The CFR Chemical Bisons are coming home and the Airdrie Minor Hockey Association (AMHA) has already started preparations for the inclusion of a midget AAA hockey program.
The AMHA has been ready for the likelihood of the team making its way back to Airdrie for some time.
“The main thing in the first year is we build a program that moving forward is going to be successful,” Todd Slaney, vice president of high performance with AMHA said.
The midget AAA team was forced to relocate to Strathmore in the 90s due to scheduling conflicts. Although the city has its fair share of teams already, AMHA is prepared to make scheduling work for the Alberta Midget AAA Hockey League (AMHL) team.
One issue AMHA is currently addressing is space at Ron Ebbesen Arena. With another team coming into the fold for the 2017-18 hockey season, locker rooms, coaching offices and storage are going to be at a premium.
AMHA reached out to city council with the idea of installing temporary modular buildings to help subsidize the space constraints at its April 19 meeting.
“The Bisons will compliment our current offering of high calibre hockey,” AMHA operations manager Stacey Carefoot said in an email to the Airdrie City View. “The Bantam AAA Xtreme, Junior B Thunder and now Midget AAA Bisons will combine to offer Airdrie’s hockey fans plenty of spectator opportunities.
“Our ice scheduler is working double time to fit in practices and games and we are working with the City of Airdrie to problem solve the issue of physical space.”
According to Carefoot, there has yet to be a Bisons board of directors established, so AMHA will be overseeing all business aspects of the team by means of a steering committee during the early stages of the team’s reintroduction to Airdrie.
One of the first steps for the Bisons this off-season is naming a head coach and manager. The team currently has posted both positions on airdriehockey.ca.
“Rookie camp is going to be in August, so we have to be ready for that,” Slaney said. “(We want positions filled) as soon as possible. We have no firm date on it.”
The relocation of the Bisons came about earlier this year due to the approval of a new Midget AAA Draw Zone being awarded to Okotoks, essentially splitting the former Airdrie Midget AAA Draw Zone - which included 21 communities - into two different draw zones.
The Bisons may see a decrease in the level of play it has witnessed in recent years because of this, but having two teams instead of one in the AMHL gives more up-and-coming hockey players the opportunity to play midget AAA hockey in future seasons.
“It’s good more kids are getting the chance to play, but we will be a little bit weaker to start,” Slaney said. “If we build the right program, in a year or two we’ll be headed in the right direction.”
