The Bisons got the early boot at the rebooted Mac's.
Airdrie's U18 AAA boys' hockey team went 0-4 at the Mac's U18 AAA Invitational in Calgary from April 6 to 10.
While the Mac's – one of the most prestigious U18 hockey tournaments in western Canada – is usually held in the week following Christmas, the 2021-22 version was postponed in mid-December due to a spike in COVID-19 cases during the fifth wave of the pandemic. In February, organizers announced the Mac's would be "rebooted" as a 24-team, season-ending tournament in early April.
Even though the Airdrie CFR Chemicals Bisons failed to put up wins at the rebooted tournament, head coach Brad Bourke said the Mac's was still a great learning experience for the team. Plus, it gave the older players an additional opportunity to get noticed by the many junior scouts who were in attendance.
"We were very excited to be a part of it," Bourke said. "We obviously weren't very happy with our results. We ended up needing to win the first two [games] to give ourselves a chance in the A bracket. We ended up in the C bracket, and played two games back to back on Friday."
The team started the tournament April 6 with a 4-1 loss to the Yale Hockey Academy, a AAA prep-school team based out of Abbotsford B.C.
The next day, Airdrie fell 7-3 in the Bisons' only game against a fellow Alberta Elite Hockey League opponent – the Fort Saskatchewan Rangers.
In their final round-robin fixture on April 8, the Bisons lost 3-1 to the Chicago Mission, knocking Airdrie out of any kind of medal contention. In their consolation game against the Eastman Selects from Winnipeg later that day, the Bisons lost 2-1 in overtime to bring their tournament to a premature close.
Despite not logging any wins, Bourke said the tournament was still a great end to the season for Airdrie's 17-year-old players, who will be aging out of minor hockey and moving up to the junior (U21) age group next fall. He noted one Bisons player who impressed at the Mac's in particular was Noah Edstrom, who earned two player-of-the-game awards.
"A couple of our players did get a little bit of attention from a couple of [junior] teams who are aging out players," he said. "All in all, a very positive and we were excited to be a part of the Mac's. It was great that they were able to reboot it."
According to Bourke, the Mac's also provided one final round of games to see out a successful 2021-22 season – a campaign that saw the Bisons qualify for the playoffs for the first time in five years.
"Results-wise, it was quite disappointing," Bourke said. "But again, I think it was still a showcase for some of our kids, the ones who [are trying to get on] a junior team for next year. It was still a great experience for those kids, and as one last hurrah as a team."
The Medicine Hat-based South Alberta Hockey Academy ended up winning the Mac's tournament, defeating the Vancouver NE Chiefs 4-2 in the 'A' division final on April 10.
