U15 Rep Blyth Brussels Crusaders win four of five to begin playoffs

BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN

The U15 Rep Blyth Brussels Crusaders have had a great start to their playoff run, winning four of the five games they’ve played, with their only loss coming in overtime.

 

The Crusaders beat the Mitchell Meteors on Feb. 25 in Blyth by a score of 6-0. That comes after a 4-3 win over the Huron-Bruce Blizzard in Ripley on Feb. 23 and a 4-3 overtime loss to the Walkerton Capitals in Brussels on Feb. 21.

 

The team took on the Mount Forest Rams for its next playoff game on Feb. 28 in Brussels, but a score was unavailable at press time.

 

The Crusaders then host the Huron-Bruce Blizzard in Blyth on March 4, followed by a contest with the Capitals in Walkerton on March 6. The Hanover Falcons will be in Brussels on March 7 to play the Crusaders and then the locals will make their way to Shallow Lake for a game with the Lakers on March 11.

 

The U11 Rep team lost its playoff game with the Mid-Huron Huskies by a score of 4-2 in Blyth on Feb. 26, which came after an 8-1 loss at the hands of the AEMHA Ice Dogs on the road on Feb. 25 and a 5-4 win over the Wingham Ironmen in Brussels on Feb. 24.

 

The Crusaders next played the AEMHA Ice Dogs on March 2, but a score was unavailable at press time. They are then in Wingham for two games against the Ironmen on March 5 and March 9, followed by a home game in Brussels against the Mid-Huron Huskies on March 14.

 

The U11 Local League Black team is also in the playoffs, but, after a Feb. 16, 2-1 win over the Mid-Huron Huskies in Seaforth, the team has lost its next three playoff appearances. The Crusaders fell to the Mitchell Meteors in Mitchell by a score of 4-3 on Feb. 18, followed by a 7-2 loss to the Listowel Cyclones in Blyth on Feb. 19 and a 2-1 loss to the Mitchell Meteors in Blyth on Feb. 26 by a score of 2-1.

 

They played the Listowel Cyclones on the road on March 1, but a score was unavailable at press time. They then host the Mid-Huron Huskies on March 3 in Brussels, followed by a home-and-home series with the South Bruce Blades White team on March 5 in Blyth and in Teeswater on March 6.

 

The U11 Local League Burgundy team has lost all five of its playoff games thus far, falling to the Mid-Huron Huskies on Feb. 12 by a score of 6-2 in Blyth, the Central Perth Predators on the road on Feb. 15 by a score of 4-2, the Wingham Ironmen Blue team in Wingham on Feb. 18 by a score of 2-1, the Zurich Thunder in Brussels on Feb. 24 by a score of 6-3 and the Wingham Ironmen Blue team again in Blyth on Feb. 26 by a score of 4-0.

 

The team took on the Mid-Huron Huskies on Feb. 27 in Seaforth, but a score was unavailable at press time. 

 

The Crusaders are next in action on March 5 in Blyth against the Central Perth Predators and then again on March 6 in Zurich for a game with the Thunder.

 

The U13 Rep team lost its Feb. 25 playoff game in Drayton by a score of 4-0 to the Defenders, which came after a Feb. 21 overtime loss to the Minto Mad Dogs by a score of 5-4. 

 

The team’s next playoff game was played on March 1 against the Drayton Defenders in Blyth, but a score was unavailable at press time. They then play the Wingham Ironmen in Brussels on March 4 and the Kincardine Kinucks on the road on March 9.
The U13 Local League team was last in action when they tied the Walkerton Capitals 4-4 in Blyth on Feb. 22, which followed wins over the Mid-Huron Huskies (6-2 in Brussels on Feb. 18) and the Goderich Sailors (5-1 on Feb. 15 in Blyth). The team played the Minto Mad Dogs in Blyth on March 1, but a score was unavailable at press time.

 

The Crusaders then play the Goderich Sailors again in Goderich on March 3, followed by a home-and-home series with the Wingham Ironmen on March 5 in Wingham and March 8 in Blyth.

 

The U15 Local League Crusaders lost their Feb. 23 playoff game with the Ironmen in Wingham by a score of 6-1. They then played the Mid-Huron Huskies in Brussels on Feb. 25 and the Mount Forest Rams in Blyth on Feb. 27, but scores for those games were unavailable at press time.

 

They are next in action on March 4 against the Mid-Huron Huskies in Brussels, followed by two games with the Wingham Ironmen (March 6 in Blyth and March 9 in Wingham) and then a March 11 game with the Mount Forest Rams on the road.
The U18 Rep team has been on a three-game losing streak in its playoff quest after a 4-0 win over the Hanover Falcons on Feb. 9. They then lost to the AEMHA Ice Dogs in Brussels on Feb. 14 by a score of 4-1, the Hanover Falcons on Feb. 21 in Brussels by a score of 7-3 and the AEMHA Ice Dogs on Feb. 26 by a score of 4-2.

 

The Crusaders play the AEMHA Ice Dogs in Chesley on March 5 and then the Hanover Falcons again on March 6 in Blyth.
The U18 Local League team has just begun its playoff journey, posting a 2-1 loss to the Arthur Vipers on the road on Feb. 24. The team has since been in action on Feb. 27 against the Vipers again in Blyth and Feb. 28 against the Walkerton Capitals on the road. Scores for both games were unavailable at press time.

 

They take on the Mid-Huron Huskies in Seaforth on March 4 and the Walkerton Capitals on March 7 and the Mitchell Meteors on March 8, both in Brussels. The team then hits the road to play the Meteors again in Mitchell on March 12 and the Mid-Huron Huskies on March 17 in Brussels.

 

The U21 Crusaders have posted one win and four losses in their playoff run.

 

They lost by a score of 3-2 to the Walkerton Capitals on Feb. 25 in Blyth, which came after a win over the Capitals in Walkerton on Feb. 19 by a score of 4-2. They lost to the Shallow Lake Lakers by a score of 5-3 on the road on Feb. 18, the Hanover Falcons by a score of 6-1 on Feb. 17 in Brussels and by a score of 6-2 to the Hanover Falcons on the road on Feb. 11.

 

The team next takes on the Shallow Lake Lakers in Brussels on March 3, followed by a game with the Hanover Falcons on the road on March 4, a home game in Blyth with the Walkerton Capitals on March 11 and a road game with the Shallow Lake Lakers on March 12.

 

In regular season action, the U9 team played the Mid-Huron Huskies in Seaforth on Feb. 26, but lost by a score of 6-1. The U6 team took on the Thunder in Zurich and the U8 Black and Burgundy teams took on two Kincardine Kinuck teams in Blyth, but scores for those games were unavailable at press time.

 

On Feb. 25, the U7 Black team played the Mid-Huron Huskies in Seaforth, the U6 team played the Wallace Sabres in Blyth and the U7 Burgundy team travelled to Wallace Township for a game with the Sabres, but scores were not kept for those games. The U9 team suffered a 5-4 overtime loss at the hands of the Zurich Thunder in Brussels.

 

On Feb. 18, the U7 Black team took on the Hornets in Howick, the U7 Burgundy team hosted the Mid-Huron Huskies in Blyth and the U6 team hosted the Wallace Sabres in Blyth, but scores were not kept for those games.
The U9 team hosted the Goderich Sailors Black T2 team in Brussels and won by a score of 7-1.

 

The U8 Black and Burgundy teams played two Mitchell Meteor teams in Mitchell, but scores were not kept for those games.
The U9 team was in Goderich on Feb. 28 for a game with the Goderich Sailors White T1 team, but a score was unavailable at press time.

 

Looking ahead in Blyth Brussels regular season action, on March 4, the U7 Burgundy team will take on Central Perth on the road, while the U8 Black team will host the Listowel Cyclones in Brussels and the U7 Black team will play Central Perth in Brussels. The U6 team will play the Mitchell Meteors on the road and the U9 team will play the Goderich Sailors White T1 team in Blyth.

 

On March 5, the U8 Burgundy team will play the Howick Hornets in Blyth and on March 10, the U13 Local League and U13 Rep teams will take part in Goderich’s annual Young Canada Week. The Local League team will play the Wingham Ironmen that day, while the Rep team will play Central Perth.

 

Also that day, the U9 team will play the Zurich Thunder on the road.

 

On Saturday, March 11, the U13 Local League Crusaders will play the Aylmer Flames Red team and the TCDMHA Rebels in tournament action, while the U13 Rep team will play the Tillsonburg Lightning.

 

Also that day, the U6 team will play the Mid-Huron Huskies in Seaforth, the U8 Burgundy team will play the Listowel Cyclones in Brussels and the U7 Black and Burgundy teams will play two Wingham Ironmen teams in Brussels. 

 

On Sunday, March 12, the U13 Rep Crusaders will play the East Lambton Eagles for Young Canada Week, while, also that day, the U8 Black team will play the Zurich Thunder in Blyth.