Bisons grinded out of post season

 

Mario Prusina

Times Editor

 

Injuries to key people may have sent the UFA Bisons out of the AMHL post season.

The local triple-A midget squad, which prided itself on team depth all season long, couldn’t overcome injuries to key players during their third round series versus the Red Deer Rebels.

The Bisons were without half of their regular defencemen and a key forward during the series, which they lost three games to none.

“I’ll be honest with you, we threw everything at them we had,” said Bisons head coach Parry Shockey. “We weren’t deep enough – we weren’t deep enough with those guys being out of the line-up. You can’t take three of your starting d-men, your key guys (out of the line-up).

“The (affiliate) guys that came in didn’t hurt us, but it takes away the chemistry, takes away a little bit of the physical play, takes away a little bit of confidence – there’s a variable of things there.

“Honestly, I thought we played well. We had some chances, but for us to continue down the playoff trail was going to be a grind.”

According to Shockey, during the regular season the team was able to overcome injuries because they would usually have a week off to heal after a game.

In the playoffs, however, the team played every other day – which increased the wear-and-tear.

“Red Deer was deep – they have a big team, they were healthy – they’ve been healthy through the whole series,” said Shockey. “I don’t fault our guys at all. I think our guys can hold their heads up … ultimately, at the end of the day, I thought our guys gave it an effort and played as hard as they can play under the circumstances.”

After losing 4-1 in the season opener on the road March 8, the Bisons battled back and forth with the Rebels on home ice two days later.

The Rebels scored the lone goal in the first period before affiliate Chandler Irvin tied the game in the second period, converting a feed from Samuel McKechnie and Connor Chartier. The Rebels restored the lead, before Shayne Gwinner tied the game, converting a pass from Chartier and Owen Ferguson.

With just 5:51 left in the game, the Rebels took the lead for the last time on a controversial play. The officials missed an apparent offside, before the Rebels iced the game with an empty net marker.

The following night, the Rebels ended the series with a 3-1 win.

Despite the sting of losing, the Bisons were very happy with their overall season.

“We had the opportunity, a privilege to coach these guys,” said Shockey. “We had our struggles, there is no question, but the bottom line is we were dealing with a lot of good, young men. They came a long ways in a lot of different areas. They learned a lot about the game.

“In the end, I think that it was a successful year for everybody.”