The St. Albert Sabres are the cutting edge of greatness.
The impressive Sabres, ranked third overall in the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League, battled through injuries to persevere as bronze medallists at the elite-level NWCAA Invitational Tournament last weekend in Calgary.
"It was a really good eye opener for the boys just to see what they truly are capable of," said T,J, Woodward, head coach of the second-place 11-2-3 Sabres in the AMBHL's highly-competitive nitro north division. "If there was anyone on that team that didn't believe they were capable of playing with the best and beating the best that has been quickly squashed. These boys have bought in and they believe that they have the ability to go as far as they want to this year, especially after that Calgary tournament.
"We played some big teams there, highly ranked teams that are supposed to run through you and run over you and you're not really supposed to have a chance playing against them, and not only did we play with them we beat them."
In the playoffs, the Sabres handed the Sherwood Park Flyers (13-0-1) their first loss of the season, 5-3 in the quarter-finals, dropped a 3-2 semifinal decision to the Lethbridge Golden Hawks (14-2-1), the No. 1 AMBHL team and tournament champions, and in the bronze final doubled the Rocky Mountain Raiders (10-4-1) of the AMBHL 4-2.
"The team that got on that bus in St. Albert and the team that got off that bus when we got back from Calgary was a completely different team," Woodward said. "I left as a different coach too. If I didn't believe before let me tell you they have me believing right now. I couldn't be more excited in the future for what this team can do what it's going to do."
The Sabres finished 4-2 in the 16-team tournament after going 2-1 in their pool with wins of 7-2 over the Leduc Oil Kings and 4-3 over the Yale Hockey Academy, followed by the 2-0 loss to the Calgary Bisons.
"We ran into a lot of adversity and a lot of challenges throughout that tournament. A big one being injuries. In that bronze medal game, we had five regular players out and these boys still dug deep, didn't use it as an excuse, didn't use it as a crutch or a reason to I guess allow yourself to lose this game. They fought through it," Woodward said. "It was just inspiring as a coach to watch them perform throughout that entire tournament."
It also bodes well for the Sabres at the 38th annual John Reid Memorial Tournament, Jan. 14 to 17 at Servus Credit Union Place.
"It's going to be a big change from teams in the past. We'll be walking into that tournament not using it as a measuring stick to see where we measure up with the big boys. We're going into that one for sure with a mindset that we have an opportunity to take this thing down," Woodward said.
The only St. Albert team to win the championship trophy was the 1983 Territorial Leasing Sabres.
"We're going to be using that for added motivation as well and with our recent showing at the Calgary tournament we know we can get it done. There is no doubt it reinforced what we're all about and what we're capable of," Woodward said. "I know the boys are going to be walking into that thing all jacked up and ready to go."
The tournament showcases 16 top-ranked teams from across western North America. This year's lineup is as follows:
International teams: Colorado Thunderbirds, Dallas Stars Elite and Los Angeles Jr. Kings.
British Columbia: North Shore Winter Club Hawks, Burnaby Winter Club Bruins, Pursuit of Excellence, Yale Hockey Academy and the 2015 champion Delta Hockey Academy Wild.
Alberta: Lethbridge, Rocky Mountain Raiders, Sherwood Park, Calgary Bisons (10-1-2), SSAC Southgate Lions (10-3) and the host Sabres.
Saskatchewan: Notre Dame Hounds, silver medallists at the NWCAA tournament.
Manitoba: Winnipeg Monarchs.
"I cannot recall seeing it this deep. It's going to be a tough tournament to win for anybody and I'm excited for that challenge for sure," Woodward said.
The Sabres resumed league play in Tuesday's 3-2 win over the Canadian Athletic Club (4-7-1) in St. Albert.
Ethan Leyer, an affiliated player, Dominik Cesarz and Stuart Dovey scored and Logan McKinley added two assists as the Sabres improved to 5-0-1 in their last six games.
Shots were 35-25 for the Sabres and Evan Fradette was in net.
The Sabres' roster features five first-year players – three forwards and two defenceman – and the returning players are Kye Buchanan and captain Brady Nicholas.
"This is a good group of boys this year and it's certainly not to take anything away from the teams that St. Albert has put on the ice in the past," Woodward said. "It's a very tight group and they're all on the same page right now.
"As far as hockey is concerned, we as coaches sold these boys this year on what we want to do and what we think is going to give this team the best opportunity at success and they have all bought into it, no questions asked. They're enjoying seeing the success that they're finding while working within that system and working for that guy beside you and that's a big credit to their own personal character and what they're bringing to this team."
A balanced attack consists of three double-digit goal scorers – Cesarz (11), Blake Sydlowski (10) and Dovey (10) – and eight players with 10 or more points: Cesarz (20), Sydlowski (20), Nicholas (20), Dovey (18), McKinley (17), Buchanan (13), Carson Henry (11) and Austin Spiridakis (10).
"We're not the team that is relying on one or two guys to get it done for us every single night. On any given night right now, it can be any number of players that step up in that moment and make things happen for us and that really speaks for the depth we have on this team this year," Woodward said.
"On the back end, we've got a really good mix there as well. You have your shutdown hard nose in the trench type defencemen but we've also got a few that like to jump up into the play and make things happen offensively as well."
Woodward described Fradette (7-0-2, 1.80 GAA, two shutouts) and Ryley Osland (4-2-1, 2.54 GAA) as "rock solid" between the pipes.
"They have a nice healthy battle going on right now pushing each other and they're genuinely happy for one another when the other guy finds success."
The next game is Monday versus the PAC Saints (7-2-1) at 6:45 p.m. at Akinsdale Arena.
Reid scholarship
January 4 is the deadline to submit applications for the annual John Reid Memorial Scholarship.
Individuals who played bantam AAA for the Sabres after the 2004/05 season and played hockey in St. Albert for a minimum of three years are eligible to apply for the $1,000 scholarship.
Applicants must be a Canadian citizen and an Alberta resident enrolled in a recognized post-secondary education institution.
Visit www.johnreidmemorial.com for additional criteria and the application form.
The successful applicant will be announced Jan. 14 at 7:15 p.m. during the tournament's opening ceremonies at Go Auto Arena.
Previous winners were Justin Kueber, Joshua Maeda, Steven Woolger, Brady McCorriston, Ryan Harrison, Liam Liston and the 2015 co-recipients, Steven Canduro and Brady Reid.
The Reid scholarship was established by the parent group of the 2004/05 Sabres to challenge players to make an impact in the St. Albert community as Reid did as a coach and mentor for St. Albert youth in hockey and lacrosse. His impact on countless individuals is still felt today.
The high-scoring forward with the St. Albert Saints and Sherwood Park Crusaders in the Alberta Junior Hockey League and the Alberta Golden Bears died of leukemia at age 41 on Nov. 6, 2003.
The next year the St. Albert bantam AAA tournament was renamed in his honour.
Donations to the scholarship fund are also being accepted by the John Reid Memorial Tournament Society.
