Buffaloes host Bisons in divisional final

Tyler Lowey

Times Reporter

 

They have been the top two teams all season in the Chrysler division. Now, a best-of-five series will determine who earns the right to participate in the Alberta Midget Hockey League championship.
The Calgary Buffaloes swept the regular season series against the Foothills CFR Chemicals Bisons, finishing one point ahead of the Bisons in the standings, earning home ice.
Game 1 goes March 10 at the Cardel Rec South Arena in Calgary. Game 2 is set for Strathmore, March 12 (7 p.m.). If necessary, Game 4 would return to Strathmore March 16 (7 p.m.)
The Buffs are coming off a clean-sweep of the Calgary Northstars. They will have two extra days of rest over the Bisons.
“I don’t think the extra rest matters at this point,” said Buffaloes assistant coach Tyler Helfrich. “At this age, the kids can get their wind back easily and they are playing for division title at this point; that should be enough adrenaline to get them going.”
The Bisons iced the Calgary Flames in overtime of Game 4, in a series that was played more tightly than how their regular season matchups played out.
Not wasting any time, Bisons head coach Sandy Henry was back in the film room 10 hours after his team advanced to the next round.
As for adjustments, there is one main area of concern for the Bisons coaching staff — the first period.
The Flames outscored the Bisons 9-2 in the opening frames of their series, including jumping out to 3-0 leads in Game 3 and 4.
“We just have to be more patient and a little more responsible in our own end,” said Henry, referring to their first-period woes. “We went full out a couple times and got some scoring chances, which was great, but we also gave up some big, big chances on the other end. We can’t play with a deficit all the time.”
Going off how the regular season ended, the Bisons and Buffs have a lot of similarities.
The Buffs buried the most goals scored (156) and allowed the fewest (67). The Bisons weren’t too far back, scoring 151 and yielding 76. Their records finished first and second, respectively, across the AMHL.
“Both teams have potency on the rush, like to create offence off turnovers, we like to get out in transition and skate, and so do they,” said Henry. “It should be a high-flying series.”
With the Buffs wrapping up their series ahead of the Bisons, Helfrich and the rest of his staff were able to take in a couple of the Bisons games.
“It’s clear that the Bisons are strong on the back end. Both teams take pride in their depth up front and are very talented,” said Helfrich. “It’s going to come down to who wants it more.”
The Buffaloes were the only team to shut the Bisons out this season, when they blanked the AMHL’s second-highest scoring offence, 3-0 back on Dec. 11 at the Strathmore Family Centre.
Taylor Gauthier was magnificent, stopping 31 shots to record the shutout. He was selected 10th overall by the Prince George Cougars during the 2016 WHL draft.
The Buffs clipped the Bisons 5-2 in the rematch.
The Bisons will be calling up a few affiliated players for this series. Tyler Petrie isn’t quite ready to return from a lower-body injury and Tarun Fizer will not step on the ice this series. Blake Wells picked up a game misconduct during Game 4 of the Flames series, and is suspended for Game 1.
Tucker Zdunich and Ryan Ries participated in all four games last round with the Bisons. Playing on a line centered by Boaz Bassen, Zdunich picked up a goal in Game 2 and Ries had a goal waved off in Game 4, as the net was knocked off its pegs.
Brandon Machado leads the Bisons with two goals and six points, followed by Kaden Hanas with four goals and one assist during the playoffs.
Jaxon Steele leads the Buffaloes with seven points.