One shaky period in two games was the only downfall for the St. Albert Gregg Distributors Sabres on the opening day of the John Reid Memorial Tournament.
The host team for the 34th annual bantam AAA invitational tournament beat the Notre Dame Hounds 3-1 and lost 3-2 to the Los Angeles Selects in round-robin action Thursday at Performance Arena.
"We played really strong for five out of six periods in those two games," said head coach Terry Ballard.
In the middle stanza against the Selects the Sabres gave up three goals in a nine-minute span after leading by two.
"We definitely had a drop off in our execution and performance in the second period and they took advantage of it. They have a pretty high skill level and we made three mistakes that caused three scoring opportunities and they ended up in three goals," Ballard said. "We just have to make sure that we put the disappointment of that second period behind us."
Ethan Lazaro put the Sabres on top in the first, and 70 seconds into the second Matteo Gennaro made it 2-0.
"We started the game really well. After the second period we played better in the third," Ballard said.
The second goal in a row by Ty Comrie was the game winner with the Selects shorthanded.
"That goal certainly wasn't easy to deal with but it really wasn't a backbreaker either because there was still lots of time left in the game," Ballard said.
Sabres netminder Pat Dea faced 44 shots after recording 23 saves against Notre Dame.
"We played better in the second game. We weren't as nervous and we executed. It was just a little disappointing in that second period," Ballard said.
Tournament opener
The first goal of the tournament by the Sabres was the turning point against Notre Dame as Cam Mazur connected on the penalty kill.
"Tristen Gavin intercepted a pass on their breakout and he just shot it. I got the rebound and put it in," Mazur said. "It felt great, a big sigh of relief really. We were a little nervous at the beginning, but after that goal we started to loosen up. It changed the momentum greatly."
Gavin put the Sabres up by two in the second. Late in the game Notre Dame was unable to get a shot on net on the power play.
Mazur sealed the deal into an empty net with six seconds to play.
"It was a great start for our team," said the 14-year-old centre. "The fans gave us a great advantage. They were cheering really good to get the adrenaline up."
Gennaro described the win as a huge confidence boost.
"You could tell we were a bit nervous at the beginning but once we got our jitters out that helped a lot," said the Grade 9 Vincent J. Maloney student. "We did a lot of good things as a team but we just have to keep improving as the tournament goes on. There are going to be bigger games and hopefully we can succeed."
Playoff positioning
The last game for the Sabres in the City Ford division was Friday afternoon against the Cloverdale Colts but the score was unavailable at press time. The Colts knocked off the Selects 7-4 and outscored Notre Dame 7-5 on Thursday.
"We have to win and it's just a matter of coming to the rink with a positive attitude and getting the job done," Ballard said.
The 16-team draw consists of four divisions split into two pools to determine today's playoff pairings in the A, B and C brackets at Servus Credit Union Place. The A semifinals are 1:30 p.m. at Performance Arena and 1:45 p.m. at Mark Messier Arena.
The A final is Sunday at 2 p.m. at Performance Arena.
Visit www.johnreidmemorial.com for the playoff schedule.
The only St. Albert team to win the tournament title was the 1983 Territorial Leasing Sabres.
"We just have to play our best and hope for the best. If we play our best that's all we can do," said Mazur, a Grade 9 Richard S. Fowler student.
Last year the Sabres qualified for the A quarter-finals and finished 2-3 overall. Gennaro, Dea and forward Joshua Perrott are the only returning Sabres on the roster.
"It's a great tournament. You get treated like royalty," Gennaro said. "We've told the guys not to worry too much about the hype because if you do it affects your game. We just have to play our game. We're great when we play as a team and not as individuals and things usually go well when we play that way."
The tournament is a major showcase event for Western Hockey League teams to scout draft-eligible bantam players.
"It's big for St. Albert. There are 16 elite teams and lots of scouts. A lot of people come out to watch. It's really an exciting atmosphere," said Gennaro, 14.
The high-scoring centre believes the tournament will set the stage for a long playoff run by the Sabres (17-4-6) in the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League.
"Hopefully we'll do better as a team leading into the playoffs. We want to do really well this year," said Gennaro, the Sabres' top scorer with 21 goals and 38 points in 25 games.
