The St. Albert Raiders opened the 35th annual Mac’s Midget AAA World Invitation Tournament with a victory Wednesday in Calgary.
Jason Miller scored the game winner with 4:45 to play, as the Raiders edged the Calgary Buffaloes 3-2 in pool three round-robin action at Max Bell Centre.
Dan Huculak and Tyler Dea drew assists on the only goal in the third period.
In the first period Zack Gonek evened the score at 1-1 on Brett Smythe’s set-up.
Kyler Hehn made it 2-1 in the second, with captain Tyler Mrkonjic picking up the assist.
Shots were 34-24 for the Raiders. In net was Mitch Martell.
In the Alberta Midget AAA Hockey League, the Raiders (16-5-4) are first in the north division as the No. 1 team overall and the Buffaloes (12-7-6) are third in the south division.
Thursday night the Raiders played the Saskatoon Blazers, but the score was unavailable at press time.
Today at 9 a.m. the Raiders faceoff against the Battlefords Stars at Father David Bauer and Sunday they battle the Greater Vancouver Canadians at 11:45 a.m. at Max Bell.
The first-place teams in the five pools and three wild cards in the 25-team draw qualify for the playoffs. The quarter-finals and semifinals go Monday and the final is Jan. 1 at 6 p.m. at the Saddledome.
Last year the Raiders finished 5-1 as semifinalists.
Meanwhile, the Raiders split two games last weekend in league play at Bill Hunter Arena. The Southside Athletic Club (14-4-6) ended the Raiders’ eight-game undefeated streak with a 2-1 win. The Raiders rebounded with a 3-2 decision over the Canadian Athletic Club (10-11-3).
Charity Price’s second goal of the game with 5:24 to play capped off a third-period rally Wednesday as the Slash salvaged a 3-3 tie with the Saskatoon Stars at the ninth annual Mac’s female tournament.
Deanna Morin also scored in the third for the Slash at Max Bell Centre.
The Stars struck twice in the opening 3:34 minutes. They led 2-1 after the first and 3-1 entering the third.
Shots were 30-15 for the Slash. In net was Kaelin Klim.
The Slash played Thursday against the Fraser Valley Phantom and Friday against the Prince George Cougars, but scores were unavailable at press time.
The last pool game for the Slash is against the Highwood Raiders today at 8 a.m. at Max Bell.
The first-place teams in the three pools and one wild card in the 15-team draw advance into Monday’s semifinals. The final is Jan. 1 at 2 p.m. at the Saddledome.
Last year the Slash were semifinalists at 3-1-1 after going 3-1 the year before as the defending champions.
