By Adam Dunfee /
Seven teams from B.C. will be competing at the 32nd Annual Mac’s Midget AAA Tournament in Calgary over the Christmas break.
The Vancouver North West Giants, the Okanagan Rockets, the Cariboo Cougars, the Greater Vancouver Canadians, the Vancouver North East Chiefs and the North Island Silvertips of the BC Major Midget League will compete in the male division while the Vancouver Fusion will be the province’s lone entry in the female division.
The Giants have finished second in the tournament the last two years. In 2008, they lost the final to the Calgary Buffaloes 6-5 in double overtime and in 2007 lost to Russia Severstal 7-0 in the final.
Giants coach Jon Calvano is expecting more big things from his team at this year’s tournament and has every intention of making a return to the final on New Year’s Day.
“Every year we go in there booking our flights to come home Jan.1 at 9:40 p.m. and that’s just the attitude we have,” says Calvano. “We’re going there to compete to win a tournament and if we don’t feel confident enough that we can (win) then what’s the point of going?”
The Cougars are making their fourth consecutive appearance at the tournament. Last year, the team went 2-1-1 in round robin play and didn’t advance.
The Canadians will be making their third consecutive appearance in the tournament. Last season, the team went 1-2-1.
The Chiefs will be looking to rebound from a disappointing performance at last year’s tournament where they went 0-4.
The Rockets went 1-2-1 at last year’s tournament.
The Silvertips qualified for the tournament for the first time and by doing so accomplished one of the goals the team had set for themselves at the beginning of the season. It’s been quite a turnaround season for the Silvertips, who finished ninth in the 11-team MML last season. After 13 weeks of play this season, the team is holding down the final playoff spot.
On the female side, the Fusion will be making their third consecutive appearance in the tournament. What’s impressive about that is that the Fusion have only been around for three years.
“Every year that we’ve been established we’ve been honoured to attend the Mac’s Tournament,” says coach Pat Thibeault.
The Fusion will have two players making their third appearance in the tournament in forwards Alex Yallouz and Brittany Laing.
The Fusion are still looking for their first win at the tournament as they went 0-4 in their first year and 0-3-1 in their second but Thibeault says the team gets better each time they go.
“Every year we go I think the girls feel a lot more comfortable and know that they belong at that level of hockey. Although we do have a very young team (this season), we have 12 first year players, we will make sure that our returning veterans sort of settle them down and take them to a game prior to playing so they can take in the atmosphere. Usually, it’s always a sellout and a pretty loud crowd so we want to make sure they settle their nerves.”
The 32nd Annual Mac’s Tournament runs Dec. 26 to Jan. 1 in Calgary. |