The Calgary Buffaloes
Road to the
2024 U18 Men’s
National Telus Cup
“Hockey From a Parent’s Perspective”
Written By Candace DiGiacomo
Published June 27, 2024
The road to the Telus Cup is not for the faint of heart and the 2023-2024 Calgary U18AAA Buffaloes, aka “The Buffs”, have firsthand knowledge of this!
I was along for the ride as a parent to one of the goalies, Colten Scott. As a past Team Canada figure skater that skated on the Edmonton Ice Elite Synchronized Skating Team, I have an appreciation of what it truly takes to prepare for and compete at a National and International level. Not just individually, but as a team! It was my turn to ride in the backseat and drink in the experience from a parents perspective.
Left photo: Edmonton Ice Elite, Synchronized Skating Team, at the 2002 Canadian National Competition in Kitchener, Ontario
Right photo: Edmonton Ice Elite, Synchronized Skating Team, in Paris during their 2002 trip to the French Cup to represent Canada
Tryouts
Tryouts for the Buffaloes started on Monday August 28, 2024. These tryouts continued for almost a month! Final rosters had to be submitted by midnight on Tuesday September 26 – and the team was not finalized until this date. Shown in the photo is the 2023-2024 Calgary Buffaloes Team the day they moved into their dressing room!
Regular Season
The Buffaloes kicked off their 36-game regular season with a 6 – 3 loss against the Red Deer Optimist Chiefs on Saturday September 30. Despite starting the season with a loss, the team experienced lots of success throughout the regular season. They consistently maintained a spot within the top four teams in the South Division of the Alberta Elite Hockey League (AEHL) as well as maintained being in the top 20 in the Canadian Elite Hockey League (CEHL). By game thirty-two the Buffs had clinched 1st place in the South Division and by game 34 the secured 1st place in the AEHL league! Having home ice advantage will prove to be a nice advantage in the upcoming playoffs.
The Calgary Buffaloes Association is the oldest hockey association in Calgary and they celebrated their 80th Anniversary in 2023!
The 2023-2024 CBHA Buffaloes
The Buffs having some fun on Halloween!
Bench view during the National Anthem
On top of their regular season games, the Buffs also earned the Championship banner at the RHA Classic in November (photo below on the left) and earned a spot in the A Finals at the Circle K Classic. Photo below on the right – The Buffs celebrating after earning a spot in the A Finals at the Circle K Classic with a buzzer beating goal by Caleb Matthews!
Playoffs
In preparation for the playoffs, the players decided to bleach their hair to further unite themselves as a team. There might have been a bit of superstition that went along with it as well! You can read more on the team and their “Blond Ambition” in this article:
https://calgaryherald.com/sports/hockey/calgary-buffaloes-blond-ambition-telus-cup-berth
First step of the playoffs was a best of three series versus the sixth ranked team, the Red Deer Optimist Chiefs. The Buffs record against this team during the regular season was 1 – 4 – 0. Not ideal! However, even with the series starting with a 5 – 3 win for Red Deer the Buffs took the next two wins and moved on.
South Division Finals
Next up was the South Division finals, a best of 5 series against a team that the Buffaloes had not been able to pull out a win against during the regular season, the NW Flames. The Buffaloes came out strong for the first game on home ice, pulling out a 6 – 1 win! The Flames were able to shut down the Buffs on their home ice for game two with a 5 – 2 win. The two teams headed back to the Buffs home rink to see the Buffaloes take a 2 -1 lead in the series with a 3 – 1 win. Although not a “do or die” game, the Buffs were out to win on the Flames home ice for game four and they came out victorious with a 5 – 2 win – crowning the Buffaloes as the South Division Champs!
Provincials
The Buffaloes were on their way to Provincials and would face the Sherwood Park Ennis Kings in an exciting best of five series. The first game took place on Saturday March 23 in the Buffaloes home barn. Both teams fought hard, and the game went into double OT – with the Buffaloes taking the first game with a final score of 4 – 3. That game wrapped up at 6:30 pm on Saturday and the Buffs had to be ready and on the ice in Sherwood Park, a 3+ hour drive from Calgary, in less then 24 hours. The second game of the series was even more exciting then the first game – both teams were set on taking away a win. So much so, the game went into triple OT! The Buffs did not back down and won 2 – 1. The next game took place on Tuesday March 26, and luckily the boys did not need to travel another 3+ hours for what was sure to be an intense game. The Buffaloes showed up to win and did just that. That night they swept the series to win Provincials on home ice in front of a sold-out crowd! It was a sight to be seen! I had worked the scoresheet in the box for all home games during the regular season as well as the playoffs which awarded me the amazing experience of being in the box for that game to take in the special winning moment. It was truly surreal to watch the Hockey Alberta Staff bringing the trophy, hats, medals & banner into the box as the final minutes of the game ticked down, making sure everything was set up and ready for the big celebration!
Words can not describe the pride I felt for my son and his team! They worked so hard dedicating themselves to the sport that they all love, and their many hours of preparation had paid off! This team made it through two series in the South division, which based on regular season play, they were not the favourites to win. And then swept an extremely strong team in the Provincial Series. The unbelievable part was that winning the prestigious title of Provincial Champions, which is typically the end of the line for minor hockey season, was not the end of the line for a U18 AAA team. For the Buffaloes, not only had they won the Provincial banner, but they had also just qualified for the Pacific Regional Championship against the Vancouver North East Giants in Burnaby, B.C. The winner of the best-of-three series earns a berth in the 2024 Telus Cup, April 22-28 in Membertou, Nova Scotia.
Provincial Champions!
Pacific Regionals
Game 1 of the Pacific Regional series against Vancouver was set for April 5, with puck drop taking place at 5:30 M.T. After a long bus trip from Calgary to Burnaby, the team was set to take on the Vancouver North East Giants. From regular season play the North East Giants were ranked eight overall by the CEHL and the Buffaloes were ranked thirteenth. Again, on paper the Buffaloes were not a favourite to win, but they say that playoffs hockey is a whole different story! Game 1 was a very back and forth game. 1 – 1 after the first period and 2 – 2 halfway into the second period. Just after the halfway point of the game the Buffs pull ahead by 1 and maintain their lead to take the first win of the series. Game 2 took place the following day at 5:30 M.T. and it was a gritty game that stayed very tight right until the end. The teams entered the third period 0 – 0. Early in the third period the Buffs found the back of the North East Giants net! The Buffaloes played a tight game right to the final buzzer and took the series in two games, Svenson having a notable game earning a shutout! The Buffs were crowned the Pacific Reginal Champions and earned a spot at the Telus Cup!
Pacific Regional Champions!
Going into the Pacific Regional Championship, Head Coach Brent Harrison told the team the following:
“I told the boys that if they made it to the Telus Cup, I’d dye my hair,” Harrison said. “I had to be a man of my word and go through with it.”
This quote was taken from the below article. Read / watch more on Brent Harrison dying his hair blonde and the team talking about going to Telus Cup:
The Telus Cup
The “Road to the Telus Cup”
After the excitement of the Pacific Regional win – the team knew that the job was not done yet!
They returned to Calgary late on Sunday April 7, and planning for the Telus Cup started! This year’s national championship was being held in Membertou, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. For me it was surreal to think that the team had earned 1 of 5 spots (host team does not have to earn a spot) out of 136 teams across Canada! I viewed earning one of these spots as harder to achieve then getting into the Stanley Cup Finals! These boys and this team had determination, grit, strength, and heart like I have never seen before! The team was scheduled to leave in just under 2 weeks. It was a flurry of practices, fundraising, and working out all the details to allow the team the best opportunity at the National Championship. Those 2 weeks seemed to be the slowest, yet the fastest 2 weeks! Then the time came for me to drop my son Colten off at the Calgary airport the night of Saturday April 20th.
At the Calgary airport – getting ready for their red eye to Nova Scotia
Within 18 hours from arriving at the Calgary airport the team:
- Checked in a whole team & staff at the airport. I can just imagine the number of bags they had!
- A lengthy red-eye flight to Halifax
- Collection of gear and suitcases at the airport
- Over a 4-hour bus ride from the Halifax airport to Membertou, Cape Breton
- Geared up and on the ice taking their team photo!
Talk about getting down to business!
Telus Cup Team Photo
My daughter, Alivia, and I were delighted to be able to attend the event! I am fortunate to have a boss that is partial to hockey *wink wink*. He appreciates and prioritizes taking in every life experience possible. So, I received lots of encouragement from Rex to take the time off and enjoy this once in a lifetime experience! The first photo is a text from Rex back on February 9 about the roadmap to earning a spot in the Telus Cup. Little did either of us know at that time the Buffaloes would make it all the way! Rex also sent me many positive texts while I was in Nova Scotia, one shown in the second photo below. Thank you, Rex, for always being so supportive!
Alivia and I enjoyed watching the high-level hockey as well as taking in the sights and sounds of Membertou and Cape Breton area. We spent many hours on the beach collecting shells & sea glass and Alivia enjoyed being at the waters edge and having the salty water splash on her!
Because it was low season for tourists, most of the tourist sights were closed, but we still enjoyed visiting a lighthouse, the world’s largest fiddle, an old church and got to see the New Marine Atlantic ferry Ala’suinu! Hockey allowed us the opportunity to explore an area of Eastern Canada that we would have never stepped foot on otherwise which I am so grateful!
The Telus Cup host, the Sydney Rush, along with Hockey Canada did an amazing job organizing and welcoming the teams and fans. The volunteers at the event were always friendly and happy to help whenever they could. The media for the event was exceptional! Also, big kudos to the officials. Thank you and well done! The facility was beautiful and large enough to allow each of the six teams 2 dressing rooms for the duration of the tournament and comfortably accommodated the fans. The accommodations for the teams were across the road taking away any logistics of travelling by bus for the teams. As shown in the photo, the hotel is the rear building to the left and the arena is the rear building to the right. Not a far walk for the athletes! This also meant that the players would be living in the same building as their competitors which proved to be an interesting set up that the players needed to learn how to properly navigate. A great life lesson amongst many other life lessons these boys have learned while being in hockey!
Monday April 22
The Buffaloes faced off against the host team, Sydney Rush, for their first game as well as the feature game of the Telus Cup on Monday April 22. Opening ceremonies took place before the game. This included a tribute to a past Sydney Rush team that competed in the Telus Cup as well as a past Syndey Rush player. The ceremony also featured a local Indigenous Mi’kmaq performance. It was a beautiful start to an exciting week!
Although the Buffaloes were dealing with jet leg and lost a sizable portion of their warmup due to a broken pane of glass in their end, that did not stop them from refocusing and bringing their A game. After the 60-minute contest the final score was 12 – 0 for the Buffs. A HUGE point night! Both Caleb Matthews and Rhys Jamieson secured four goals for the team and Colten Scott made 18 saves to earn a shutout.
Photo from the Buffaloes Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6GtOm2AWgn/?igsh=NWh4bnM2OW5pcDU5
Tuesday April 23
Tuesday April 23 brought on the match between the Buffaloes and Kensington Wild. The Buffs open the scoring early in the 1st period. The wild evened up the score early in the 2nd, however that would be there only goal against the Buffaloes and the final score was 4 – 1 for the Buffs.
Photo from the Buffaloes Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6IKl4sgyO6/?igsh=Ym9mb2pxeHpldmV0
Wednesday April 24
Wednesday April 24 the Buffs faced off against the Markham Waxers and were eager to add to their point total. This showed after 40 minutes of play with a 4 – 1 lead. Unfortunately, the 3rd period was not one to write home about with the Waxers finding the back of the net 3 times making the score after 60 4 – 4. As quoted from a Calgary Herald article 1 “Boys are frustrated, because we didn’t play well in third period,” said Harrison of Wednesday defeat. “But the adversity is good for us, and we need to learn from the loss.”. The Buffaloes started OT on a penalty kill and the Waxers were able to secure the OTW with a powerplay goal.
Most goalies take immense pride in their presentation, and Colten is no exception. He spends many hours and thought making sure his gear looks eye catching. The colour commentator made a few comments on his mask!
Yes, the paintjob was made to make the mask look like a toque on an old school Cooper mask. Compete with robbers stealing pucks! Also, Colten has a collection on flowers on the backplate – one for each one of the important women in his life. Mine is the lily ❤️
Thursday April 25
The Buffaloes, eager to secure their spot in the Semi Finals, brought their A game on Thursday April 25 against the Brandon Wheatkings. Nearing the end of the 1st period, the Wheat Kings took a 1 – 0 lead. At the halfway point in the 2nd, the Buffaloes tied it up. The Captain Tyson Murray stepped up his game and got a short-handed go-ahead goal with just a few minutes left in the 2nd period. With 3 minutes left in the 3rd period the Buffaloes got an empty netter and secured a 3 – 1 win!
Photos from the Buffaloes Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6Mjg9AJ_Ko/?igsh=bGRpZGpsd2Z1ODh4
Many kids were bused in to watch the games during the week. Most were from schools in the area, but there were even some daycares that brought kids! I will always remember the storm of kids that surrounded Colten wanting his autograph! One boy took off his sweater to be signed, and others were taking off their hats and even their shoes! It warmed my heart!
Friday April 26
Going into the Friday April 26th game against Cantonniers de Magog the Buffaloes had already secured their spot in the Semi Finals. As quoted from a Calgary Herald article 2
“The Buffaloes wrapped up the round-robin portion of the event with a 4-0 loss at the hands of the perfect Quebec kingpins. But the result meant nothing to the standings. Colten Scott got the goaltending start, making 27 saves between the pipes for the Buffs.
“Yeah … kept it simple,” added Buffaloes head coach Brent Harrison, who wasn’t concerned with the contest. “We weren’t going to tire out our horses in that game.”
The team unfortunately lost 4 – 0 against Magog. The loss was disappointing, but Magog was a highly skilled team and it was not a “do or die” game for the Buffs.
Saturday April 27: Semi-Final Game
The Buffaloes had high hopes going into the Semi-final game on Saturday April 27 to secure their spot in the Gold Medal game. They faced off with the Brandon Wheat Kings and with the first goal by Brayden Gourley 42 seconds into the game it looked promising. However, Wheat Kings goalie, Hood, did not allow any of the 35 more shots from the Buffs into his net. With a 4 – 1 win, the Wheat Kings secured their spot in the Gold Medal final sending the Buffaloes to the Bronze Medal game.
Sunday April 28: Bronze Medal Game
Win or loose, today would be the last game that the 2023-2024 Calgary Buffaloes would play. At the end of the warmup for the Bronze Medal game – a photographer captured this photo of Colten and his goalie partner Kael – no words needed! ❤️
Kael Svenson and Colten Scott
We all got our monies worth during the Bronze Medal Game that took place on Sunday April 28 between the Buffaloes and the Waxers. The 1st period ended with a 1 – 1 tie. 40 more minutes of gameplay put the teams at a 2 – 2 tie. Waxers scored in the 3rd at 9:52. The Buffs fans stood on their feet for most of the second half of the 3rd cheering for the team. After the Waxers 3rd goal, we were all holding our breath! Christian Stephanson gave us some breathing room at 14:11 when he scored a HUGE shorthanded goal tying the game up. OT solved nothing and the bronze medal came down to a shootout.
Waxers could not break the Svenson wall during the shootout! Buffaloes ended up taking the Bronze with goals in the shootout from Brayden Gourley and Rhys Jamieson! It was a larger-than-life celebration for the Buffaloes and the fans!! It is incredible that this team was on the journey to the Telus Cup U18 Men’s National to earn a bronze medal for 8 months!!
After the game, Kael Svenson was being interviewed regarding his spectacular performance. During the interview the team decided to hold their own “Press Conference”! It was a lighthearted moment that really showed the true chemistry of this team!
Video from Shawn Mullin’s Instagram.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6VI7tYOYbu/?igsh=MWxzM3VmZHhmZmI1aw==
Recap of the Bronze medal game from the Buffaloes Instagram.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6acYLFLSvw/?igsh=MXNyNTRvbWJzdHJnOQ==
It was a BIG party in the dressing room for the team after the game! The parents, as always, waited patiently outside of the hallway. During the week security was set up in the arena and no one without credentials were allowed into the hallway and other secured areas. Security was extra strict on the final day. Colten had come to the end of the hallway to see Alivia and myself. The security guard stopped me immediately from approaching the hallway. Colten had said “I just wanted to see my mom quickly.” The Security Guard was not wanting to waiver however, one of the dad’s ushered Alivia and myself towards Colten and grabbed my phone and said, “It’s fine for a quick photo!” Thanks, Bill, for acting and making that moment happen! I will always be grateful and cherish that photo!
It was neat to see TSN setting up for the big Gold Medal Game! Although the set up for the entire week was quite impressive and felt like the “real deal,” the set up for being TV ready was next level! Magog ended up capturing the Telus Cup! After that final game Colten and his roommate enjoyed hanging out with some of the Magog players in their hotel room. It is the best when players from different teams can come together after such an intense competition and enjoy just hanging out together!
The tournament schedule was heavy! The Buffaloes played a game each day for 7 days straight!
Colten notes that he is incredibly happy to have been involved in something so special. He feels that his team was extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to participate in such a prestigious event. The event was high intensity, and they were treated very well.
Colour commentary for all the Telus Cup games, except the gold medal game, was provided by Shawn Mullin. Shawn provided thoughtful commentary with an incredible attention to detail. He has an ease of highlighting the highs and lows and everything in between all while remaining extremely professional and connecting with his audience. Fantastic job!
I cannot close out a recap of the Road to the Telus Cup without mentioning the fantastic coaches, team staff and parent group. First off, the coaches were amazing! Head Coach Brent Harrison, Assistant Coaches Joel Hogue, Sean McGovern & Mike Presizniuk and Goalie Coach Jonny Webb. They were focused, goal-oriented, positive, cared about the boys, held them accountable and were approachable. Our Team Trainer Alex Le, Team Manager Evan Osiowy and Team Director Lori McDonald were incredibly supportive and worked hard to ensure that the team was always in the best position for success. They were such an important part of the team! All the coaches and staff always went above and beyond and never blinked an eye to put the hours in to support the team. We were lucky to have them! The team had an amazing home game colour commentator, Scott Duesing. I would often go home after being at a home game and watch the game online just to hear Scott’s commentary on the game! Thank you, Scott, for your dedication to the team! Lastly, the parent group was one of the best that I have been involved with! They were truly like a family. The team would not have been the success it was without all these pieces! It was sad to say goodbye to this team.
Yes, the 2023 – 2024 hockey season will always hold a special place in my heart!
Editor’s Note:
Candace, I’m so glad you and your daughter Alivia had a wonderful time at the Telus Cup! Yes tournament play is the best – especially an event like the Nationals!
The sport of hockey can provide many great memories – memories to last a life time!
The Buffs had a great season. Showing that a strong combination of player skills, good coaching and team chemistry can lead to many successes. Ultimately, it’s the journey not so much the destination.
Candace, I am so proud of your son Colten’s accomplishments and to see his personal growth and development over the last few years!
Look forward to following his future hockey career with anticipation.
You are a very loyal and dedicated hockey parent. Enjoy the ride!!
~Coach Rex
1 https://calgaryherald.com/sports/calgary-buffaloes-lose-first-game-in-telus-cup