Calgary Herald from Calgary, Alberta, Canada • 41

CALGARY HERALD Friday, January 2,1998 D7 CALGARY BUFFALOES 6 SHATTUCKST. MARY'S 3 More Midget Hockey Coverage The 20th annual Mac's tournament may be over, but that doesn't mean the Herald has wrapped up its coverage of 'AAA' midget hockey for another year. Since October, the Herald has provided weekly coverage of the Alberta 'AAA' Midget Hockey League in the Sports Xtra section of our Neighbors community supplement. Today's edition features defence-man Bob Czank of the Calgary North-stars. Our Jan.

8 edition will profile goaltender Shawn Sandeman of the Calgary Flames, while on Jan. 15 we'll catch up with the Calgary Buffaloes. The Herald has 'AAA' midget hockey and the Alberta Junior Hockey League covered every Thursday. Check it out. Sports ni wi JS.

7 Larry MacDougal, Calgary Herald Two ShattuckSt Mary's Sabres players collected most-valuable-player awards at the Canadian Airlines Saddledome on Thursday. Ryan Malone, above, was named the top player and Nick Edling recieved the MVP goaltender trophy from Wayne Sinclair, below. Larry MacDougal, Calgary Herald Team leaders for the Calgary Buffaloes accept the trophy they earned by defeating ShattuckSt. Mary's in the bronze-medal game on Thursday. Players, from left to right, are Brad McFaul, Cody Lyseng, Shawn Landry and Derek Sharp.

No pain, no gain Buffaloes bounce back from a painful semi-final loss ITT. bw- Bronze Medal Calgary Buffaloes 6 ShattuckSt Mary's Sabres 3 Thursday's result at Canadian Airlines Saddledome First Period 1. Buffs, Kolanos 0:47 2. SSM, Hoppe (Stone, Malone) 10:43 3. Buffs, Cheyne (Lyseng, Smith) 11:38 4.

Buffs, Cheyne (Smith) 18:23 5. Buffs, Foster (Heatley) 19:57 Penalties Foster CB (hooking) 6:29. Second Period 6. Buffs, Lyseng (Smith, Cheyne) 4:42 7. Buffs, Landry (Cheyne) 8:51 8.

SSM, Walker (Riddle) 11:28 Penalties None. Third Period 9. SSM, Carpentier (McPherson) 8:23 Penalties None. Shots on goal by: SSM 10 18 735 Buffaloes 12 8 6-26 Goal (shots-saves) SSM: Edling, 26-20. Buffaloes: Corrigal, 35-32.

Power Plays SSM, 0-1; Buffaloes, 0-0. Referee Matt Gramblicka. Linse-men Rob Archambault, Cory Hal-ford. Gold Medal Saskatoon Contacts 1 UFA (Strathmore) Bisons 0 Thursday's result at Canadian Airlines Saddledome First Period No scoring. Penalties None.

Second Period No scoring. Penalties Masear UFA (interference) 10:17. Third Period 1. Saskatoon, Meunch (Leard, Baron) 12:24 Penalties None. Shots on goal by: Saskatoon 9 5 721 Bisons 10 12 1032 Goal (shots-saves) Bisons: Brown, 21-20.

Saskatoon: Thompson, 32-32. Power Plays Bisons, 0-0; Saskatoon, 0-1. Referee Rob Matsuoka. Linesmen Tyler Hill, Cam McMillan. Attendance 6,648.

vidual recognition. Forward Scooter Smith was the tournament's leading scorer and a first-team all-star, Cody Lyseng was another first-team all-star, and Kris Kolanos earned the tourney plusminus award. The Sabres were knocked out of championship contention by the Saskatoon Contacts in Wednesday's other semi-final, and a sluggish start against the Buffaloes scuttled their medal chances. "This tournament is a marathon," said ShattuckSt. Mary's head coach Brian Riley, "and maybe we kind of ran out of gas a little bit, instead of getting ShattuckSt.

Mary's winger Ryan Malone was named tourney MVP and a first-team all-star. Other teammates were also singled out goaltender Nick Edling was selected top goal-tender at the Mac's, with a 1.75 goals-against average, and a first-team all-star; and defenceman Dan Gustafson also made the first team. "We couldn't get started," said Malone, son of Pittsburgh Penguins chief scout Greg Malone, "and when we poured it on we couldn't bury our chances." thing too. "Next time we get down to the crunch, we know what that hurt feels like," added Frank. "That was our first loss in twentysome games, and we would never have experienced something like that in the regular season.

"When something big is on the line like that, the kids have got to understand that they have to dig a little deeper and give everything they can." The Buffs had squandered a 3-0 lead in their Wednesday game against the Bisons, but allowed no such mistake on Thursday morning. Calgary built up a 6-1 lead over the Sabres by the halfway point of the game, and from there solid goaltending by Tyler Corrigal who stopped 32 of 35 shots overall ensured the victory. "We realized a bronze was better than not showing up at all," said left winger Jeremy Cheyne, who scored two goals and two assists against the Sabres. "We learned (against the Bisons) not to let up anymore, especially in those kind of games. We were up 3-0 and figured we had them beat already.

UFA was running on adrenaline." Despite the disappointing showing, a handful of Buffaloes received indi TODD KIMBERLEY Calgary Herald For the Calgary Buffaloes, the Mac's heartbreak was a dose of strong medicine. It tasted awful, but they know it'll eventually work. The Buffaloes were heavy favorites to capture the 20th annual Mac's 'AAA' Midget Hockey Tournament, but emerged with only a bronze medal following a stunning 5-4 overtime, semifinal loss to the Strathmore-based UFA Bisons on Wednesday night. However, Buffs head coach Mark Frank knows the shocking defeat will come in handy over the next couple of months as the locals go hunting for their first provincial AAA' midget championship since 1989. The Buffs salvaged some of their pride by defeating the ShattuckSt.

Mary's Sabres of Faribault, 6-3 in the bronze-medal game on Thursday morning at the Canadian Airlines Saddledome. "Realistically, as coaches, that's what we wanted a hard loss. And boy, we had it given to us," said Frank. "They're hurting, but that's a good Awards Most Valuable Player Ryan Malone, ShattuckSt. Mary's Sabres Leading Scorer Scooter Smith, Calgary Buffaloes (14 points) Top Goaltender Nick Edling, ShattuckSt Mary's Sabres (1.75 GAA) Most Sportsmanlike Player Justin Wallin, North Battleford Northstars Outstanding Coach Rick Puttick, UFA Bisons Most Sportsmanlike Team Calgary Flames Best Defenceman Tim Wedderburn, UFA Bisons PlusMinus Award Kris Kolanos, Calgary Buffaloes First-Team i All-Stars Nick Edling, ShattuckSt Mary's; Tim Wedderburn, UFA Bisons; Dan Gustafson, ShattuckSt.

Mary's; Ryan Malone, ShattuckSt Mary's; Cody Lyseng, Calgary Buffaloes; Scooter Smith, Calgary Buffaloes. Second-Team All-Stars Justin Dubasov, Tis-dale Trojans; Cory Unser, Tisdale Trojans; Ryan Bayda, Saskatoon Contacts; Justin Wallin, North Battleford Northstars; Jordan Trew, Cantonniers de Magog. MAC'S PLAYOFF ROUNDUP ALBERTA JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS 74 If tl 'J" I 1 1 S. -jf Wednesday's Quarter-finals Saskatoon Contacts 5 North Battleford 2 The Contacts knocked tourney contenders North Battleford to the sidelines on the strength of Dean Beuker's two-goal, two-assist performance. Saskatoon carried a 2-0 lead into the third period, and captain Ryan Bayda iced the game with his club's last two markers.

The Northstars had won Division One with a sparkling 4-0-0 round-robin record. ShattuckSt Mary's 5 Calgary Flames 0 The Sabres pulled away with four in the second period. Ryan Malone, who would later be named tourney MVP, led the way with two goals and one helper. Nick Edling stopped all 22 shots by the Flames, who had earned the Division two pennant. Calgary Buffaloes 9 Tisdale Trojans 4 The Buffs broke open a one-goal game in the third period by lighting the lamp five times.

Adrian Foster scored a hat trick and added two assist for Calgary, which had gone 4-0-0 in round-robin play to capture the Division Three title. The scrappy Trojans, who lost their first game of the tourney, got a goal and a helper from Chad Nicholson and two assists from Jason Little. UFA Bisons 3 Magog 2 (2 OT) Jeff Jobson scored 1:25 into the second overtime period as the Strathmore-based Bisons sent Magog to the sidelines. Mark Robinson had forced overtime by tying the game at 2-2 with 3:31 remaining in regulation. The Cantonniers had previously taken a 2-1, first-period lead on goals by Michael Riendeau and Jordan Trew.

Wednesday's Semifinals Saskatoon 4 ShattuckSt Mary's 1 The contacts shut down the high-flying Sabres as Ryan Bayda and Dean Beuker each scored once and chipped in two assists. Clark McPherson gave ShattuckSt. Mary's a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes, but Saskatoon replied twice in each of the second and third periods to advance to Thursday's final. Bisons 5 Buffaloes 4 (OT) The Bisons remained cool under pressure, going into extra time again and emerging victorious on Mark Robinson's goal with two seconds left in the first OT period. The Buffs had climbed into a 3-0 lead after the first period as Scooter Smith, Dan Heatley and Cody Lyseng tickled the twine, but the Bisons closed the gap to 4-3 after two and tied the game with 3:13 left in regulation on 15-year-old forward Jared Aulin's marker.

Aulin finished the game with two goals and an assist. Todd Kimberley Mike Sturk, Calgary Herald The Alberta junior women's curling champions (from left to right) Erika Hildebrand, Tara Run-quist, Jennifer Vejprava and Bronwen Saunders (skip) were all smiles back home in Calgary on Thursday after a close win over Calgary's Amy Nixon in Grande Prairie on Wednesday. Bronwen's neighbors cut out a congratulations message (background) from the newspaper for the team. Saunders warms up to curling rink O'CONNOFS SvmM (Ml MM Calgary skip earns shot at junior women's Canadian final MURRAY RAUW Calgary Herald Bronwen Saunders early impressions of a curling rink were that it was a drab and boring place. As if avid curlers haven't heard that before.

"I never liked it," said Saunders, 19. "That's because I was always forced to be around the rink as a kid," Five years after relenting and giving curling a second look, Saunders is the Alberta junior women's champion and will skip her Calgary rink at the Canadian Karcher junior championship in her home city, Jan. 24-Feb. 1. Saunders and third Jennifer Vejprava, second Tara Runquist and lead Erika Hildebrand, won the tide with a 6-5 victory over Amy Nixon in an all-Calgary final at the provincials in Grande Prairie on Wednesday.

The junior men's champion is Carter Rycroft who upended defending champion Ryan Keane of Edmonton 7-6 in the finaL Saunders' mother, Linda, was part of Emily Farnham's Canadian women's championship rink from Saskatchewan in 1974 and has been a well-known Calgary skip. But it was only after Bronwen Saunders failed to make the William Aberhart volleyball team in Grade 10 that she began curling and gained a new appreciation for the sport Saunders, a first-year commerce student at Mount Royal College, proved to be a quick learner. Vejprava's mother, the former Shelby McKen-zie, won the 1971 Canadian junior women's championship for Alberta, the first year the national event was held. Jennifer Vejprava and Hildebrand attend St Francis High School and Runquist is starting a career with the Royal Bank. The Saunders rink is only the second Calgary junior women's rink to win the provincial title since Sandra Knights (Risebrough) in 1979.

Crystal Rumberg had ended an extended drought in 1994. "We were calm and focused," said Saunders from her Calgary home on Thursday. "It was nice to play another Southern Alberta team, knowing one of us would be in the Canadians." The Saunders rink lived dangerously on their way to the crown. They qualified for the provincials from Event at the Southerns, their last chance at survivaL They lost their last game in the provincial round robin and dropped into a three-way tie for second place in Grande Prairie. That forced a skill-testing tiebreaker won by Jodie Huitt of Grande Prairie, who was awarded second place.

But Saunders won a third-place tiebreaker 8-4 over Tiffany Odegard of Edmonton and beat Huitt 6-5 in the semifinal leading to the showdown against Nixon. STARTS TODAY Men's Clothing Selected sale items include suits, sportcoats, topcoats, dress and casual slacks, dress and sport shirts, as well as sweaters and knits. Men's Footwear Selected dress and casual shoes from Alfred Sargent, Allen-Edmonds, Cole-Haan, Mezlan, Rockport, Sebago and SperryTopsider. 210 -7th Ave. S.W.

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