LOCAL SPORTS
AUS: In their last game before winter break, the Saint Mary’s Huskies defeated the X-Women Basketball squad 65-48 in Halifax. On the men’s side, forward Deon Ejim poured in a 24 point, 12 rebound double-double as the X-Men defeated Saint Mary’s 84-75.
In Hockey, the X-Women bettered Aigles Bleues 3-1 in Moncton. The win allowed the second place X-Women to move two points ahead of the Aigles Bleues in the AUS standings. The X-Women are back in action Sunday afternoon when they host the St. Thomas Tommies. Meanwhile, the X-Men’s penalty kill provided two goals in a 4-2 victory over Acadia at the Keating Centre. It’s the X-Men’s third win in a row. The X-Men are in Halifax tonight to face Saint Mary’s at 7.
NS Junior: The Antigonish Bulldogs blitzed the Colts 8-4 in Shearwater, the Pictou County Scotians edged out the Eskasoni Eagles 7-6 in overtime, and the Strait Pirates fell to the Blazers 5-3 in Port Hawkesbury.
Maritime Hockey League: The Pictou County Weeks Crushers were on a tear Friday night, outscoring the Valley Wildcats 12-3.
U15: Wearwell Bombers host the Rangers at the Wellness Centre at 4, followed by the Novas vs the Bandits in Bedford at 5.
U16 AAA: The Cabot Highlanders take on the Buccaneers at 6 at the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre.
U18 Majors: The CB West Islanders host Dartmouth Subaru at the Al MacInnis Centre at 6pm: there will fundraisers as part of Hockey Fights Cancer. Also, the Weeks Majors are in the Valley tonight to face off with the Wildcats at 7:30.
Maritime Major Female League: The Northern Subway Selects are in Pictou this weekend for a pair of matches against the Stars – today at 4 and Sunday at Noon.
The Port Hawkesbury Sports Wall of Fame induction ceremony will be at 2 o’clock in the Shannon Studio. Inductees this year include: 1960’s multi-sport athlete and horseman Angus Francis (Frank) MacInnis, baseball coach Michael John Ryan, the 1975 Strait Esso Flyers Baseball Team, and the 1909 Port Hawkesbury Junior Hockey Team.
MacInnis was a middle distance and relay runner, competing for the Antigonish Highland Society in the early to mid 1960’s when there was a seasonal circuit for running. He also competed for the Canada Games and St. FX Cross Country Ski Teams, played basketball and softball at the intermediate level on local teams and was a well respected horseman.
Ryan coached in house leagues before moving up to lead Mosquito, PeeWee, Bantam and Midget teams, where his teams won four provincial silver medals. In 2001 he coached the Midget A team to Provincial Gold and Atlantic Silver medals. He also coached girls softball for three years and was manager of the Bantam AAA Pirates.
The Strait Esso Flyers won the Provincial Intermediate “B” Baseball team captured the Provincial title in 1975 by winning four straight games over Weymouth, and later the Martime Intermediate “B” title, beating Lorneville.
The 1909 Port Hawkesbury Junior Hockey Team won the Cape Breton Championship, the first known team from Port Hawkesbury to win a title in any sport.
As part of this year’s ceremony, Blake Marchand and Sarah Pluta will receive youth awards.
NATIONAL SPORTS
Teddy Blueger scored his first goal of the season on a short-handed breakaway early in the first period, Sam Lafferty and Nils Hoglander scored three minutes apart in the third, and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Seattle Kraken 5-1. Captain Quinn Hughes picked up another assist to remain the top point scorer in the league as the Canucks evened the season series with their Pacific Northwest rivals.
Blake Coleman and Elias Lindholm scored 29 seconds apart early in the third to ignite a four-goal period as the Calgary Flames cruised to a 7-4 win over the Dallas Stars. Seven different players had goals for the Flames, whose season high was also the most allowed by Dallas. The Flames are 6-2-and-2 in their last 10 games. Wyatt Johnston had two goals for Dallas.
Connor Hellebuyck stopped all 32 shots he faced, Dylan Samberg and Mason Appleton each had two assists and the Winnipeg Jets shut out the Florida Panthers 3-0. Nino Niederreiter, Nikolaj Ehlers and Adam Lowry scored for the Jets in coach Rick Bowness’s return from personal leave after his wife, Judy, had a seizure.
Star Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy made 22 saves in his season debut while Brayden Point had a hat trick and two assists in an 8-2 Lightning blowout over the Carolina Hurricanes. Nikita Kucherov had two goals and four assists, while Steven Stamkos, Brandon Hagel and Luke Glendening also scored for the Lightning. Vasilevskiy had back surgery in the off-season.
Tyrese Haliburton had 26 points and 10 assists as the Indiana Pacers earned a quarterfinal home game in the N-B-A In-Season Tournament with a 136-113 home victory over the Detroit Pistons. Despite playing with a sprained right wrist, Haliburton boosted a 9-of-23 shooting effort with five 3-pointers. Montreal’s Bennedict Mathurin scored 15 for the Pacers.
Jalen Brunson scored 24 points as the New York Knicks rallied from a 21-point deficit to beat the Miami Heat 100-98 and stay alive in the N-B-A In-Season Tournament. Immanuel Quickley came off the bench to add 20 and spark a huge turnaround. Jimmy Butler scored 23 points for Miami but missed a potential winning three-pointer just before the buzzer.
Friday’s Scoreboard
NHL
Chicago 4 Toronto 3 (OT)
Edmonton 5 Washington 0
Montreal 3 San Jose 2 (SO)
N.Y. Islanders 5 Ottawa 3
Winnipeg 3 Florida 0
Calgary 7 Dallas 4
Vancouver 5 Seattle 1
Detroit 5 Boston 2
N.Y. Rangers 3 Philadelphia 1
Columbus 2 New Jersey 1
Nashville 8 St. Louis 3
Los Angeles 5 Anaheim 2
Buffalo 3 Pittsburgh 2
Tampa Bay 8 Carolina 2
Colorado 3 Minnesota 2
NBA
Toronto 121 Chicago 108
Orlando 113 Boston 96
Phoenix 110 Memphis 89
New York 100 Miami 98
Houston 105 Denver 86
Indiana 136 Detroit 113
Sacramento 124 Minnesota 111
Milwaukee 131 Washington 128
Golden State 118 San Antonio 112
New Orleans 116 L.A. Clippers 106
NFL
Miami 34 N.Y. Jets 13
Saturday’s Games (All times Eastern)
NHL
Boston at N.Y. Rangers, 1 p.m.
Montreal at Los Angeles, 4 p.m.
Toronto at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.
Buffalo at New Jersey, 7 p.m.
Philadelphia at N.Y. Islanders, 7:30 p.m.
Calgary at Colorado, 10 p.m.
Vancouver at San Jose, 10 p.m.
Arizona at Vegas, 10 p.m.
NBA
Philadelphia at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m.
Miami at Brooklyn, 6 p.m.
Atlanta at Washington, 7 p.m.
L.A. Lakers at Cleveland, 7:30 p.m.
New Orleans at Utah, 9:30 p.m.
Dallas at L.A. Clippers, 10:30 p.m.