Former CFR Chemicals Bisons embark on new WHL campaigns

By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter

The numbers are dwindling, but there are still a handful of former CFR Chemicals Bisons alumni that took part in Western Hockey League (WHL) training camp and pre-season schedules.
After an incredible season as a 16-year-old with the Bisons that saw Zach Huber score 19 goals and add 16 assists in 33 games, the Saskatchewan native struggled last year with the Calgary Hitmen.
Appearing in only 56 of 72 games, Huber was cemented on the fourth line for one of the worst teams in the Canadian Hockey League.
This year, Huber felt there was still pressure to make the team as an 18-year-old. Having a new bench boss certainly helped his chances of sticking with the team that drafted him in the fourth round of the 2015 WHL Bantam Draft.
“I looked at this year as a fresh opportunity for me. As soon as I found out we got a new coach, I was excited for the opportunity to work hard and be a part of this team again,” said Huber in early September. “It feels great to be playing again. I almost got bored not playing last year, not being on the ice in all situations. This year, I’m just going to take advantage of every situation I’m in and make the most of it.”
Huber took advantage of his clean slate with new head coach Steve Hamilton, and finished third on the team in pre-season scoring with four goals and two assists in six games.
In one regular season game with the Hitmen, Huber has yet to find himself on the score sheet.
One former Bison who wasn’t under as much pressure to crack the lineup was the former No. 1 overall pick in the bantam draft, Peyton Krebs.
Krebs was leading rookie scorer last season with 17 goals and 37 assists in 67 games. This pre-season, he netted a pair of goals and four helpers. He already added a goal and an assist in the Kootenay Ice’s 5-3 victory over Huber’s Hitmen.
This could be one of the most important years for Krebs up to this point, as this is the first year he is eligible for the National Hockey League entry draft.
In a pre-draft article written by Bob McKenzie on TSN.ca, the senior hockey analyst has Krebs slotted as the No. 9 prospect for the upcoming draft this summer in Vancouver.
Depth winger Zachary Cox is back for his second season with the Lethbridge Hurricanes and the No. 2 prospect on McKenzie’s board.
The Hurricanes are loaded with returning veterans and a centre that could go in the top three picks of this summer’s National Hockey League entry draft in Dylan Cozens. They made a lot of moves at last year’s trade deadline to bolster their depth moving forward and the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) has recognized that as the puck dropped on another season last weekend. The Hurricanes were listed as the top WHL team and the No. 3 team in all of the CHL in the pre-season rankings that came out last week.
The 19-year-old Cox has already appeared in both outings with the Hurricanes this season and is still searching for his first point. Last year in 58 games with the Hurricanes, he scored twice and added four assists.
Pushing the Hurricanes for the top spot in the central division will be the reigning division champions in the Medicine Hat Tigers, which will once again be powered by a pair of former Bison teammates.
Defenceman Cole Clayton and centre Gary Haden are now two of the veterans on the Tigers and should be hungry after getting upset in the first round of the playoffs last year.
Clayton, who went undrafted in his first year of eligibility last year and, like Huber, was struggling for minutes, has already started one game on the blue line this season.
The Tigers are expecting big things out of Haden this year after he obliterated his career totals last year with 17 goals and 25 assists in 70 games.
The Saskatoon Blades earned enough points to qualify for the playoffs last year if they were in the central division with the Hurricanes, Hitmen and Tigers, but were on the outside looking in because of the crossover rule.
The then-17-year-old Brandon Machado didn’t produce as much as he would have liked last year with one goal in 60 games, but the former Bison will look to help end the longest active playoff drought in the WHL this year, as the Blades have missed the post-season in each of the last five seasons.
Machado added one goal in six pre-season games with the Blades. He has yet to appear in a regular season game with the Blades in what will be his third year with the club.
Tarun Fizer also went through some growing pains with the Victoria Royals last year, but as a 16-year-old. Fizer, who was one of the more creative goal scorers for that final Bison unit, was held to two goals and five assists in 45 games last year.
With the possibility of Matthew Phillips sticking with the Calgary Flames this year, more offence could open up for Fizer who, like Krebs, is also draft eligible this summer.
Airdrie’s Cayde Augustine only appeared in five games with the B.C. division-winning Kelowna Rockets as a 16-year-old last season. This year, he is bound to shatter that benchmark as he has cracked the regular season roster after he recorded one goal and one assist in three pre-season games.
The 6-foot-2, 220-pound Augustine expanded his game offensively last season as the captain of the inaugural Airdrie Bisons, setting career highs with 11 goals and seven helpers in 33 games
Follow along with all the former Bisons at the dubnetwork.ca.