By / Ryan Laverty
After weeks of searching, the Lehigh Inland Cement Bantam AAA Canadians found a little success on the Thanksgiving weekend.
Turned out success had been hiding in Red Deer, not in the Edmonton area where they’d been searching since the regular season began in the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League.
The Canadians did more than their share of winning through the pre-season, even cracking the championship final in the Southside Athletic Club’s John Ferguson Memorial tournament in September, but since the regular season began coach Bram Stephen’s squad haven’t been able to crack into the coveted column.
“Our guys come from a fairly small area, so a lot of them know one another, so I think that might have helped when we first started,” explained Stephen. “Our guys put in some good efforts at the start. They really clicked and then the regular season started and they decided they didn’t need to put in the same effort.”
The Canadians entered the Sutter Fund Tournament Oct. 10-12 in Red Deer with a 0-2-2 record, but managed to muster an altogether satisfactory 2-2-0 result, coming up a couple of goals short of making the gold medal final.
The Canadians opened the tournament with a decisive 7-4 win over the Swift Current Kabos Raiders. Flying high, CAC followed that up with a 6-4 win over Red Deer Black, but that game cost them dearly. Six players, including veteran goaltender Dan Wlasichuk sustained injuries against Red Deer, which contributed to the lopsided 11-0 loss to the Airdrie Extreme, the top squad in the AMBHL’s Ram South Division – in game three of the event.
Still, with their first two wins, the Canadians garnered a spot in the tournament semifinal, where they lost 6-4 to the eventual champs, the Calgary Bisons.
“I think overall we’re about where we expected to be at this time of the year, but I think this tournament was a huge success for us,” said Stephen. “It was not only a good chance for us to get some extra games in and to gel, but I think our guys learned some valuable lessons. I think they learned how to put the pedal down when you have a team down against Swift Current and I think they learned from Airdrie what it takes to be successful in our league.”
If his charges can apply those lessons back home in the AMBHL Stephen figured the Canadians may just find success again when they need it most – February. |
