It’s time to shine for the St. Albert Gregg Distributors Sabres.
The host team for the 40th annual John Reid Memorial Tournament will showcase its vast skills with high hopes of excelling against the best bantam AAA teams in western Canada, plus the Los Angeles Jr. Kings and Phoenix Jr. Coyotes.
“Obviously we’re a little bit nervous but we’re excited too,” said netminder Carson Ironside. “We’ve been waiting for this all year and we’ve been training for this all year so it’s a big weekend.”
The odds are stacked against the Sabres, the top team in the north conference of the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League at 18-2-6 (128 GF/54 GA) before Monday’s game against the KC Squires (2-23-1). The score was unavailable at press time.
The only St. Albert team to win the tournament was the 1983 Territorial Leasing Sabres.
Last year’s Sabres finished 3-2 and it was the first winning record since the 2010 team at 3-1-1.
“We would like to come first but our goal is just to take it game by game, focus on the next game and hopefully win it,” said netminder Matt Tebbutt.
Ironside agreed. “It’s going to be difficult. We’ve got to play our best. We’ve got to always work hard but it will be fun.”
The 16-team tournament is also heavily scouted by Western Hockey League teams.
“If you play good in the John Reid it could predict where you play in the future,” Tebbutt said.
The 42-game schedule is listed in Scoreboard on page 42 and additional tournament information is available at www.johnreidmemorial.com.
Win or lose, the tournament will prepare the Sabres for the remainder of the season.
“It will help us more towards playoffs because we’re playing strong teams,” Tebbutt said.
The Sabres were undefeated in 16 games at 12-0-4 after crushing CAC Lehigh Cement 8-2 Sunday at Go Auto Arena.
“We’re playing with confidence,” Ironside said. “We just have to keep on playing the way we have been with the same preparation that we’ve been doing and just keep on going.”
Jaxon Dube and Ethan Sundar potted a pair each, Zakk Makeiff and Dylan Leslie, David Saunders and Zachry Desranleau also scored as the Sabres fired 43 shots against CAC (14-9-2). Breck McKinley drew three assists and captain Tyson Greenway, the only returning Sabre on the roster, had two helpers in the team’s fourth win in five games.
“We’re always connecting on the ice. We’re always passing. We always know where each other is going to be. We can do those no look passes that other teams can’t because we just know where our linemates are going to be,” said Ironside, who stopped 19 shots the day after competing at the AMBHL all-star game in Grande Prairie.
The Sabres were also represented by Tebbutt, Sundar (19 goals and 42 points) and Greenway (16 goals and 36 points) as forwards and Saunders (nine goals and 18 points) on defence, as well as bench boss Lee Zalasky and his legion of assistant coaches.
“It’s a huge compliment and it’s a huge confidence booster. You feel like, wow, I’m one of the best goalies in the league. It just makes you feel really proud of yourself,” Ironside said of the all-star selection.
It’s the third all-star game in a row the Sabres were represented by two netminders.
The Sabres are averaging 2.07 goals-against per game with Ironside and Tebbutt, a pair of Grade 9 William D. Cuts School students, as the last line of defence.
“It means the team is getting back into the defensive end and helping us out when we need help,” Tebbutt said. “It makes our job a lot easier. When the defence is playing good the goalies generally have a good game.”
“We’re just playing good defence as a team,” Ironside added. “We’re clearing the pucks really well in front of the net and when we’re making saves they’re always playing them to the wall. We’re also getting pucks up the ice quick and we’re always making sure that when they’re coming down we're always in position.”
Tebbutt, 14, is 9-0-4 with a 2.33 GAA and .888 save percentage.
“Matt’s got a really good glove. He always makes those glove saves,” Ironside said. “When he’s really confident he has a really good game. He gets hot and he keeps on playing well. He always plays great.”
Ironside, 14, is 9-2-2 with three shutouts, 1.81 GAA and .907 save percentage.
“Carson is a smaller goalie but plays really big. He plays his angles on the puck really well and there is no straight shot that will beat him unless he can’t see it,” said Tebbutt, who faced a lot of rubber last season playing for the bantam AAA PAC Saints.
Ironside cracked the Sabres’ lineup after tending the twine for the St. Albert Comets, the 2017 Edmonton Rural Bantam AA Hockey League finalists.
His dad is Scott Ironside, a netminder of note with the Alberta Golden Bears for five seasons (1990 to 1995) after a WHL stint with the Moose Jaw Warriors.
“He’s taught me everything I know,” said the catcher for the 2017 bantam AAA St. Albert Cardinals.
