Bisons rock the Hurricanes

Tyler Lowey
Times Reporter

 

The Foothills CFR Chemicals Bisons entered the eye of the storm and walked out with a lop-sided Alberta Midget Hockey League win.
The Bisons bashed the Lethbridge Hurricanes 7-2 at the Nicholas Sheran Ice Centre, in their second last road game of the regular season.
“It was one of those games where everything seemed to go in,” said Bisons assistant coach Paden Grant. “We weren’t overly great, but we strung a couple good shifts together in the first that resulted in goals, and then we just wore them down by the third period.”
Kaden Hanas, Tyson Scott and Zach Huber led the way in a blustery opening frame, which saw the Bisons take a 3-2 lead into recess.
Hanas and Scott have now scored in back-to-back games.
The slower second-half schedule hasn’t reduced the Bisons offensive inertia, as Huber netted his second goal, as Boaz Bassen found the back of the net while shorthanded, while Peyton Krebs and Tyler Petrie added singles in the third.
Huber has been scoring in bunches lately, netting five goals in his past three games.
Ben Laidlaw was being Ben Laidlaw in net, denying 26 Hurricane shots for his league-leading 12th win.
Laidlaw and Hunter Young have formed quite the duo between the pipes for the Bisons. With all the attention at the beginning of the year on the talent in front of them, all the tandem has done is shut the door night in and night out.
“It’s pretty unbelievable,” said Grant when asked what it’s like to watch the two go to work this season. “It certainly has made our job easy as coaches. They have our full trust to go out there and make the key save.”
Missing in action was Brandon Machado, who made his debut with the Saskatoon Blades of the WHL. He is the third Bison this season to get called up to the dub. Playing in a pair of games with the Blades, Machado finished with a plus-one rating. He was selected in the fifth round (101st overall) during the 2015 Bantam draft.
Machado was back in black and red when the Bisons took on the Calgary Buffaloes Feb. 1 at the Cardel Rec South Arena (result not available as of press time). The Buffaloes are the only team to blank the Bisons this year, when they shut out the Herd 3-0 back on Dec. 11 at the Strathmore Family Centre.
“We owe them one. It’s important for us to beat them once in case we run into them down the road in playoffs,” said Grant.
There will be no coasting into the playoffs for the Bisons. Of their five games remaining (including the Buffaloes game), they will face the three teams immediately below them in the overall AMHL standings.
With six points separating the Bisons from the Red Deer Optimist Chiefs for earning a first-round bye, there is still a lot left to sort out in the final weeks. Two Bisons wins or a pair of Chiefs losses will clinch the bye for the Herd.
The Bisons will enjoy 10 days off after the Buffs game, before picking up AMHL action Feb. 11 at the Strathmore Family Centre when they host the Fort Saskatchewan Boston Pizza Rangers. The Herd tied the Rangers 2-2 back in November.