In the first half of the season, the U of M Bisons men’s hockey team did not perform like a championship-contending team. First-year forward Brett Davis says the team’s 3-9 record is not something they are content with.
“As a group, we are not very happy with the start of our season,” Davis said.
“It is important that we go out there and play better collectively. We have let a lot of goals in the back of our net this season and we need to limit that.”
The team currently sits seventh place in Canada West and are six points behind the University of Regina Cougars.
With the U of R sitting so close in the standings, the Bisons have the opportunity to make up ground and hopefully make the playoffs come spring.
“Regina is a great team and we have lost both regular-season games [against] them this year,” Davis said.
“It is always nice to go out and beat a rival, but it is even better when it helps us in the final standings.”
The Bisons face off against the Cougars in early February. Davis and the rest of his team are very excited about this matchup.
“I think I am looking forward to the Regina series the most,” Davis said.
“We are very close to Regina in the standings and a few wins against them could catch us up very quick.”
Davis has had a great start to his Bisons hockey career. In his first season, he has racked up nine goals and six assists in just 11 games.
He played his junior career in the Western Hockey League before being drafted in the National Hockey League by the Dallas Stars. He then went on to play five games in the American Hockey League for the Manitoba Moose before signing with the Bisons.
The team laces the skates back up for the first time in the new year on Jan. 14 as they face the MacEwan Griffins in back-to-back home games.
This will be the herd’s first game back in over a month. The squad needs to be ready to perform in order to be successful in their remaining games.
“It is always tough to go out and play after a long time away from the ice,” Davis said.
“The first thing that we need to do as a team is to get our feet moving. The boots will start off slow, but if we get those going, everything will get [into] shape quick.”
The team will have home-ice advantage as six out of the final eight games for the Bisons are at home.
