Bisons to the Mac’s
Mario Prusina
Times Editor
The excitement is brewing as the UFA Bisons eagerly await the opening of the 2010 Mac’s Midget Hockey Tournament Dec. 26 in Calgary.
As one of the five host teams, the Bisons will welcome the Red Deer Optimist Rebels, the Prince Albert Mintos, the Winnipeg Wild and B.C.’s Valley West Hawks in Pool One.
After making it to the finals of the prestigious tournament last year, veterans on this year’s squad are focused on making an encore appearance in the championship game on New Year’s Day.
“We know how much fun it is making it to the finals,” said veteran and team captain Cody Brown. “We just want to do it again – it was a great experience and we’re hoping we can do it over.
“You remember what it was like making it that far, but (now) you have to bear down and get to work. You can’t let up at all.
“It is not a very forgiving tournament. You have to come out and play every night – you can’t let up if you’re expecting to go very far. You have to have a solid game every time you hit the ice.”
The Mac’s Midget Hockey Tournament held their annual Press Conference Dec. 15 at the Westin Hotel in Calgary, where the schedule was released.
The Bisons will open the tourney against the Valley West Hawks on Boxing Day (12:45 p.m.) at the Father David Bauer Arena. The Bisons will have their ‘host game’ on Dec. 27 (2:30 p.m.) at the Max Bell Centre against the Winnipeg Wild.
From there, the Bisons will take on archrival Red Deer on Dec. 28 (8 p.m.) at the Father David Bauer, before closing out the round robin portion of the tournament against Prince Albert Dec. 30 (11:45 a.m.) at the Max Bell Centre.
“Last year we just kind of came together as a team (at) the right time and played really well,” said forward Kirby Ruzesky, who scored an overtime winner in last year’s semifinal versus Red Deer. “We’re hoping for the same thing this year – we’re coming in with a little better of a record (than last year).
“You have to put everything on the line and leave nothing behind.”
The 33rd Annual Mac’s Tournament will feature 22 Canadian teams, two American teams, the Carolina Jr Hurricanes and the San Jose Jr Sharks, and European representative, Russia Severstal in the boys group. The female group will consist of 15 Canadian teams.
This year’s tournament marks the first time in 20 years that Bisons head coach Parry Shockey will lead a triple-A midget team to the tournament. In 1990, Shockey lead Lethbridge to a Mac’s Championship and hopes to do the same for the Herd this year.
According to him, the team needs to pace itself for the grueling week-long tournament.
“We play a fairly intense game – 60 minutes. This is where sometimes you have to pull back on the throttle and conserve energy,” said Shockey. “Three games in three days is not the norm for most of these kids.
“The key is to play hard and yet know where your fuel tank is at. Don’t run into your reserve tank because you can run out of gas.
“You have to pace yourself in certain situations.”