By Ryan Laverty /
Big shoes don’t even begin to describe what this year’s Southside Athletic Club’s Southgate Lions need to fill in 2009-10.
After nearly running the table through the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League’s regular season, the Lions seemed almost invincible heading into their playoff run. The key word there however is ‘almost’ and that in and of itself means this year’s Lions squad has the hope of clearing the previous bar.
Despite rolling all challengers throughout the year, last year’s Lions faltered when it mattered most, losing the league championship to an equally dominant Airdrie Extreme squad, which eventually went on to win the Western Canadian Bantam Championships.
“You know it’s pretty rare what those guys did last year with only having three losses all year or whatever, but we’re not going to worry about that for this year,” said Lions head coach Dan Glegoff, who replaces last year’s bench boss Dwayne Inglehart. “Every team will develop its own identity and I’m sure we will develop ours as we go along. And, as you know, it doesn’t matter what happens at the beginning of the year, it’s what happens at the end and that’s what we’ll be building towards.”
Glegoff certainly knows a thing or two about building for the playoffs, having coached the SSAC Alberta Sportswear squad to a Bantam AA provincial title a year ago.
So while no players from last year’s Lions squad will return to the team, Glegoff is confident the team he has, which includes six players from that AA team, will be in the hunt come March.
That said, the Lions aren’t the only ones looking to build off last year’s success. For the first time in a long time a bit of glory returned to the Maple Leafs Athletic Club, courtesy of coach Marc Ward and his Scott Pump Bantam Leafs.
Ward’s crew was not only the first team to knock off the Lions last season, but they were the first Leafs team in a long time to hold a legitimate shot at a playoff title.
Granted, when push came to shove, the Leafs fell by the wayside, but Ward is hopeful that last year’s performance will kick start a new tradition in the MLAC ranks.
“Last year was the first time we’d made the playoffs in 10 years and I think it’s had a huge impact not only on our team, but on the organization as a whole,” said Ward, who also coached the Edmonton North Oilers at the 2009 Alberta Cup tournament.
“We’ve got three guys back from last year’s team and they have already shown that they’re going to be leaders for us. They’re showing the new guys what the pace is going to be around here and what it’s going to take to build on last year.”
The puck dropped on the AMBHL season on Sept. 25. For up-to-date stats and game times visit www.ambhl.ab.ca. |