To be the best you have to beat the best.
That’s the challenge awaiting the Foothills CFR Chemical Bisons at the 2015-16 Mac’s Midget Tournament where they’ll face among others the defending champions and the team with the top-record in Alberta starting on Boxing Day in the Stampede City.
“I think we’ve got a strong group,” said Bisons forward Liam Izyk from Blackie. “When we’re playing our game we can match up against any team we’re with.
“I don’t think it matters as much who we’re in a pool with as much as how we show up to a game, how we play.”
The Bisons are off to an impressive start through three months of action in the Alberta ‘AAA’ Midget Hockey League in third spot in the South Division and slightly ahead of last year’s pace entering the Mac’s competition.
Once it gets down to it, the mega-tournament is harder to predict than a Star Wars sequel.
“The Mac’s always turns out to be a different animal,” said Bisons head coach Sandy Henry. “The Bison teams of the past that weren’t having real successful seasons seemed to do real well at the Mac’s and the one’s that were having successful seasons seem to stumble.”
Always a crucial junction separating the first half of the regular season from the stretch drive, the Bisons’ historic 2014-15 season swung in its favour following the tournament (finishing at the quarterfinal stage) en route to its first league and Pacific championship.
“The other side of it is what happens to you when you come out of the Mac’s,” Henry said. “A lot of teams struggle there. If you get a long ways in the Mac’s it takes a lot out of you. Last year we used it as a catapult and away we went.
“We’re hoping for big things at the Mac’s and then getting a real good jump getting out the other side.”
DeWinton’s Cameron Shorrock returns for his second Mac’s tournament playing a much larger role on the squad as an alternate captain and first-line winger. Joining him are a plethora of Bisons rookies from the Foothills in goaltender Hunter Virostek from Turner Valley, Izyk as well as Okotokians Tanner Foster, Cooper Krauss and Jackson Salt.
“I haven’t been able to play in the Mac’s,” said Krauss, a first-year Bison. “It should be a good experience. I’ve gone to it for quite a while and been looking forward to playing in it this year.”
The Bisons open the tournament on Boxing Day against an unknown commodity in Yorkton.
The Maulers sit near the top of the pack in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League with a record of 18-9-1. The Maulers are third in the province in goals for led by the likes of top-15 scorers Damian Bentz, Derrick Budz and Brett Kemp.
Providing the international flair to Pool 3 is the Ontario Avalanche. The California-based squad finished 2-2 at last year’s Mac’s tournament. A familiar foe awaits the Bisons in their third contest of round-robin when they take on the Lloydminster Bobcats. Owners of the top record in the AMHL, the Bobcats are 2-0 versus the Bisons in league play, most recently edging out the squad 1-0 in Strathmore on Dec. 13.
Perhaps the club’s toughest match-up on paper comes in its round-robin finale pitting the defending Mac’s champion Cariboo Cougars with the reigning AMHL and Pacific titleholders. The Cougars are up to their old tricks in the B.C. Major Midget League where they sit in second-spot with a mark of 17-6-3.
“I think we will be fine. Our team is starting to understand how to prepare themselves properly for every game,” said Henry. “We hope that mindset kicks in that you can’t be too wound up, but can’t be under-adrenalined either. We’re finding that good mix.”
For full schedule information go to macstournament.ab.ca and for the latest on the Bisons go to bisonshockey.com or follow them on twitter at @CFRBisons
Mac's Tournament schedule
CFR Bisons vs. Yorkton Maulers. Dec. 26, 12:45 p.m. Father David Bauer Arena.CFR Bisons vs. Ontario Avalanche. Dec. 27, 2:30 p.m. Max Bell Arena.CFR Bisons vs. Lloydminster Bobcats. Dec. 28, 11:45 a.m. Father David Bauer Arena.CFR Bisons vs. Cariboo Cougars. Dec. 29, 5:15 p.m. Max Bell Arena.
