WESTVILLE ROAD, N.S.
The rubber is hitting the road, and if the Junior A Crushers don’t step on the gas pedal, they’ll get run over.
“It’s a grittier game in the second half of the season. Everybody steps up their game, their intensity,” said Mike Danton, coach of the Crushers, whose losing streak reached six games after home ice losses last week against the Truro Bearcats and Amherst Ramblers.
“I’m glad this is happening now and not at the end of the regular season.”
What’s happening now is that the Crushers are having trouble scoring goals, aren’t getting enough production from their top six forwards and, according to Danton, they are not consistently matching the “compete level” of teams they’re playing against.
“Other teams have elevated their game (since the Christmas break), and we haven’t. Everybody’s in a dogfight,” he said this week, as the Crushers prepared for a Jan. 23 home tilt against the South Shore Lumberjacks.
“It comes down to accountability, and that starts with the coaching staff.”
The Crushers took 13 of 15 games to end 2019, but haven’t won since the Christmas break.
However, Danton said he was generally happy with the Crushers play on Jan. 18 against the Ramblers, in spite of the 4-2 loss at the Pictou County Wellness Centre.
“We played hard, we competed. There is cause for concern (with the losing skid), but there’s no need to hit the panic button.”
Crusher Notes:
• The Crushers tumbled from second place to fourth in the South Division last week, but are just a single point back of the Ramblers and Lumberjacks. The Bearcats, meanwhile, have inched to within three points of Pictou County.
• Crushers’ leading scorer Dallas Farrell will serve a three-game suspension after taking a five-minute major for checking from behind in the second period against the Ramblers on Jan. 18.
• Pictou County are at Amherst on Jan. 24. Following that, their next home game is Jan. 30 against the division-leading Yarmouth Mariners.
• Goaltender Andrew MacLeod was been named an Honourable Mention by the CJHL for the Gongshow Three Stars for December.
MacLeod was named the MHL's 1st Star that month. The 19-year-old from New Glasgow, N.S. went a perfect 6-0-0-0 in December, leading all MHL goalies with a 1.80 goals against average. His .940 save percentage for the month was second only to Truro’s Alec MacDonald. He also added a shutout that month, giving him a league-leading three for the season.
MacLeod entered 2020 tied for second with Fredericton’s Jack Grant in goals against average at 2.47 and wins with 15, despite six fewer starts. His .918 save percentage put him fourth overall in the MHL through the season’s first four months.
THE WEEK THAT WAS
Truro Bearcats 4, Pictou County Crushers 1
Evan Gallant had the only goal of the game for Pictou County, and Jason Imbeault scored a pair of goals for the Bearcats, who were dominant for much of the night.
Amherst Ramblers 4, Pictou County Crushers 2
Amherst jumped out to a 2-0 in the first period in sending Pictou County its sixth consecutive loss. Andrew Burden and Calum MacPherson had the Crusher goals and Robbie Burt paced Amherst with a pair of tallies. Amherst put the game away with two power play goals in the middle period on a Dallas Farrell five-minute major penalty.
BY THE NUMBERS
Pictou County Crushers
Record: 18-14-2 (4th place, South Division)
Top Scorers: Dallas Farrell (18G, 19A), Logan Vande Meerakker (11G, 17A), (Keenan Gillis (4G, 17A), Andrew Burden (10G, 10A), Kevin Mason (9G, 9A).
South Shore Lumberjacks
Record: 18-15-3 (3rd place, South Division)
Top Scorers: Logan O’Neil (13G, 327), Bair Gendunov (24G, 23A), Dawson Wood (17G, 20A), Ian Smallwood (13G, 24A), Dylan Coffey (13G, 15A).
