Bisons plagued by Mac’s hangover

Mario Prusina

Times Editor

 

After an emotional run to the championship game of the Mac’s Midget Hockey Tournament, the UFA Bisons suffered a major letdown when they returned to league action in the AMHL.

The local triple-A midget team lost to a pair of North Division opponents this past weekend, falling 7-4 to the Fort Saskatchewan Boston Pizza Rangers and 4-2 to Edmonton’s SSAC Athletics.

According to Bisons head coach Jeremy Friesen, despite facing two teams below the .500 mark, the dreaded Mac’s hangover reered its ugly head.

“I think so – it’s tough. That was a pretty emotional tournament,” said Friesen, when asked of the hangover. “It’s always tough to come back – we had (less than) a week away from the rink. We just have to get back to work here, we definitely put ourselves in a hole. 

“We expected four points this weekend from teams below us in the standings. Now we’re coming up into a stretch where we have five or six games in a row against some of the top competition in the league.

“We have to bounce back and make sure we’re ready to go.”

The Bisons were one of the most dominant teams at the Mac’s Tournament, eventually losing to the Russian squad on New Year’s Day. After only a few days away from the rink, the Bisons were forced back into action Jan. 7.

“It’s tough to get motivated,” said Friesen. “You go through a stretch where everything is emotionally high, you have to be at your best to perform for the scouts, for the team and all those different aspects. 

“Now coming back into the league – where we’re comfortable where we’re at. We’re pretty sure we’re going to the playoffs, so it’s now about positioning and elevating our game.

“Every two points is important from here on in … we need to play as a desperate hockey team. Unfortunately the results were just not there (this past weekend).”

The Bisons started the weekend with a poor outing one the puck was dropped versus the Rangers. The Rangers built a 4-0 lead before the Bisons finally tallied a goal late in the period. However, when it was all said and done, the deficit was insurmountable.

“We got into a little river hockey, back and forth – they capitalized on our mistakes,” described Friesen. “We started out slow, we elevated our game and we weren’t rewarded. Sometimes when you cheat and take shortcuts (from the game plan) the hockey gods aren’t going to reward you for that.”

According to Friesen, it was sort of the same thing with the game versus the Athletics. 

“We got away from what makes us successful,” said the coach. “We hemmed them in their zone for five, six, seven shifts in a row – then we (deviate from the game plan) and the puck is in the back of our net. It tells us what we already know – we need to be consistent … or we’re not going to be successful.

“It was disappointing because we had a lot of guys that played well this weekend. Then we had some guys that just fell back and didn’t show up.”

The Bisons are now gearing up to face the second place teams in the North and South Division. The Herd will host the NW Calgary Flames on Jan. 13 (8 p.m.) and the St. Albert Elite Raiders the following day (5:30 p.m.) at the Strathmore Family Centre.

According to Friesen, this coming weekend will be a good test for the Bisons.

“It’s going to be a fast game, it’s going to be a physical game – no different than the first two times we met them,” said Friesen of the game against the rival Flames. “We’re going to have to make sure we limit our mistakes against a top team like that.”