Bisons heating up at Mac’s

Justin Seward
Times Reporter

 

Vancouver NE Chiefs vs UFA Bisons Dec. 26
at Father David Bauer Arena
The UFA Bisons burnt their turkey dinners off pretty quickly on Boxing Day as they set the tone in their tournament opener with a 7-3 win over the Vancouver NE Chiefs.
Jordan McConnell opened the scoring 12:55 into the game and the Bisons never looked back after that.
“When we move the puck, we usually get some offensive passion for our team,” said head coach Dan MacDonald. “We moved the puck pretty good today and when that happens, we score some goals and that’s the secret for us.”
After taking a 4-2 lead into the third, the Bisons were able to get that important insurance marker in the third from Gary Haden, who scored a hat trick in the game, to keep the momentum in their favour.
“It’s really important in midget hockey to get those goals because the momentum can shift real fast,” said MacDonald. “It’s 4-2 and if they get one, it’s 4-3, we’re on our heels – but we put them on their heels and that’s what you have to do to be successful.”
The players responded well to a new opponent by playing a complete team effort.
“We only have one strategy and that’s three or four things we concentrate on and if we do that, we can usually be competitive no matter who we play,” said MacDonald.
Other goals came from Will Conley, Trygve Many Guns and Kyle Gordon.

UFA Bisons vs. San Jose Junior Sharks Dec. 27 Max Bell Arena
The UFA Bisons continued right where they left off in the first game with a convincing 7-2 win over the San Jose Junior Sharks on Dec. 27 at the Max Bell Arena.
Despite giving up the first goal, the Bisons never lost a beat, as they played with poise and energy the rest of the game.
Forward Gary Haden had followed up his three-goal performance, with a pair in the second game against the Sharks and credits his line mates for the production.
“It was all of our line up, we move the puck well and I just find the right areas and my line mates find me. I just had the easy job of finishing it off,” said Haden. “It was just good puck movement today, we drove the middle and it opened another lane. We were hitting that lane all night.”
Assistant coach Dave Attwood was enthused with how the boys took charge.
“We really did not know what to expect because this San Jose team hadn’t played a game yet. So we knew we just had to come out to a good start and play our game,” said Attwood. “I think as the game moved on, you could see we moved the puck and play with speed really well … once we felt out San Jose, we started doing our thing and scored a lot of goals.”
McConnell also scored twice for the Bisons, while Many Guns, Barrett Sheen and Markus Lavallee rounded out the offence.
Due to the New Year’s paper deadline, the results of next two round robin games, as well as the tournament wrap up, will be available in the Jan. 9 edition of the Strathmore Times.