Slash marks at Mac's
The last round robin game for the St. Albert Slash at the Mac's tournament goes today against the Calgary Chaos at 3:30 p.m. at Max Bell Arena.
In pool play the Slash tied the Red Deer Rebels 4-4 on Boxing Day, beat the Notre Dame Hounds 4-1 Sunday and Tuesday played the Westman Wildcats, the 2009 ESSO Cup national female midget champions. The score was unavailable at press time.
The top four female teams qualify for Thursday's semifinals. Friday's championship finals at the Pengrowth Saddledome will be aired live on Shaw TV. The tournament features 15 female teams and 25 male teams. The Mac's website is www.macstournament.ab.ca
In the tournament opener the Slash rallied late in the game to pull even with Red Deer. Angie Mason, Karly Heffernan, captain Melissa Kueber (Slash player of the game) and Jessica Kampjes scored. Slash goalie Emily Mitchell faced 24 shots.
Kueber potted a pair against Notre Dame and Kampjes (Slash player of the game) and Taryn McCormick scored singles. Krystal Reithmayer picked up three assists. Shots were 17-14 for Notre Dame. The winning goalie was Tyler Lisitza.
In the Alberta Major Midget Female Hockey League the Slash are ranked third in the north division at 10-7-6. Their next game is Jan. 9 against Chaos (9-11-4) at 4 p.m. at Performance Arena.
Meanwhile, the league all-star game Sunday at Lloydminster will feature a trio of Slash forwards on the north team: Kueber (north division player of the month for November), Kampjes (team-leading 26 points in 23 games) and McCormick.
Call for volunteers
The supporting cast for the Jan. 21 to 24 John Reid Memorial Tournament needs an extra boost.
Volunteers are still required for the gate (contact Amy at 780-458-6406), souvenir sales (Tami at 780-460-7679), raffle sales (Lori at 780-458-0918) and extra duties (Trudy at 780-458-8725).
Volunteers receive food/drinks and a day pass to watch games that day at Servus Credit Union Place.
More than 300 volunteers were involved in last year's bantam AAA tournament, hosted by the Raiders Hockey Club.
Reid schedule
The 16-team format for the John Reid Memorial Tournament features four divisions of pool play to determine the playoff pairings in the A, B and C brackets.
In the John Reid pool the host St. Albert Sabres play the Prince George Cougars, Calgary Bronks and the Pursuit of Excellence Academy of Kelowna in the City Ford division.
The Reebok Hockey division is comprised of the Notre Dame Hounds, Vancouver North Shore Winter Club, Leduc and Airdrie Xtreme (2009 tournament finalists and western Canada bantam AAA champions)
In the Jarome Iginla pool, the Elite Sportswear division includes the defending champion SSAC Southgate Lions and the Fort Saskatchewan Rangers, Calgary Bisons and the Burnaby Winter Club.
Round robin games are Jan. 21 and 22. The Jan. 23 draw determines who qualifies for the A semifinals and the B and C consolation finals.
Game times for the Jan. 24 playoffs are 8:30 a.m. (A semifinals at the Mark Messier and Performance arenas), 11:15 a.m. (C consolation at Messier and B consolation at Performance) and 3:15 p.m. (A final at Performance).
In previous years, two pools of six teams determined the semifinalists.
The only St. Albert team to win championship honours was the 1983 Territorial Leasing Sabres.
The 32nd annual St. Albert bantam AAA tournament schedule is online at www.johnreidmemorial.com.
All-star Sabres
Defenceman Jeff Harrison and forward Luke Mahura will represent the St. Albert Sabres at the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League all-star game Jan. 9 at 1:30 p.m. at Clare Drake Arena.
Mahura is tied for eighth place in league scoring with 43 points, on 22 goals and 21 assists in 22 games.
Harrison is third in team scoring with six goals and 20 assists in 22 games.
The Sabres resume league play Sunday against the Spruce Grove PAC Saints (9-9-3). Faceoff is 3:45 p.m. at the Tri-Leisure Centre.
The Sabres (13-4-5) skated into the Christmas break in third place in the nitro north division. Three of their four losses were against the second-place Sherwood Park Flyers (14-2-5)
The last game for the Sabres was a 6-4 loss to the first-place SSAC Southgate Lions (16-5-2) Dec. 20 as St. Albert closed out the month with a 2-2-2 record.
