The teams have been finalized for the John Reid Memorial Tournament.
Joining the host St. Albert Gregg Distributors Sabres in the 16-team draw are the Calgary Bisons, Fort Saskatchewan Rangers, Lethbridge Golden Hawks, Red Deer Rebels, Okanagan Hockey Academy of Edmonton, Rink Hockey Academy of Winnipeg, Notre Dame Hounds, Burnaby Winter Club Bruins, Delta Hockey Academy Wild, Pursuit of Excellence Academy of Kelowna, Yale Hockey Academy of Abbotsford, Toronto Marlboros, Colorado Thunderbirds, Rocky Mountain Roughriders of Colorado and Phoenix Jr. Coyotes.
The teams are divided into four divisions within two pools to determine the playoff pairings in the A, B and C brackets.
Yale is the defending champion and in the 2016 A final defeated the Wild, the 2015 champion.
The Sabres repeated as the C playoff finalists while going 1-3-1 after posting a 2-3 record in 2015.
The 39th annual St. Albert bantam AAA tournament is Jan. 19 to 22 at Servus Credit Union Place.
Visit www.johnreidmemorial.com for tournament updates.
The St. Albert Gregg Distributors Sabres rolled to their 14th win without a loss to start the season by overpowering the SSAC Southgate Lions on Tuesday.
Ryley Morgan, Mathieu Gautier and Matthew Savoie tallied twice in the 9-2 blowout in the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League.
Ethan Edwards, Austin Spiridakis and Carter Savoie also scored as the Sabres peppered the Lions (2-10-2) with 39 shots at Akinsdale Arena.
Ethan Leyer chipped in with three assists for a league-high 36 points.
Matthew Reidy, Carter Savoie and captain Mike Benning added two assists apiece.
Kyle Nelson (8-0, 2.03 GAA) faced 12 shots.
The result lifted the Nitro north division Sabres back on top of the AMBHL leader board by one point over the Charger north division Fort Saskatchewan Rangers (13-1-1).
The Sabres and Rangers face-off Dec. 22 at 7 p.m. at the Akinsdale rink.
The Sabres are also lead the league in goals for (94) and against (25).
The next game is Friday against the host Camrose Red Wings (9-2-3) at 7:15 p.m.
The St. Albert Merchants visit the Morinville Jets tonight in the Capital Junior B Hockey League.
Puck drop is 6 p.m. at Ray McDonald Sports Centre.
The season series is knotted at one win apiece. The Merchants prevailed 7-6 in a shootout Sept. 30 in St. Albert and the Jets crushed the Money Men 8-1 Nov. 6 in Morinville.
In the north division, the Jets (10-4-4) were tied with the Beverly Warriors (12-5) for top spot after Wednesday’s 5-1 decision against the Edmonton Mustangs (5-13) at Bill Hunter Arena and the Merchants (10-7) were fourth while going 2-3 in their last five games.
The St. Albert Tire Warehouse Raiders skate into this weekend’s homestand with one goal in their last two games in the Alberta Midget AAA Hockey League.
The Raiders (4-9-1) host the Red Deer Chiefs (6-3-5) at 8 p.m. tonight and the Calgary Flames (8-5-1) at 1:15 p.m. Sunday at Akinsdale Arena.
The Raiders are coming off road losses of 4-0 to the Calgary Royals (8-3-3) and 6-1 to the Calgary Buffaloes (10-1-3) last weekend.
Peter Michailides was the lone goal scorer with his eighth of the season.
The Raiders were outshot 38-36 by the Buffaloes and 64-28 by the Royals, who struck twice on the power play against the penalty-riddled St. Albert squad.
The Raiders are 2-3 in their last five games and in the north standings are tied for sixth, four points back of second place.
The St. Albert Flyers resume league play Sunday after last weekend’s Prospects Cup in Chestermere.
The first-place north division team in the Alberta Minor Midget AAA Hockey League plays the Lloydminster Rage (1-11-1) at 2 p.m. in the Border City.
The Flyers (12-0) finished the Prospects Cup, hosted by the Rockyview Raiders of the AMMHL, with a 5-2 loss to the CNHA Canucks in the quarter-finals and the fifth goal was an empty-netter.
In pool B of the 12-team draw, the Flyers beat the Maple Leafs 8-0 and Edge School for Athletes of Calgary 5-2 and tied the NWCCA Stampeders 3-3.
Meanwhile, the annual floor hockey game between the Flyers and the St. Albert Warriors is Nov. 29 at 6:30 p.m. at Sir George Simpson School.
The Warriors, a Special Olympics’ floor hockey team, are also the guests of honour at the Dec. 6 game between the Flyers and Maple Leafs (1-10-1) at 8:15 p.m. at Akinsdale Arena.
