A few Okotoks area hockey players got their first experience with Russian hockey last week and it proved to be a difficult lesson.
Although the Foothills UFA Midget AAA Bisons were beaten 7-3 by Severstal on Dec. 21 in High River, Bisons assistant captain Sam Johnson said he is hoping they can use the loss as a learning experience for the Mac’s tournament Dec. 26 to Jan. 1 in Calgary.
Severstal, a team from Russia, won the Mac’s tournament in 2007.
“This is the first game for me of international hockey,” Johnson said. “It was pretty cool to find out what other countries do. One of the real differences is the way they attack and the way they play defence.”
Johnson, a Grade 11 student at Foothills Composite High School, showed the Russians some offence himself. He potted the Bisons’ second goal to briefly tie the game at 2-2 in the first period.
He also had a few scoring opportunities in the loss thanks to his hard work. He said the Bisons needed to learn from the loss if the two teams meet again in the Mac’s.
“It is an exhibition game but you have to learn from every game,” Johnson said. “We learned that when we play the Russians, we have to be quick thinking. We can’t be thinking ‘one-one thousand, two one-thousand’ when they are in transition because they are so fast… We have to play on the balls of our feet and take that extra step.”
The Bisons also got a taste of what it will be like to play in front of a big crowd. The High River arena was packed — in fact vehicles were on the verge of being towed for parking in the fire lanes.
“You have to block out the crowd and try to focus on the game,” Johnson said.
Josh Betinol of Okotoks also had a goal against Severstal.
He admitted to being pumped up for the game, but maybe too excited.
“It was exhilarating and my adrenaline was going,” Betinol said. “I tried to set the tempo right from the get-go with a check, but it was a little bit of interference.
“I got back to the bench and a coach told me: ‘Try to hit the guy when he has the puck.’”
He agreed with Johnson the Bisons have to forget about the loss and take it as a stepping-stone for the Mac’s.
“We can’t give them that extra second because the puck will be in the back of your net before you know it,” he said. “We are also going to have to stay on our checks and shore up our defence.”
An Okotoks Midget AA Oiler got the chance to play Severstal after being called up by the Bisons for the game.
Owen Ferguson was called up for his third game with the Bisons and it was a great opportunity for the Oiler.
“I was pretty excited to get the call and get a chance to play the Russians,” Ferguson said. “Their transition game is so good and they have great hands.”
He said his experience will help him when he goes back to the Oilers.
“This will help my defensive game on one-on-one,” he said. “You start just following those guys (the Russians) on the ice, and they will burn you.”
Johnson said he wasn’t surprised at how good they were. He had seen the team before.
“I watched the game when they won it (the Mac’s),” he said. “It is cool to play a team that you saw win a championship before.”
The Bisons played Severstal again on Thursday in Strathmore before they hit the ice for the Mac’s. (The results were too late for the Wheel’s Christmas deadline.)
Johnson said he would love to play them one more time.
“They aren’t in our pool but maybe we can play them in the playoffs,” he said of the Mac’s. The Mac’s tournament started on Boxing Day. For up-to-date stats see www. macstournament.ab.ca
