Spencer Cameron and his Antigonish Bulldog team-mates will host the Glace Bay Wednesday in the first game of opening round action in the Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League playoffs. Game time is 7:30 p.m. at the Antigonish Arena. (Gail MacDougall photo)

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The Antigonish Bulldogs will face the Glace Bay Jr. Miners in the opening round of the Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League playoffs Wednesday evening at 7:30 p.m.
The best-of-seven Sid Rowe division semi-final series will resume Saturday in Glace Bay with game three slated for Antigonish Sunday at 7:30 p.m.
The Miners will host game four Feb. 28.
Glace Bay won the regular season series by a 4-2 count, while finishing third in the Sid Rowe division with the Bulldogs in second place.
Antigonish sported a 19-11-0-1 record, while the Miners were 16-15-0-1.
Antigonish co-coach Bill Garvie said the series promises to be a good one.
“They’re, big, fast and skilled,” the veteran coach commented.
“They have a very good line with (Brett) McCarron, (Jordan) Langois and (Colin) MacKinnon and we’re going to have to figure out how to stop that line. If we’re able to do that we’ll be successful.”
Langlois leads the Miners offensively with 18 goals and 22 assists this year. McCarron has 16 goals and 19 helpers, while MacKinnon, who has played just 10 games, has 10 goals and seven assists.
Garvie said the Miners have solid goaltending and are capable on the blueline.
“They like the body part of the game and they have pretty good size,” he commented.
“Our guys are aware of that. Overall, they are a pretty well-rounded team.”
Garvie said the Dogs are a bit faster than Glace Bay and probably a bit stronger in nets with Derrick Tait. The Bulldog netminder sported an 12-11 record this season and a 3.49 goals against average.
“He’s been looking good lately and I think Derrick is a work-horse and he loves the challenge of tough competition,” Garvie commented.
“We’re also fortunate that Kyle Williamson is playing some good hockey for us.”
“We don’t have the physical part of the game that Glace Bay does, so we have to use our speed to our advantage. If we don’t utilize that, we’re in trouble.”
Steven MacGillivray led the team in scoring in the regular season with 17-goals and 26 assists for 43 points.
MacGillivray will skate on a line with Justin Chiasson and Peter Topshee.
“We’re expecting that line to produce,” Garvie said.
“They’re getting better every game and I expect the Miners will be out to try and stop that line. We also have the David McCarthy line, which also includes Fraser White and Tim MacDougall. That should be a pretty good powerhouse line.”
Garvie said the trio of Ricky Chisholm, Travis Locey and Chris Alguire will be utilized as a shut-down unit for the Bulldogs.
The Dogs, due to injuries, are minus Spencer Cameron, Dan Ryan and John Wagstaff for the series opener. Cameron is expected to return to the line-up for game two.
The Bulldog coach expects the series to be a long one.
“I would like to say that we will win it early but I think it will go six or seven games,” he said.
“I know they won’t give up and neither will we.”
McCarthy is second in team scoring with 19 goals and 15 assists for 34 points, while MacDougall finished third with 13 goals and 20 helpers.
Last Wednesday, in Springhill, the Dogs nipped the Cumberland County Blues 6-5 in a shoot-out with MacDougall scoring the game-winner.
Antigonish jumped into a 2-0 first period lead on goals by Ricky Chisholm and MacDougall. Chisholm scored at 4:14 with MacDougall and Colby VanOirschot picking up the assists, while Bobby Hamer and Fraser White assisted on MacDougall’s goal with 1:39 left in the frame.
Topshee increased the Antigonish lead to 3-0 at 6:44 of the second period and team captain McCarthy scored at 13:04 on a set-up from Hamer.
The Blues rallied late in the middle frame, scoring three goals in the final six minutes. Chad Butt, Devon Muir and Liam Carr provided even-strength goals for the host club.
Cumberland tied the game at 9:13 of the third with Jordie Shaw scoring a powerplay goal. Chiasson gave the Dogs a 5-4 advantage less than a minute later but Cody Taker capitalized on a powerplay with 4:14 remaining to send the game to overtime.
MacDougall, Topshee, Hamer and VanOirschot recorded two-point games for the Bulldogs.
Derrick Tait picked up the win in nets, facing 47 shots in the process. Charles Dubuc and Neill Kelley shared the goaltending chores for Cumberland and combined to make 20 saves.
“We were shortstaffed with the boys writing midterms,” Garvie said.
“We had just eight forwards and four defense. We got off to a great start, jumping into a 4-0 lead but they came back to tie the game and send it to overtime. In the shoot-out, Chiasson scored for us and they got the equalizer. Tim scored the game-winner going left to right and beating the goaltender. The puck just trickled in. They weren’t able to score on their final attempt.”
The Dogs posted a 4-0 regular season record against Cumberland.
The game between the Bulldogs and the Glace Bay Miners scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 18 was cancelled due to inclement weather.
After an executive meeting it was decided that the postponed game would not to be played.
A spokesperson for the league said the lack of available ice time and the necessity to have the up-coming playoff series wrapped up prior to March 7 were the prime concerns.  
It was equally noted that this game had no impact on league standings or statistics but had the potential to cause undue hardship on both teams trying to fit this series in the time available.