It was a tough start to the Mac’s Midget AAA Tournament for the Red Deer Optimist Chiefs.
Red Deer had a 4-2 lead late in the third against the Vancouver North West Hawks, but dropped the game 5-4.
Jayden Henderson scored twice, Silas Buijs added a short-handed tally and Kaleb Kremp also scored in the loss.
Last year, after finishing 4-1 in round-robin play, the Optimist Chiefs lost 3-0 to the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the quarterfinal.
Red Deer plays next Saturday at 9 a.m. against the Chicago Mission, then will take on the Saskatoon Blazers Sunday at 11:45 a.m. Monday, they finish round robin at 2:30 p.m., against the Calgary Flames. The championship game is on New Years Day at the Saddledome in Calgary.
Email sports tips to Byron Hackett
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter