The Airdrie Xtreme have qualified for the U15 AAA boys' hockey provincial championships, after beating the Calgary Bisons on March 20 at the Ron Ebbesen Arena.
The Xtreme bested the Bisons 7-3 on the first day of spring to book their berth in the provincial AAA tournament, which will be held March 24 to 27 in Fort Saskatchewan.
“[There's] definitely a lot of excitement around the group to get to go to provincials,” said Xtreme head coach Tyson Soloski after Sunday's game.
The tournament will feature five teams from the Alberta Elite Hockey League (AEHL) – the top two teams from the league's north and south divisions, and the host Fort Saskatchewan Rangers.
Airdrie was the south division's top team in the regular season, ending the campaign with a 30-4-0 record. The Xtreme maintained that momentum in the post-season by sweeping the Lethbridge Golden Hawks in two games and then overcoming the Bisons in their best-of-three series.
The Bisons put up a solid fight against Airdrie. While the Xtreme won game one 4-1 on March 16, the Bisons kept the series alive with a 6-2 victory in Calgary's Cardel Rec Centre on Saturday, in front of a crowd of more than 300 spectators, to force game three.
"We're a little bit down but the Bisons played pretty good," said Xtreme captain Wyatt Pizarczyk after Saturday's game. "We're ready to come back hard tomorrow and get the win."
The Xtreme did just what Pizarczyk predicted the following afternoon, ending the Bisons' season with an assured victory on March 20. Pizarczyk potted two goals, while Kaden Skrenek, Finn Bagley, John Hadden, Ryder Riedel, and Riley Boychuk also added to Airdrie's tally.
Soloski said the Xtreme players' pre-game attitude was much more focused before game three than it was the day before.
“I think the biggest thing for us was showing up prepared, ready to play and follow a game plan,” he said. “I have to give the boys a lot of credit – they showed up ready to go, right from the first puck drop.
“It was just a completely different preparation level and it worked out. It was good to see, because they’ve definitely deserved it with all the hard work they’ve put in this year.”
In addition to the Xtreme and the host Fort Saskatchewan Rangers, the other teams at the provincial tournament this weekend will include the St. Albert Sabres, the Okotoks Oilers, and the Sherwood Park Flyers.
St. Albert will be an intriguing opponent – the Sabres are the only team in the AEHL U15 league that boasted a better regular-season record than the Xtreme in 2021-22, topping the north division with a dominant 30-3-1 record.
“They seem like a strong team,” Soloski said. “We actually haven’t played them this year. They beat us by one point in the regular season, so it should be a good test when we play them on Friday.”
For Airdrie hockey fans who are unable to make their way to Fort Saskatchewan this weekend, Soloski noted the tournament will be streamed online at HockeyTV.com, which has subscription packages starting at $10 a month.
