Blades of glory
Calgary’s historic midget hockey tournament
Todd Colin Vaughan
Sports Editor
Photos: Todd Colin Vaughan
Calgary played host to a familiar tournament over the holiday break.
The 2012 Mac’s AAA midget hockey tournament was hosted by several venues throughout the city, including the Max Bell Arena, Father David Bauer and the Saddledome, which hosted the championship games for the men’s and women’s divisions respectively.
The tournament, now in its 34th year, was a great success with visiting teams coming from as far away as the Czech Republic.
As always, the tournament also hosted several local clubs including the Calgary Buffaloes, Calgary Flames and the Calgary Northstars and has previously featured current NHL stars like Sidney Crosby.
This year, the Vancouver Northwest Giants took the men’s championship home. The Giants took out the Carolina Junior Hurricanes at the Saddledome, 3-2.
That game was preceded by the women’s championship where the Edmonton Thunder took out the Saskatoon Stars, 3-1.
The Macs tournament is a mainstay in the Calgary hockey community and will continue on into its 35th year in 2013.
On Sunday, Dec. 30, The Mac’s Major midget was winding up round-robin play. This game featured The Red Deer Optimist chiefs versus the Pirati Chomutuv from the Czech Republic. Both teams came into the game with 3-0 records. Chomutov would go on to win 5-4 after scoring four first period goals.