By Laurence Heinen /
For Calgary hockey players, there’s definitely something special about the tournament simply known as the Mac’s.
“All the Calgary teams take pride in the Mac’s,” said Keith Fagnan, coach of the Calgary Northstars. “They grew up watching it.”
Last season, the Northstars were struggling in second last spot in the Alberta Midget Hockey League standings, but that didn’t stop them from putting up a 4-0 record in the round-robin portion of the Mac’s World Invitational AAA Midget Hockey Tournament.
“It doesn’t matter where you are in the standings, because everybody comes to play in the Mac’s,” Northstars forward Logan Gabel told the Calgary Sun. “Our team plays strong in the Mac’s. It’s our home rink, and we usually come out pumped.”
Although they lost 3-2 in double overtime to the Red Deer Optimist Chiefs in the playoffs, the Northstars gained confidence from their Mac’s experience.
As of Dec. 13, the Northstars had compiled an 8-8-4 record in AMHL action and Fagnan predicted a strong Mac’s showing would go a long ways to boosting his team’s record over the .500 mark.
“You need to use that momentum to swing you into the second half of the season,” said Fagnan, adding that in a short tournament like the Mac’s anything can happen through hard work and determination. “You’ve got to let the chips fall where they may. You just never know which way the puck will bounce.”
Including Gabel, the Northstars boast 11 returning players with Mac’s experience including fellow forwards Chris Korpach, Stephen Tetz, Krishan Kaushal and Tyler Jewitt.
Defencemen Colton Van Rijn, Justin Brzoza, Kent Fox and Kevin Mills are also back for their second AAA Midget tournament along with goalies Jason Heiligsetzer and David Donaleshen.
After 20 games, Korpach led the Northstars in scoring with nine goals and 15 assists.
“He’s all heart,” Fagnan said of Korpach.
Rookie Cory Scott was close behind Korpach with nine goals and 11 assists in 19 games, but Fagnan stressed that the Northstars don’t just rely on their top two scorers for goal production.
“Our biggest strength is that we can go four lines,” Fagnan said. |
