The herd salutes their season

Times Reporter   

 

The UFA Bisons honoured their best at their Awards Night on April 17 at Strathmore High School. After defeating the Calgary Flames in the first round of the AMHL playoffs, the Bisons were defeated by the Red Deer Optimist Chiefs in four games. Since their season ended in March, many of the teammates had not seen each other, after returning home from their billet families.

“It gives us the chance to allow the boys some closure,” Bisons general manager Wayne Hansen said. “This year’s team was way closer than any team we’ve ever had, simply because they were in town and school together – they were with each other 15 hours a day. On top of that, it gives us a chance to thank our organization.”

This was the inaugural year for the Bisons billet program; the boys all attended Strathmore High School together, and were under plenty of guidance on and off the ice. Monday nights during the year, the boys had a mandatory study hall scheduled.

“Some of them said, it was the best (academic) year they’ve had,” Bisons coach Dan MacDonald said. “They never would have gotten that kind of attention before, from caring people wanted to see them succeed. If they do well off the ice, they’ll do well on the ice. It’s a real solid program. It’s not just about hockey.”

Hansen mentioned that mentally and physically, the billet program improved the club, and also reduced the dangers of driving to and from practice if the boys were from further areas.

“If we wanted to get and compete for a national championship, we had to do this. That’s our ultimate goal. It didn’t happen this year, but moving forward, we’re going to be a better organization next year and the years following,” Hansen said.

Connor Boyd earned some heavy hardware, winning the Neil Glionna Award for dedication, sportsmanship, and perseverance, the Strathmore Times Player of the Year (for most “player of the game” titles), and also a $1,500 scholarship from the AMHL.

“I wasn’t expecting to get (the scholarship), because we have a lot of strong academic kids on our team. At the same time, it’s really nice to get,” Boyd said, who felt the Glionna Award was the most special to him. “I’ve been brought up to just do those sort of things no matter what. I was fortunate enough to get these awards tonight so I feel very honoured to get them.”

Boyd eventually hopes to use the scholarship to study business, possibly at the University of Calgary, but wants to focus on hockey next season. He mentioned this past year was a huge development challenge.

“Being on the ice as much as we were during the week, it was just incomparable to seasons before. Having the coaching staff and the management team that we had, it was just unbelievable the knowledge that they brought and the expertise that they passed down to us,” Boyd said.

Top defenseman honours went to Tristan Thompson, who said he felt more confident with the puck in his second Bisons season. Thompson was also named to the AMHL First All Star Team.

“It’s not like I was by far the best defenseman, they were all good. It was a hard choice for the coaches, I’m just glad I got it,” Thompson said. “I’d just like to thank everybody on our team for helping me along the way. It was a good learning curve, especially from all the coaches. They taught me a lot this year.”

Team captain Mackenzie Bauer was awarded top defensive forward, but also managed to be third in team scoring, with 32 points in 28 games.

“I’m more of a lead-by-example kind of guy,” Bauer said. “I’ve always taken pride in the defensive zone. I like to think of myself as a two-way forward. I enjoy penalty killing just as much as I enjoy the powerplay.”

Similar to Boyd, Bauer felt this season was key to his hockey development.

“This was my second year with the organization and I feel more prepared than ever to make the jump to junior,” he said.

Other winners included top scorer and MVP to Mason McCarty (who had 42 points in 32 games), rookie of the year to Brayden Biccum, most improved to Joshua Bishop, and hardest working to Philip Anderson.

“We had a team where a lot of the other guys could have got awards too. You almost feel bad for the guys who didn’t get them because they all worked real hard,” MacDonald said. “They were all deserving. I guess they get it in the end – they get a chance to go play junior. They will get their reward; it’s not always about a trophy.”