www.thevanguard.ca
Three Yarmouth hockey rep teams will be looking to qualify for provincials at their league tournaments this weekend. Two teams will advance from each tournament.
The peewee AA league tournament will be played at the Mariners Centre March 1-3, and will see nine teams participating. In addition to Yarmouth the teams include Acadia, Truro, Pictou, Strait, Antigonish, West Hants, Cumberland and Western Valley. (SEE SCHEDULE OF GAMES BEING PLAYED BY CLICKING ONTO THE SECOND PAGE OF THIS POST)
With two games left in their season the Spears and MacLeod Pharmasave Peewee AA Mariners were in third place with 14 wins, 10 loses and five ties. Following those games they go into the tournament seeded in fourth place. The peewee level involves players aged 11-13. Provincials are March 22-24 in Cumberland County.
(UPDATE: The peewee AA Mariners play Truro at 1:30 p.m. Sunday with the winner advancing to provincials.)
The Yarmouth Bantam AA Subway Mariners compete at their 10-team league tournament Feb. 28-March 3 in Liverpool. The bantam AA Mariners – made up of players 13 to 15 years – are seeded in second place. The Mariners played their last of 27 league games on Feb. 23 against Western Valley. Heading into that game the bantam AA Mariners had a record of 20 wins, five losses and one tie.
South Shore finished the bantam AA league season in first place. With one game left to play this past weekend the Ice Sharks had a record of 23 wins, one loss and two ties.
“The boys have shown a lot of heart and determination this season. It hasn’t always been easy due to injuries, but the team found a way to win most of their games,” says bantam AA Mariners head coach Doug Jones. “We stand a good chance of making the provincial tournament. If the guys continue to play the way they have been and with all of the players coming back from injuries, I like our chances against any team in the province.”
The other teams at the bantam AA tournament will be Truro, Western Valley, Antigonish, Pictou, Acadia, Brookfield, West Hants and Cumberland. The Cumberland hockey association is hosting bantam AA provincials in Amherst March 21-24.
Jones says the bantam AA squad – which is the highest rep level team in the Yarmouth County Minor Hockey Association – is not a team made up of individual stars.
“Both our rookie and veteran players have been producing all year. We have had an incredible year with a great group of young men.”
(UPDATE: The Bantam AA Mariners play Truro Sunday at 4 p.m. with the winner advancing to provincials.)
The Yarmouth Atom AAA Chris Scott Construction Mariners will compete at their league tournament March 1-3 in Kingston.
The atom AAA Mariners – who range in age from nine to 11 years old – played their last two league games of the season this past weekend. Heading into those last games the Mariners were seeded in second place in their league with 25 points. Following last weekend the Mariners remained seeded in second place based on the best record of three teams that each had 27 points.
“We have had a very good season so far. We started off a little slow only winning 4 of our first 10 games but have been playing very well since the middle of December,” says coach John D’Arcy. “Our early season was busy. We played six away games over two weekends in November against Antigonish, Pictou and Truro.”
Seven teams will compete at the league tournament: Yarmouth, Acadia, South Shore, Western Valley, Pictou, Truro and Antigonish.
Atom AAA provincials are being hosted by Bedford March 15-17.
