Great start to the Mac’s

Tyler Lowey
Times Reporter

 

CFR Bisons vs. Red Deer Chiefs
Dec. 26 at Father David Bauer Arena
The parking lot was packed, the stands were full and the players were ready — it’s tournament time.
The CFR Chemicals Bisons lifted the curtain on the 39th Mac’s AAA Midget Hockey Tournament with a strong 5-2 win Dec. 26 over the Red Deer Optimists Chiefs at Father David Bauer Arena.
“It’s great to get out to a good start and give ourselves a chance to win the pool. Red Deer is a very strong team so this was a good confidence-boosting win for the boys,” said Bisons assistant coach Paden Grant.
There was no pregame anthem and the Zamboni didn’t clean the ice after warm up, but it didn’t matter. The Bisons stormed out of the gate following the opening faceoff.
Zach Huber took a pass at centre, walked into the zone and unloaded a clapper from the left faceoff dot, avoiding the diving shot blocker; Huber’s blast was too hot for Justin Travis to handle in net, clanking off his glove into the net.
Later on in the frame, visionary defenseman Cole Clayton saw Peyton Krebs wheeling into the neutral zone, lobbing a Hail Mary stretch pass up the centre of the ice. Hitting Krebs in stride, Krebs took off on a break, leaving the defender in the dust. Deking forehand, Krebs was staring at a wide-open net with Travis’ jock dangling somewhere in the rafters.
“He tends to look for me going up the middle, I like to work up the middle and it just ended up working out. He made a great play and I was lucky enough to finish,” said Krebs.
“I’ve been waiting for this all Christmas. If you’re not on top your game, you can be out of it right off the start. It’s good to see us start on a good note,” said Clayton, who was named player of the game with a pair of assists, while shutting the Chiefs down on the other end.
Admittedly not playing their best as of late, the Bisons turned in a dominating performance in the opener.
“We have been struggling lately, off to a couple slow starts in games, but the 2-0 lead early really got us going in the right direction,” said Bisons winger Huber.
The Bisons tied their Chrysler division foes 2-2 earlier in the season during a physical affair. While still physical, the bigger ice surface in the tournament allowed the Bisons to use their speed to go past the Chiefs.
Defenseman Liam Belcourt bagged the winner after Blake Wells dove to try and tuck the puck past the right but. Rattling around the boards, the puck worked it’s way to Belcourt, who stopped it, controlled the puck and fired a shot that beat Travis blocker side.
Laidlaw wasn’t overly busy in the first two frames, recording 15 stops. His finest work came in the third, when Justin Paarup was hauled down, resulting in a penalty shot. The Chiefs trailed 3-1 when Paarup grabbed the puck at centre. Weaving into the zone, he deked to the right, Laidlaw bit, but recovered quickly to kick away the low shot attempt. He finished with 31 saves.
From there, Brandon Machado faked a wrap around, dishing a backhand saucer pass to the captain Brett Trentham at the side of the net and Tarun Fizer pounded home a one-timer on a 5-on-3 advantage with 6:38 remaining.

 

CFR Bisons vs. Alaska Oilers
Dec. 27 at Max Bell Centre
The message was received for their second game, when they blitzed the Alaska Oilers 4-1 in their feature game Dec. 27 at Max Bell Centre #1.
The Oilers opened the scoring, finding the back of the net on their first shot, but were quickly answered when Tyson Scott banged in a rebound from Boaz Bassen and Kaden Hanas at the 2:06 mark.
Bassen broke the tie in the second on the powerplay. Hanas bombed a shot from the blueline wide. Bouncing hard off the end boards, the puck came right to Bassen, who slid the puck through the five-hole. Bassen was named player of the game for his two-point performance.
Huber netted his second goal of the tournament on a sweet backhand feed from Salt behind the net with 8:58 remaining in the second.
The Bisons never let up, outshooting the Oilers 51-20.
Trentham supplied his second goal on the tourney, a short-handed marker from Brandon Machado 4:01 into the third period.
Hunter Young got the call between the pipes and looked solid after allowing the opening goal. He finished with 19 saves.