Blazers edged out in Mac’s semifinal

The Saskatoon Blazers reached the semifinal at the Mac’s Invitational midget AAA hockey championship tournament in Calgary, falling 1-0 to the Lethbridge midget AAA Hurricanes.

In quarter-final action on New Year’s Eve, Saskatoon edged the Airdrie CFR Bisons 5-4.

The Blazers finished first in Pool 1 with a perfect 4-0-0 record and were undefeated until the semifinal round.

Meanwhile, the Saskatoon Contacts finished third in Pool 5 (won by the New York Jr. Islanders) with a 2-1-1 record and were edged out of playoff contention by the Aidrie Bisons.

The Swift Current Legionnaires were 1-1-2 during round-robin in Pool 4.

The Beardy’s Blackhawks finished with a 1-3-0 record, while the Regina Pat Canadians were 1-2-1 and the Notre Dame Hounds were 2-2-0.

The Mac’s Invitational championship final — played at the Scotiabank Saddledome — featured the Lethbridge Hurricanes and St. Albert Raiders.

A final result was not available at press time.

Round-robin games were played at several Calgary arenas with the Max Bell Centre being the primary facility.

Games were also held at Father David Bauer Olympic Arena and Flames Community Arenas.

The tournament featured 25 teams from Canada and the United States with teams from New York and Colorado competing in this year’s event.