Mac’s begins Boxing Day

Times Reporter   

 

The 36th annual Mac’s Midget AAA World Invitational Tournament is underway Dec. 26 – Jan. 1, with the UFA Bisons as one of the host teams, along with four from Calgary. The top five teams in the AMHL, other than the hosts, will be joining as well.

“I think it’s a marvellous opportunity. A lot of kids dream about playing in the Mac’s,” said Mike O’Neil, chairman of the Mac’s Tournament Committee. “It’s a tournament that has international nature; we bring people half way around the world. It’s a chance to not only show your best but also for the community to come together.”

The tournament has over 75 NHL alumni; this year, over 800 players are involved (25 boys teams and 15 girls teams), including teams from Alaska, Finland, and Switzerland. Over 1,500 volunteers are needed to put on the event.

“This is one of the things our boys really look forward to. They know that when they make our team, they’re playing in the Mac’s,” said Bisons’ General Manager, Wayne Hansen. “We want to make sure that we play well — continue on with what we’re doing. Whether we win or lose, to us, winning is a by-product of the effort our boys put into it.”

The Bisons have only won the Mac’s Tournament once, in 1998. They made it to the finals two other times, falling to the Severstal/Locomotiv team from Russia two years ago and the Vancouver Northwest Giants two years prior to that.

“Last year, we didn’t really play very well,” said Bisons’ forward, Connor Boyd. “I think as a whole, we just didn’t play our game. Some guys could have been focused on who was in the stands — weren’t really focused on the outcome of the game itself. I think this year, having as many vets as we do back, it’s going to be a lot easier to lead the guys and help them.”

Playing up to seven games in six days, the tournament takes a toll on the players’ bodies. Hansen believes this will be good practice for his boys in tournaments to come.

“Big thing for us, is this is another stepping stone to our ultimate goal, that being a Canadian Championship at the end of the year,” he said. “This is an important step because this tournament, a lot like the Telus Cup, is a short tournament. They need to know, you can’t take shifts off. We’re going to play a lot of hockey in a short period of time here.”

Leading scorer for the Bisons, Mason McCarty, will likely miss the tournament due to injury, but team captain Mackenzie Bauer will just be finishing his recovery from a sports hernia.

“We’re a pretty good conditioned team. We all live in Strathmore so we skate everyday, and we work out all the time. I think we’ll have the advantage there, compared to the other teams,” Bauer said. “We’re definitely pretty confident right now. We just got to keep going. We just had a really good month so we need to carry that into the Mac’s.”

Bison’s first-year coach Dan MacDonald has coached in the tournament previously, with another team, but knows his boys are confident in their recent 11-game unbeaten streak within league play.

“Anytime you go into a tournament like this, I think the fellows think they have a shot at it,” he said.

“Sherwood Park will probably be pretty tough competition. From what I’ve heard, that’ll be the toughest competition in our pool,” Bauer said. “We’ll definitely be a contender for the finals.”