Road-weary Bisons back home

Posted on: Staff Writer

Justin Seward

Times Reporter

 

The UFA Bisons are a very exhausted club after playing four games in seven nights.
They were able to beat one of the top teams, the Calgary Buffaloes, 3-1 on Nov. 19 and were just worn out in this past Saturday’s game as they were defeated 4-1 by the Calgary Royals.
“In the Wednesday game I thought we played really well and did a lot of good things, so we had success in that game,” said head coach Dan MacDonald. “We used the body way better than we have all year and finished our checks better.”
Goal scorers were Gary Haden, Markus Lavallee and Kyle Gordon versus the Buffaloes.
“In the Saturday game, it just came down to our fourth game in seven nights on the road and it got the best of us I think, especially in the first period,” he said. “We didn’t play well in the first period, our guys were playing tired and so we didn’t come out as a strongly as we usually do and it showed.
“We missed the net an awful lot on some good chances that we had and I think that’s just fatigue. We’re still a pretty young team, that was a tough part of our schedule so we’re glad it’s over with and we can regroup for next week.”
Despite not having their normal energy levels against the Royals, the Bisons were still able to give an honest effort.
“We had one bad period and then after that, we worked hard but we didn’t have any real finesse to our game because of our fatigue and just making plays we don’t normally make. We gave it a way a few times, we gave up the blue line when we don’t normally do that and played a different style of game because of exhaustion,” said MacDonald.
Haden scored the goal in the loss against the Royals.
What made matters worse for the Bisons was that both the Buffaloes and the Royals are top teams in the division.
“The Buffaloes are leading our division in the south and the Royals are second. So those are tough teams and it’s tough to play them when you’re coming off the road from Lloydminster and Sherwood Park,” said MacDonald.
The Bisons play at home this weekend when they take on the Calgary Flames (8 p.m.) on Nov. 28 and then the St. Albert Raiders (5:15 p.m.) on Nov. 29. Both games will take place at the Strathmore Family Centre.