B•Macs struggle in Winnipeg

It was just one of those tournaments in which everything went wrong for the local B•Macs ‘AA’ Bantam hockey team.
They blew leads, spent countless minutes in the penalty box, ran into some hot goaltending, and eventually came away with an 0-3 record.
“I thought going in we had a heck of a good shot of going on to the ‘A’-side,” head coach Brad Fairnington said afterwards.
The B•Macs were eliminated from the tournament Saturday afternoon after blowing a 4-0 first-period lead en route to a 5-4 overtime loss to a team from Hudson, Wis.
Despite several quality chances to score in the two-on-two overtime, the B•Macs instead came home without a victory.
“A.J. Tucker had a breakaway and had two other [good scoring] chances, and [Ian] Lockman and [Kris] Esselink each had chances,” said Fairnington.
“We got into some penalty trouble in the second period and that got [Hudson] rolling,” he noted. “We let up on the lead a little bit [but] we mostly we had tired penalty killers.”
The B•Macs were flagged for 12 penalties–including five in the second period–and spent much of the game playing short-handed.
They had jumped out to a comfortable lead on two goals by Joel Burghardt and singles by Eric Mosbeck and Tucker.
Jeremy Merchant and Davis Drewiske scored in the second to pull Hudson to within 4-2, then Mike McSorley (with 1:51 left in the third) and Drewiske (with just 38 seconds to go) tied the score to force overtime.
“[Hudson] just chipped away,” said Fairnington. “The one thing about American teams is that they never quit.”
The B•Macs opened the tournament with a narrow 4-3 loss to the host Assiniboine Park Rangers, wasting a 2-0 first-period lead on goals by Tucker and Clayton Windigo.
Sean Palmeruk and Josh Halprin tied the game with second-period markers, then the Rangers grabbed the lead for good early in the third on another Palmeruk tally.
They increased that to 4-2 on Halprin’s second of the game.
Tucker, assisted by Lockman and Esselink, netted his second of the game midway through the third on the power play to close the gap to one. But they couldn’t get the equalizer despite sustained pressure the rest of the way.
“We hit everything, legs out in front, sticks,” said Fairnington. “We outplayed them in the third period.”
The B•Macs also struggled offensively in their next game–a 3-2 loss to the Gladstone Lakers. Braden Coates tallied the game-winner midway through the third.
The game was tied 2-2 heading into the third, with Mosbeck and Tucker scoring for the B•Macs. Jared Watson and Joey Foxon replied for the Lakers.
“We generally expect more scoring,” noted Fairnington. “But in the past, we’ve eked out these close games.”