By / Darren Bayrack
The Calgary Buffaloes returned home with the silver medal from the Telus Cup national Midget AAA championship last month in Selkirk, Manitoba.
The Buffs had a successful tournament despite being blanked 4-0 in the gold medal game April 26 by the Notre Dame Hounds and goalie Christopher Gibson.
“To be honest we are disappointed right now. The kids were a little nervous in the first 10 minutes and got caught flat-footed and got down 2-0 early,” said James Poole, Buffaloes head coach following the game. “We definitely had some scoring chances to get back in the game, but unfortunately the puck wasn’t bouncing our way today and their goaltender was outstanding.”
Drew George scored twice and recorded three points to pace the Hounds to the national championship, their first since 1986.
“It’s been a long time coming and these guys deserve it as much as anybody,” said Notre Dame head coach Del Pedrick. “It’s going to take awhile to sink in I think.”
Calgary’s head coach was gracious in defeat. “Give Notre Dame full credit for their effort today, they deserved to win,” said Poole.
The Buffaloes played seven games in seven days to advance to the final and finished with a 3-2-2 record with Chris Collins and Greg Lamoureux leading the way with 11 points each. Goalie Sam Brittain finished the tournament with a 3.00 goals against average and recorded a save percentage of .916.
“Chris was fighting off a few injuries here and there, but he definitely had some big games for us. Greg was actually solid for us all tournament long,” said Poole. “Obviously, playing seven games in seven days is definitely a tough stretch but I thought our kids held up fairly well.”
Collins also received an individual award in Selkirk being named the most sportsmanlike player of the national championship tournament.
Notre Dame had the advantage of several busloads of students arriving at the Selkirk Recreation Complex to cheer on their Hounds.
“They definitely had a little bit of home ice advantage in the final,” Poole quipped. “Our fans tried their best but they were a little outnumbered by students – and students tend to be a little louder than parents.”
Rousseau Sports de Laval-Bourassa won the bronze medal by defeating the Winnipeg Thrashers 5-2.
“I think it’s one of the most successful years the Buffs have ever had with winning the Macs Tournament and second in the country,” summed up Poole. “We were very happy with the season.”
The Buffs’ coach is anticipating plenty of change this off-season with only a handful of the 15 eligible players returning next year.
“When you have success the way we did a lot of these kids end up moving on to the WHL and Junior A,” Poole explained. “We are kind of expecting it to be a rebuilding year a little bit next year, which is never a bad thing.” |
