Bisons back in league final

Justin Seward
Times Reporter

Doug Taylor Photo

 

The CFR Bison booked their trip to the league final for the second year in a row after coming from behind in the last seven minutes of Game 4 to beat the Calgary Flames 6-3 at the Strathmore Family Centre on March 12, taking the series 3-1.
The Flames led 3-2 going into the third period and it appeared the home side found another gear in the later stages of the game, a trend that head coach Sandy Henry doesn’t want the team to get too comfortable with at this point in the season.
“I thought we got out of the gate a little slow,” said Henry. “They brought a lot more than they seemed like they had a game or two before. But we hung in there, we scrapped and clawed and kept ourselves in the game and I guess that’s the key, to give yourself a chance at the end, and our guys came through.”
He said the game was a step in the right direction for the team because it showed the boys can battle in games they are not at their best in and still find a way to get timely goals from all four lines, as opposed to the Flames who cut down their bench as the game wore on.
According to Henry, the checking line of Matt Davies, Matt Halkovic and Jackson Salt were phenomenal in the last 10 minutes of the game as they kept getting better, while breaking down the Flames.
The feeling of going back to league final hasn’t sunk in for the team yet, but Henry said it’s good for the program and they’ve done the work throughout the year to give themselves a chance to win a league title.
Rookie forward Kaden Hanas said it was great to see the support from the community, which made the South Division Championship a more enjoyable experience.
“We just stayed calm and had the confidence,” said Hanas. “(We) just played our game like we have all year and ended up working for us. This is definitely bigger than anything I’ve ever been apart of.”
Davies led the way with two goals, while Salt, Peyton Krebs, Zach Vinnell and Liam Izyk rounded out the scoring in the win.
The Bisons league final opponent will be the Lloydminster Bobcats and the team knows it’ll be critical to be effective on the special teams, especially after having been swept by them in the season series.
“We believed we’ve really improved our penalty kill and our powerplay,” said Henry. “We need to play them 5-on-5 as much as we can, we don’t want to give them those opportunities.”
Games 1&2 will be played on March 18 (7 p.m.) and March 19 (3 p.m.) in Lloydminster.
The Bisons will host Game 3 on March 24 (7p.m) and, if necessary, Game 4 on March 25 (5:15 p.m.) at the Strathmore Family Centre.
Game 5, if necessary, will go back in Lloydminster at 2 p.m. on March 27.