b•macs close season with ‘B’-side crown

Kris Esselink and Cole Hayward each had a goal and an assist Sunday afternoon as the local b•macs Bantam ‘AA’ rep team doubled the Calgary Blazers 4-2 to capture the ‘B’-side crown at the Assiniboine Park Rangers tournament in Winnipeg.
After a scoreless first period, Dave Starling put the b•macs on the board first with a goal midway through the second period, then Hayward tallied unassisted later in the period for a 2-0 lead.
Calgary’s Greg Kucjaz sliced the lead to 2-1 just 1:43 into the third period before Derek Kozina knotted the score exactly four minutes later.
But the b•macs took the lead for good when Esselink, assisted by A.J. Tucker and Lorne Koski, netted the eventual game-winner with 11:57 to go.
Kevin Webb then iced the victory with an empty-net goal, assisted by Hayward, with just 14 seconds left.
The b•macs reached the final with a convincing 14-3 trouncing over Marathon, exploding for six goals in a 10:51 span of the first period en route to the easy win.
Hayward had two goals and an assist in the first frame, with Esselink, Tom Rose, Webb, and Ira Ottertail also scoring.
The b•macs stretched their lead to 12-3 after the second on goals by Patrick Wensley (two), Tucker, Webb, Rose, and Esselink.
Wensley and Rose both completed their hat trick with goals in the third to seal the win.
It was their second-straight blowout of the tournament, having earlier routed the Calgary Hustlers 9-3. Webb had three goals and two assists in that one while Tucker added a pair of goals and had three assists.
Marty Hanson, Esselink, Joel Burghardt, and Hayward also scored.
Despite their strong finish, the b•macs got off to a relatively slow start Friday, losing 5-3 to the Gladstone Lakers and then tying the Calgary Blazers 3-3.
Rose, Koski, and Webb scored in the Gladstone game while Hayward, Koski, and Wensley tallied against Calgary.
“That’s been the problem for us at most of the tournaments,” head coach Brad Fairnington said of their slow start. “It usually takes us a half a game to get going and this time it took us a bit longer.
“The guys had the long road trip on Thursday in the storm and then had a 10 a.m. game,” he noted.
But Fairnington also said the team had three quality forward lines all season, two of which could play physical as well as score goals.
The ‘B’-side crown capped another successful season for the b•macs, who won the International Falls Holiday tournament and placed second at a couple of others.
Still, it will be a much different team next season as it will lose as many as eight players–including four of those on the blueline.
Fairnington said many of those players will move on to play high school hockey for the Muskies, or suit up with the local Midget ‘AA’ team or even the ‘AAA’ Kenora Stars.
But the b•macs have iced successful teams year after year despite losing key players, and should be able to re-stock again next year.