By Peter Watts /
They rolled over Alberta AAA Midget Hockey League opposition, posting a 21-9-6 record. They knocked off the UFA Bisons, Lethbridge and Edmonton CAC Canadians en route to the league title.
They had a little more difficulty with a game Caribou Cougar outfit (buffalo have always had a challenge facing cougars) but prevailed in a three game series on home ice.
And now, the Calgary Buffaloes will take on the best in Canada in the Telus Cup in Arnprior Ont., April 21 to 27.
“We’ve had a good year to this point,” said head coach James Poole. “We started out with nine returning veterans from last season.
“We lost a couple to injuries and one of our players, Chris Foucault, was called up by the Kootenay Ice in November and stayed the rest of the season there. But our young players have stepped up and played well and we’ve gotten good leadership out of our remaining veterans.
“I think a game at the end of the regular schedule against UFA Bisons really turned our season around and set the tone for what we’ve been able to accomplish in the playoffs. We’d lost about five in a row and we were down 4-0 to the Bisons in that game. We found a way to come back and tie it and that put us in a positive frame of mind heading to the playoffs.”
Seventeen-year-old forward, Brett Switzer, scored thee goals in that rally. He, too, thinks that game will be remembered as an important milepost.
“It’s been a fun season,” he said. “We have a good group, we all get along well, and it’s been fun to come to the rink and play. I think that’s why we’ve had some success.”
The success for this team began with a trip to a tournament in Chicago in October. The Buffaloes lost in the gold-medal final, 1-0 to the Young Americans, but played well. Then, at the Mac’s tournament at Christmas, the Buffaloes made it to the semifinal before losing 2-1 to the eventual champions from Russia.
“They dominated the other teams they played,” said Poole, “but we were really good against the other teams we played from western Canada and we only lost to the Russians by a goal. I knew then we had the makings of something special.”
That regular-season finale win over the Bisons (imagine: one team named the Bisons, another team named the Buffaloes in the same division of the same league) set the stage for a 3-1 win in the first-round playoff series against UFA. By that time, Sean Cahill had taken over the goaltending duties full time, after splitting the season with Chris Moore. Cahill was in the nets for the regular-season finale.
“We did well in Chicago,” he said. “We played good against the Russians, we just couldn’t beat their goalie. And we’ve gotten on a roll in the playoffs.”
Cahill may wind up with AJHL’s Okotoks Oilers in the fall. He was affiliated with the Oilers last season and was the backup goalie for a couple of games in September. Switzer will likely wind up with the Vernon Vipers of the BC Junior League as he keeps his options open to accept an NCAA scholarship should one be offered. But that’s next year. Right now, both players are focused on trying to win a second national championship for the organization to join the one earned in 1989.
Telus Cup on the Internet
Steve Podborski, Director of Sport for Telus, tells me all the Buffaloes games in Arnprior will be broadcast on the Internet. The Buffaloes open against Winnipeg Thrashers on Monday, April 21.
The Calgary boys play the Sudbury Wolves on Tuesday, the host Ottawa Valley team on Wednesday, Quebec champion, St Francois Blizzard on Thursday, and the Atlantic winners from Cole Harbour NS on Friday.
The semi-finals are Saturday, April 26, and the final — live on TSN — is Sunday, April 27. Other than the final, the rest of the games can be found at www.mytelus.ca or at
www.hockeycanada.ca and follow the links. |