The St. Albert Raiders will ring in the new year at the Mac’s Midget AAA World Invitational Tournament in Calgary.
The Dec. 26 to Jan. 1 competition is traditionally an annual event for the Raiders.
“We plan ahead for it. Every weekend we’re trying to get better for the Mac’s tournament,” said assistant captain Kyler Hehn after Sunday’s 2-2 draw with the UFA Bisons at Akinsdale Arena.
Last year the Raiders finished 5-1 after losing 3-2 to Russia Severstal/Locomotiv in the semifinals. Nikita Kvartalnow scored the game winner with 1:56 left in regulation time as the Russians battled back from a 2-0 deficit. In the final they blanked the Bisons 5-0.
The Raiders have five games remaining before their first pool game. After the tournament they play nine times to close out the regular season.
“The more we play the more we get better,” said Hehn, 17.
The most sportsmanlike player award winner and first team all-star selection at the Mac’s recorded four goals and eight assists in the tournament. The talented left winger wrapped up league play with 11 goals and 30 points in 34 games before adding two goals and three assists in nine playoff contests for the 2012 provincial finalists.
This season in league scoring he ranks second in goals with 15 and is fourth in points with 26 in 20 games.
“I got faster and more stronger after last year,” Hehn said. “It was my goal to get better every shift every game.”
Hehn’s assist on Brett Smythe’s goal in the last minute of period two against the Bisons was his 12th point in 10 games. He credits linemates Sebastian Auray (10-14-24 in 19 games) and Dan Huculak (4-11-15 in 19 games) for the offensive output.
“When we work together we do pretty good together,” said the Grade 12 Memorial Composite High School student.
The Raiders (12-4-4) are unbeaten in five games after the Bisons tied Sunday’s tilt twice in the third. The Bisons evened the score 54 seconds into the period and tallied the equalizer with 8:55 to play after Mike Cardinal put the Raiders ahead 2-1 off a faceoff in the UFA zone. Smythe and Tyler Dea earned assists on Cardinal’s deflection past netminder Richard Palmer.
The Raiders were unable to capitalize on a power play with 4:03 to play and generated only two shots early in the man advantage.
In the last minute of play, Palmer stopped Dea’s point blast with Smythe positioned in front of Palmer and Raiders’ netminder Pat Gora (4-2-3, 2.50 GAA) blocked a shot as a Bison tried to slip around a defender.
The Raiders outshot the Bisons 17-16, including a 7-6 edge in the third.
“We just had a couple of bad breakdowns in the third, but other than that it was a pretty solid game,” Hehn said.
Last month the Raiders lost 5-3 to the Bisons (9-8-2) at the midget AAA showcase weekend in Strathmore. Hard feelings still lingered from the contest, as coaches from both teams were involved in finger pointing during heated exchanges after Sunday’s game.
“We had more compete this time. We all worked harder and focused on the little things instead of doing it all ourselves,” Hehn said.
The north division leaders boast the league’s best record at 12-4-4.
“We’ve all just bought in as a team so one person doesn’t really have to rally us. It’s a team effort,” Hehn said.
This weekend the Raiders head south to tangle with the Southeast Tigers (2-11-4) in Medicine Hat and the Lethbridge Pronghorns (8-8-3).
The last game against Lethbridge, a controversial 5-2 win by the Raiders on Nov. 4 in St. Albert, was marred by two fights and a racial slur by a Pronghorn directed at a Raider.
“We’re going to be in for a battle for sure,” Hehn said.
The next home game is Dec. 15 against the Fort Saskatchewan Rangers (3-12-2) at 1:15 p.m.
ICE CHIPS: Raiders alumnus and Olds Grizzly defenceman Landan Viveiros has been invited to play for Team Austria at the 2012 IIHF U20 World Junior Hockey Championships Group B, starting Sunday in France. The winner moves onto Group A at the world juniors next year in Malmo, Sweden.
Viveiros, 19, was born in Austria and moved to St. Albert at age 16 to play for the Raiders in 2010/11 before breaking into the Alberta Junior Hockey League with the St. Albert Steel. His dad is Emanuel Viveiros, a St. Albert product and former NHL defenceman who won a Memorial Cup with the Prince Albert Raiders.
Thomas Foster, a forward with the Raiders last season, was named to Team Pacific for the World U17 Hockey Challenge, Dec. 29 to Jan. 4 in Victoriaville and Drummondville, Que. The Slave Lake product skates for the Vancouver Giants in the Western Hockey League.
