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Photo Credit: EverythingGP
Storm

Grande Peace Ernies Sports Storm finish Mac’s tournament, look for strong weekend on road.

Jan 2, 2020 | 4:12 PM

Over the Christmas break, the Grande Peace Ernies Sports Storm were lucky enough to participate in the Mac’s Midget AAA tournament in Calgary.

The tournament brings together 25 of the best Midget AAA teams from around Western Canada and the world. There was even a team from Russia that was invited to the tournament.

The tournament has been held annually since 1978 and usually has 100,000 spectators attend games over the event’s seven-days.

It has also seen it’s fair share of NHLers pass through the doors. Some alumni that played in the event include Sidney Crosby, Jarome Iginla and Jordan Eberle.

The Grande Peace Ernies Sports finished the tournament with an 0-2-2 record and finished last place in Pool 5 but had several close games that could’ve gone either way.

“I thought it was a really good experience for the boys. We played well and played hard,” said Chris Schmidt the Head Coach of the AAA Storm. “We had some very tight games where we tied two of them and lost two of them. Obviously, we would’ve liked to go on into the playoff round, but I think overall it was a positive experience for everybody.”

One thing that stands out in the Mac’s tournament is just how many games you have to play in such a short time. The Storm had to play three games in four days, which is uncommon considering teams usually play two games a weekend.

If the Storm had gotten to the finals, they would’ve potentially played seven games in seven days.

The Calgary Buffaloes (who won the tournament) had to play two games in six hours on New Year’s Eve in order to advance to the finals on New Years Day.

“When you start playing four games in five days it’s defiantly different than a normal regular season. I thought the guys coped with it really well. It was a lot of ice time for everybody, but I thought they played really hard and showed really well at the tournament.”

The team won’t get much of a Christmas break, as they are back in action on the road for games against Lloydminster and Fort Saskatchewan on January 4 and 5.

“These are two teams that are right behind us in the standings. I think the biggest thing is trying to find the energy and get refocused after the Mac’s. We only have nine games left in the regular season, so these points will go a long way to determine where we end up in the standings. I think they’ll find a way and hopefully, we’ll come out with some points,” said Schmidt.

Saturday’s game against Lloydminster is at 7:00 p.m.