Bisons blaze through northern loop

Tyler Lowey

Times Reporter

 

The CFR Chemicals Bisons finished their last long road trip of the regular season with a pair of convincing wins.
The Bisons (14-0-2) left early Friday morning for their tilt against the Grande Peace Ernie’s Sports Storm (5-9-2) in non-divisional Alberta Midget Hockey League action Nov. 19.
“It’s definitely nice to get our big northern road trips out of the way,” said Bisons head coach Sandy Henry. “It will be nice to have home games and a couple short trips left until playoffs”
The Bisons got their money’s worth for the seven and a half hour bus ride, as they ditched the Storm 6-3 at Chris McMillian Arena.
The Storm were fresh in the Bisons minds; the two teams tangoed Nov. 11 at the Strathmore Family Centre, as the Bisons defeated them soundly 5-1.
“We knew what they were capable of and we knew that we had just beaten them, so we thought we had an advantage over them going in,” said Bisons forward Blake Wells, who recorded a goal and two assists.
Landon Melzer’s second goal of the year at the 3:32 mark of the second period proved to be the winner.
“It was a fairly similar game to the first time we played them. We came ready to play, weathered the storm in the first period and once we got it going, we took the lead in the first and we were fine,” said Henry.
The Bisons led 3-1 after the first frame on goals from Tyler Petrie, Tyson Scott and Wells.
The line of Scott, Petrie and Kaden Hanas has been clicking all season. Petrie is tied for second on the team with nine goals.
A pair of forwards were away from the team, which jumbled up the lines a little: Hanas was away with resting an injury and Payton Krebs was called up to play with the Kootenay Ice (4-13-5-1) of the Western Hockey League. Affiliated player Mark Zachary took Hanas’ spot and fit in nicely.
Zachary, 15, stands 6-foot-3 and currently plays for the AC Avalanche midget AAA, where he has five goals and 14 points in 11 games.
“I thought he played well. He is a big guy, strong on the puck, good skater and very coordinated for his size,” said Petrie.
Krebs is eligible for two more games with the Ice until the Bisons season ends. The Ice have been in talks with the Bisons about tentatively calling Krebs back up when the Ice travel to Washington to take on the Spokane Chiefs (8-8-4-1) and the Tri-City Americans (14-8-2-0) Jan. 20 and 21. Krebs’ older brother Dakota is a defenseman for the Americans.
“Payton is a special player and does a lot of things out there that other players in this league can’t do,” said Ice GM Jeff Chynoweth. “He has a bright future and we are excited for him.”
Zach Huber is second on the Bisons with 20 points and shifted to Krebs’ spot as top line centre, while affiliated player Kale Clouston filled in on the wing.
The Moose Jaw Warriors (13-4-4-0) drafted Clouston in the fifth round, 94th overall during the 2015 WHL Bantam draft. Currently, Clouston plays for the Wheatland Chiefs double-A midget team (11-1-1), where he has five goals and 11 points in 11 games.
Joel Krahenbil added his third goal and Huber contributed one of his own as the Bisons outshot the Storm 33-25. Ben Laidlaw turned away 22 shots in net.
The Bisons wrapped up their road trip with a 2-1 victory over the MLAC Beverly Optimists (5-9-1) Nov. 20 at Bill Hunter Arena in Edmonton.
The Optimists led 1-0 after one, but a pair of goals from Brandon Machado and Boaz Bassen sealed the deal. The Bisons outshot the Optimists 35-28.
Affiliated player Riley Stovka made his debut for the Bisons. Laidlaw had an equipment issue in the first period and was forced to exit the game. Stovka came in for three minutes and made one save. Stovka is teammates with Clouston on the Chiefs where he is 4-1 with a .890 save percentage and an impressive 2.54 goals against average.
Laidlaw relieved Stovka later in the first and piled up 27 saves. The Bisons other netminder, Hunter Young, is still day-to-day, nursing a concussion. Laidlaw now leads the league with nine wins in 10 starts.
The Sherwood Park J. Ennis Kings (13-1-2) fell 4-1 to the CAC Gregg Distributors (5-9-2) Nov. 19 at Bill Hunter Arena, which means the Bisons are the only team undefeated.
“We check out what happens in the league every night, not because we are scoreboard watching, but we just have interest in the league,” said Henry. “We did our job, we can’t worry so much about what the other teams are doing.”
The Bisons return to the Strathmore Family Centre this weekend as they host the Optimists on Nov. 25 at 8 p.m. and the Distributors Nov. 26 at 5:15 p.m.