The Home Hardware Midget AAA Legionnaires kicked off the prestigious Mac's tournament in Calgary with a tie in their opener yesterday evening.

The Legionnaires used goals from Christian Albertson, Boston Bird, and Joe Arntsen to earn a 3-3 draw with the Lethbridge Midget Hurricanes.

Swift led 2-0 after the first, and 3-1 after 40 minutes.

"In the third period, they probably had a little more push because they're down 3-1," said Legionnaires head coach Darren Evjen. "We turn a couple pucks over, and that was the difference."

The need to start the Mac's in rhythm was heavily emphasized, after surrendering a blowout loss to open play in the 2017 edition of the tournament.

Matched up with the tough Lethbridge club, it was the kind of pace and execution that the coaching staff was looking for.

"I liked the way we played today, this was a hard game. They're a good hockey team," said Evjen. "They've been to a Telus Cup, they've won in Bantam AAA this group, they've got some high-end guys that will play in the WHL. So it was a real challenge for our group, and I thought we were really good today."

"We got the puck to the net, we played in the hard areas today to get some good screens, and some good rebounds," the Legionnaires bench boss added. "Against Lethbridge, that's what you've got to do. They're a big, physical team, and they've got skill. That's what I mean by hard. Every time you have a puck, it's a battle."

A silver lining in surrendering a lone point late with the tie, it comes against the team Evjen noted was most likely the highest-rated in their pool.

"Every day you can stay alive in this tournament, you're in good shape. By getting a tie, it isn't a win, but we don't take a loss and have very little wiggle room. We've just got to turn around tomorrow, and be ready to go. The guys know that we've got to be good tomorrow, and we've got to be good all week. We'll put this behind us, feel good about our game, and push tomorrow to get a win."

Swift Current now has a short turnaround before Game 2 of the Mac's. They take on the Brampton 45's with puck drop at 10 a.m. Sask time from Father David Bauer Arena in Calgary.