A poor showing on home ice for the Yarmouth Mariners.
They lost 8-3 Friday to the Pictou County Crushers and 10-5 Saturday to the Summerside Western Capitals.
They have now lost three straight, all at home.
That leaves the Mariners four points back of the Crushers for fourth place in the Eastlink South Division, and the final playoff spot, with just over a third of the schedule completed.
The Mariners fell to 8-10-1-1 on the season.
Head Coach and General Manager Laurie Barron took the blame.
“These were our two biggest games of the year, and we fell flat on our face. That’s on me. We need to get better, I have to bring in some new bodies and we have to build,” said Barron after Saturday’s game.
Barron says he hasn’t provided the players the proper tools to win hockey games, and the fans deserve better.
“This is a proud franchise with the best fans in the league. It sickens me that we just haven’t been good enough, and that we’ve let everybody down. The fans aren’t getting treated to good hockey. Again, that’s on me, and I’ve got to get some players in here to get us into a playoff spot.”
The Mariners will hope to turn things around this weekend, they’re on the road to Campbellton, Chaleur and Miramichi for three games in three days.
Arsenault still not with Mariners
Barron did complete a trade Friday, acquiring 19-year-old forward Michael Arsenault from the Valley Wildcats for forward Louis-Carl Tremblay, defender Ben Manos and a first round pick.
Arsenault has not yet reported to the Mariners.
“We made the trade, the player hasn’t come to Yarmouth yet but we’re trying hard to get him here. I’ve got a couple other things on the go as well.”
The Mariners also lost leading goal-scorer Grayson Pardy to injury in the first period of Saturday’s game, no word on how much time he’ll miss.
Pink in the Rink a success
Before Friday’s game, the Mariners presented a cheque for $15,300 to the Dr. Edwin Janke Cancer Centre at the Yarmouth Regional Hospital.
The team auctioned off their pink jerseys they wore in October for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
