The Airdrie CFR Bisons impressed a lot of people with their performance at the 41st annual Mac's Midget Hockey Tournament in Calgary and are looking good for the second half of their season.

The Bisons finished the round robin portion of the tournament with three wins and one loss, good for first place in Pool Five.  In Monday's quarterfinal game with the Saskatoon Blazers, the Bisons lost 5 - 4 to be eliminated from further play.

The St. Albert Raiders were the winners of the tourney after they edged the Lethbridge Midget Hurricanes 4 - 3 in yesterday's final.  

Bisons Head Coach Dustin Taylor was extremely proud of his team's efforts.

"The way that they approached every game with maturity, discipline, preparation, it was awesome to see that all the work we've been putting in since September, not that it kind of came to fruition but it was nice to see a lot of the parts all come together.  In terms of the tournament, it was a really good experience for our kids.  A lot of them have been watching that tournament their entire lives so to have that opportunity to play in it was almost a dream come true for many of them."

Although Taylor was thrilled with the team's performance, he wasn't surprised by it.

"No, no surprises.  I'm quite happy with what we've done and it didn't' surprise me at all the type of effort our guys had.  One thing we've been talking about is, I never have to second guess the physical effort our team brings, night in and night out and morning in and morning out during practices.  They're always there to work and compete and what I was really impressed with was our mental effort.  Our ability to come with the right mindset and peform when we needed to."

The Bisons get back into Alberta Midget Hockey League action again this weekend.  On Saturday night they host the Red Deer Optimist Chiefs at 7:00 pm in the Ron Ebbesen Arena.  Taylor says their performance during the Mac's bodes well in taking them through the season's second half.

"Enormously.  Firing on all cylinders like we did to kind of come into the second half of the season and, hopefully, secure a playoff spot here as we make our final push.  I'm happy with where we're at and it bodes very well for us."

The beginning of a new year is a time to set goals and Taylor has done that for the Bisons.

"Performance-wise, it's definitely to secure a playoff spot in the South division.  As soon as that happens, it's a whole new ballgame again as soon as playoffs start.  That's goal number one in terms of performance.  And then in terms of what we're trying to accomplish as a group and as a team for our various members is just continue to improve on what they want to improve on so that they can get to the next level.  As of now, 11 of our players are associated with a Junior "A" or Western Hockey League team so we'd like to get more of our players involved with different teams like that, on an affiliation or listed basis and then just get them prepared for what they want to accomplish in their hockey careers after the season."

Going into the next portion of the season, the Bisons are sixth in the South Division with a 12 - 10 and 3 record for 27 points.  Even though they're in sixth place, the Bisons are only nine points back of the Lethbridge Hurricanes who hold down first place in the division. 

Questions? Comments? Story ideas? Email us at news@discoverairdrie.com