Saskatoon Contacts, Stars heading to Mac’s Midget AAA World Invitational Tournament

While hockey leagues are taking it a break over the holidays, two Saskatoon teams will attend this year’s Mac’s Midget AAA World Invitational Tournament.

Besides potentially playing seven games in seven days, talent from all over the world will converge on Alberta and the Saskatoon Contacts can’t wait for the puck to drop.

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Back in September, the Saskatoon Contacts set some goals. One was to be the first team in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League (SMAAAHL) with 10 wins while the other, they’re about to realize.

“This was our number one goal right at the start of the year, to make the Mac’s. As soon as we won that last game, we knew we had clinched a spot and then we got the invitation a few days later and it was just awesome,” Contacts goalie Jordan Frey said.

“The kids are great, they focused on that, but the biggest thing is their hard work and commitment this year to the goals that we did talk about,” Contacts head coach Mark Chartier said.

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The Contacts’ pool boasts some of the top teams in Western Canada and they open the tournament on Monday with a game against the Austrian national under-18 team .

“It’ll be a blast for sure …  you’re playing five days, back to back to back and we have a 9 a.m. game, it’ll be a grind but for sure it’s going to be a lot of fun,” Contacts co-captain Chance Adrian said.

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In the girls division, the Saskatoon Stars will be back to defend their 2014 title after declining to attend Mac’s last year.

“Being there two years ago was just an amazing experience. And being able to share that with the younger girls this season is just going to be so much fun,” Stars captain Willow Slobodzian said.

The Stars have only lost three games this season but with three players out with concussions, the team hopes to really challenge competitors next week.

“The Mac’s tournament is known all over Canada and North America as being one of the go-to tournaments and getting a chance to play in it is always an honour. Hopefully we can build from the experience we had two years ago and looking at the other teams, yeah lots of good competition, that’s why you go there.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "The Mac's tournament is known all over Canada and North America as being one of the go-to tournaments and getting a chance to play in it is always an honour. Hopefully we can build from the experience we had two years ago and looking at the other teams, yeah lots of good competition, that's why you go there."

The Stars will play B.C.’s Northern Capitals, who won the tournament last year, in their first game on Dec. 27 at Max Bell Centre in Calgary.