The St. Albert Gregg Distributors Sabres are looking sharp on the eve of the 41st annual John Reid Memorial Tournament.
The Sabres are winners of three straight and undefeated in four games after carving up CAC Lehigh Cement 9-2 Sunday at Akinsdale Arena.
“We’re finally stating to play like a team and we’re getting things done,” said left-winger Zakk Makeiff.
The difference for the Sabres is finding the back of the net.
“We weren’t scoring that much in 2018, but in 2019, we’re starting to get more pucks on net,” said Makeiff of the three wins in the new year by a combined score of 17-8 and five of the goals were produced on the power play.
The result against the CAC (6-19-1) solidifies the fourth and final playoff spot in the nitro north division of the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League and the Sabres (8-12-4) are also three points back of the third-place SSAC Southgate Lions (10-1-2-3) with a game in hand.
"We’re trying to get as many wins as we can so we can secure a playoff spot ahead of CAC,” Makeiff said.
A 7-4-1 turnaround in the last 12 games after starting off the season at 1-8-3 has the Sabres looking forward to the playoffs with nine games remaining.
“It’s great. We’re all pretty happy in the room. There is no more bickering or anything like that. We’re all playing as a team and having fun,” Makeiff said.
The Sabres had a blast pumping in five goals against the CAC before the visitors responded with 1:18 left in the first period.
Liam Cochrane finished with three goals, two at even strength and one on the power play, for 12 on the season while Carmelo Crandell and Makeiff potted a pair each.
Cochrane leads the team in points with 28 in 22 games and Makeiff is the top sniper with 14 goals, including four in the last three wins.
“I’ve mostly been shooting the puck on the net and see what happens,” said Makeiff, second in team scoring with 21 points in 24 games.
Michael Romeo and Ryan Arnold (power play) also tallied.
Andon Coles and captain Levi Fesyk picked up three assists apiece. Fesyk and Cochrane are tied for the team lead with 16 helpers apiece.
Coles, a defenceman, and Cochrane represented the Sabres at the AMBHL all-star game Saturday in Fort Saskatchewan.
Shots were 19-6 in the first and 55-33 overall for the Sabres as Teagan Kendrick (4-9-2, 2.68 GAA) won his second start in as many games.
On tap for the Sabres is the Reid tournament and the annual must-see hockey event of the season in St. Albert starts Thursday morning at Servus Credit Union Place.
“We’re pretty excited. There is going to be a lot of people there so hopefully we’ll play well and get some wins,” Makeiff said.
Competing in the 16-team draw are the Rink Hockey Academy Nationals of Winnipeg, Notre Dame Hounds of Wilcox, Sask., Burnaby Winter Club Academy Bruins, Delta Hockey Academy Green, Yale Hockey Academy Lions of Abbotsford, B.C., St. George’s Saints of Vancouver, West Van Academy of Vancouver, Okanagan Hockey Academy of Edmonton, Los Angeles Kings and Phoenix Coyotes.
Joining the Sabres from the AMBHL are the Calgary Bisons (16-4-3), Lloydminster Bobcats (16-3-4), Fort Saskatchewan Rangers (16-4-4), Red Deer Rebels (17-4-2) and Calgary Flames (16-5-4).
Thursday the Sabres face off against Burnaby at 10:45 a.m. and Los Angeles at 8 p.m. and Friday’s start time is 2:30 p.m. against Yale and all three pool games are slated for Go Auto Arena.
“We’re playing some pretty good teams so we’re preparing to work hard,” Makeiff said.
Visit www.johnreidmemorial.com for more tournament info.
The 42-game schedule is also listed in Scoreboard on page 43.
Last year’s Sabres qualified in the B playoff bracket after placing third in pool play and finished 2-3 overall.
Makeiff and Fesyk are returning Sabres from the 2018 AMBHL provincial finalists who experienced last year’s tournament.
“I remember that first game with all the fans there. It was pretty loud when we scored,” said Makeiff of the 7-3 loss to the Rink Hockey Academy in front of a vocal cheering section of students during the annual field trip for elementary schools to the traditional Thursday tournament opener for the Sabres.
As for advice for the team’s tournament newcomers, including the eight first-year bantams, “You have to stay calm because there is good competition and even if we’re losing, just keep going and play well,” said Makeiff, 14, a Grade 9 William D. Cuts student.
