MAC'S MAKING WAY FOR THE CIRCLE K CLASSIC
Annual under-18 hockey tournament back to holiday season, rebrands with new name
The Mac's is ushering in a new era.
It's not even the Mac's any more, since a rebranding of the heralded under-18 hockey tournament highlights this year's edition.
Make way for the Circle K Classic — complete with a bigger, bolder lineup but set to return to its traditional time slot during the holiday season a year after COVID forced a postponement to April.
“It's kind of a real cool process we've gone through with our main sponsor, Circle K,” said tournament general manager Jesse Hale. “We sat down actually in October and said, `Hey, we should try this,' which was a tight turnaround but worked with them and liked what they came up with in a logo ... so we're looking forward to what we have there.”
Fans can look forward to a few other major changes.
Instead of a Boxing Day beginning, the Circle K opens Dec. 27, giving teams a longer Christmas break at home and more time to travel to Calgary.
And then the puck drops with more male teams taking to the ice than any previous Mac's.
“It definitely is the biggest with 32 teams, so that's new,” Hale said.
“But we also feel it's going to be the most competitive. Anybody can win this tournament.
“I think there's a lot of great teams. You look at the rankings in the States, there's the one and three right now or what it was a week ago. The Calgary Buffaloes are undefeated. Burlington is undefeated. And then Team Hungary is a real wild card. We don't know what we're going to see. So there's lots of quality teams.”
Eight four-team pools make up the event, with the Circle K committee opting to return with last year's rejigged format — three round robin games for each squad, after which teams will be reseeded in four playoff pools.
The first-place team from each pool earns a spot in the A side playoffs, with a chance to win the entire tourney, while the second-, third- and fourth-place side from each pool heads into the B, C and D playoffs, respectively.
Hale says the format works on many levels, including drawing interest from teams travelling from afar to play in more than just three games and creating a bigger impact on Calgary's economy.
“Oh, we got calls every day since June, really, from American teams or even teams that were fourth or fifth (in their standings),” Hale said.
Also new to the tourney are games scheduled for Tsuut'ina Nation's 7 Chiefs Sportsplex instead of Father David Bauer Arena. It gives The Circle K two venues — with 7 Chiefs and Max Bell Centre boasting roomy parking and two sheets of ice each — and makes it easier for volunteers, says Hale.
Also returning are the raffles, beginning Dec. 18, with the feature being the tournament-long 50/50 set to be drawn during the Jan. 1 final (3 p.m.).
And the sports schools are back after making a triumphant debut in April, when the South Alberta Hockey Academy out of Dunmore won The Mac's championship.
“The sport school team ended up winning the tournament, and they were actually a late addition, so they weren't even the team that most people would have put their money on,” Hale said.
“So I think it just shows the parity of all the leagues and all the different countries and states. But I think with the sports schools, it just proved that they have a lot of great young players just as our local (under-18 AAA) teams do.”
LOOSE PUCKS
With the massive Mandi Schwartz Memorial Tournament on tap beginning Thursday in Wilcox, Sask., the Circle K committee is still working long-term to figure out the best way to bring back a female division to the tournament ... The puck drops on the Circle K at 10 a.m. on
Dec. 27 between the Vancouver NW Hawks and Ontario's Burlington Eagles at Max Bell and B.C.'S Okanagan Rockets and the Calgary Royals at 7 Chiefs ... The pools are Burlington, Vancouver NW, Edmonton Junior Oilers Blue and the St. Albert Raiders; the Royals, Rockets, Phoenix Jr. Coyotes and Shawnigan Lake School; the Edge School, Fraser Valley Thunderbirds, Saskatoon Contacts and Sherwood Park Kings; the Calgary NW Flames, Greater Vancouver Canadians, Pacific Coast Hockey Academy and Team Hungary; the Buffaloes, Chicago Mission, RINK Kelowna and Swift Current Legionnaires; the Airdrie CFR Bisons, Regina Pat Canadians, South Kent School and Yale Hockey Academy; the Calgary Northstars, Saskatoon Blazers, St. Louis AAA Blues and defending champion SAHA; and the Bishop Kearney Selects, Lloydminster Bobcats, Northern Alberta Xtreme and Okotoks Bow Mark Oilers.