Some people believe that the only ice that should be used in August is that which you put into a tall cold one to keep it that way.  

But to the Airdrie CFR Chemical Bisons, ice in August is meant to skate on for the start of their 2019 Training Camp.  That's precisely what the rookies trying to make it to the main camp will do starting on Saturday, Aug. 31 on the Blue and Gold ice surfaces of the Ron Ebbesen Arena.  

Bisons Head Coach Dustin Taylor says the rookie camp runs Aug. 31-Sept. 1, followed by the main camp from Labour Day to Sept. 18 or 20, depending upon some junior prospects the team might have come back.

After four nights, the roster will be narrowed from 60 to 70 to between 35 and 40 that will take part in the Red vs White intra-squad game the following weekend.  Following that game, the roster will be further pared-down to about 28 players.  They'll play in an Okotoks tournament, Sept. 14 to 16, against their south division rivals from the Alberta Midget Hockey League (AMHL).  Following each game, face-to-face player releases will be made until the roster reduced to 20.  

The Bisons regular season opens Oct. 5.

When asked about the makeup of this year's club, Taylor first spoke of last year's success.

"We had an outstanding group of young men as part of our program," he says.  "We were fortunate enough to be able to move on at least 15 of those kids to junior, potentially more depending on how their junior training camps go in the next couple of weeks here.  We're looking at between three and five returning players coming into this year's squad.  Kind of left us a little bit dry in terms of that tribal knowledge in bringing in what they learned last year but in saying that, we did our job in moving kids on to where they want to get to."

Taylor has added a very important piece to the Bisons coaching staff with the addition of Airdrie native and former Tampa Bay Lightning Dana Tyrel.  Taylor is thrilled to have Tyrel with him behind the bench.

"Dana and I grew up together so we've known each other for quite some time.  When he mentioned that he had some interest in staying involved in the game at the coaching level we jumped at the opportunity to get him on board.

Taylor says Tyrel is an alumnus of the program, a native of Airdrie and has a willingness and desire to help kids.

"He'll kind of leverage his experience to help these kids navigate what it takes and what to avoid."

Despite only having a handful of returning players this season, Taylor has set some ambitious goals for the Bisons as a team.

"Every year we're after a league championship.  That's the ultimate goal and then progressing from there to Pacifics, regionals, and nationals.  That is the ultimate goal but we like to break it down to smaller, achievable goals that are a little near-sighted for the kids to see.  That is, first a foremost, our goal is to make playoffs this year."