New Brunswick Awarded 2017 Allan Cup

New Brunswick has been awarded the 2017 Allan Cup tournament.

Hockey Canada Senior Council will now take their recommendation to the Board of Directors meeting later this month for a final vote.

Alberta, Ontario and Newfoundland were also hoping to be named as the host province. 

Locally, the Bentley Generals, Innisfail Eagles and Stony Plain Eagles had each announced their intentions to bid had Alberta been selected.

The 2017 tournament became available after the original host team, the Kenora Thistles, folded last month. 

New Brunswick will now choose a host team from the North East Senior Hockey League.

Generals, Eagles Seek To Host 2017 Allan Cup

The Bentley Generals hosted the Allan Cup in 2013
and hope to do so again in 2017

The 2017 Allan Cup championship tournament finds itself without a host.

Both the Bentley (soon to be Lacombe) Generals and Innisfail Eagles hope to fix that. 

The Kenora Thistles, who hosted the Allan Cup in 2011, were to do so again next year. That changed when the Thistles suddenly folded this month. Team President Gary Forsyth confirmed the news through a post to the Allan Cup message board.

In light of the news, Hockey Canada has issued a nation-wide call to find a replacement host for the 2017 tournament. Both the Generals and Eagles, along with Stony Plain, will be bidding to take over from Kenora.

It's Official, Bentley Generals Moving to Lacombe

Photo: Rod Ince, Fast Photo

The Bentley Generals will moving base camp a few miles east next year.

Lacombe City Council voted unanimously Monday to approve a $3.4-million plan to build new dressing rooms for the Barnett Arena, including a new team area for the Generals.

Team officials weren't sure what to expect ahead of Monday's vote. They were relieved once council approved the plan following a short discussion.

In response to questions from a couple of city councillors, Generals officials at Monday's meeting said they will make their new area available for use by other groups during their off-season. Negotiations will take place over the coming months.

The two sides will also look at how they can work together on fundraising endeavors for the arena expansion. Council is optimistic the project can be done for less than the budget $3.4-million.

Work on the new dressing rooms is expected to this spring and be completed in time for the Generals to play in Lacombe full-time next season.

Bentley Generals On Verge of Moving to Lacombe

The Bentley Generals, two-time Allan Cup champions, await a vote from Lacombe City Council on Monday that would pave the way for them to relocate there next season.

Team officials say they have held on long enough (too long, perhaps) but a move is needed in order to keep the club competitive moving forward.

My story on the impending council vote and potential move...

http://www.1067thedrive.fm/news/bentley-generals-on-verge-of-relocating-to-lacombe/

Generals: Oh, What a Relief It Is

2013 Allan Cup Champions

Jubilation.  Celebration.  Satisfaction.  These are words that usually come to mind when a team wins a championship.

But for the Bentley Generals, who won their second Allan Cup title on Saturday with a 3-0 win over the Clarenville Caribous, there are another words which are perhaps more fitting.

Relief.

You would be hard pressed to find another team facing as much pressure to win as this year's Bentley Generals.  They already knew they'd be playing in the 2013 Allan Cup as the host team.  But the Generals shocked the senior hockey world when they fired coach Brian Sutter. 

Bentley Generals - Allan Cup Champs (again)

Here's the Hockey Canada media release for the Bentley Generals 2013 Allan Cup championship win...

RED DEER, Alta. – For the second time in five years, the Bentley Generals have won the Allan Cup, claiming Canada’s 105th National Senior Championship with a 3-0 victory over the Clarenville Caribous in Saturday’s championship game at Red Deer Arena.

Bentley and Clarenville Battle for Allan Cup (again)

Here's a look at Hockey Canada's media release for today's Allan Cup final between the Bentley Generals and Clarenville Caribous...

(visit my soundcloud page for some audio from Generals coach Brandin Cote and captain Sean Robertson)

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RED DEER, Alta. – After semifinal victories on Friday, the Bentley Generals and Clarenville Caribous will meet for the 105th Allan Cup, Canada’s National Senior Championship, on Saturday at the Red Deer Arena. The championship game can be seen on TSN beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT. Check your local listings for broadcast times in your area.

Bentley defeated the Kenora Thistles 3-2 in Friday’s late semifinal, while Clarenville topped the Rosetown Redwings 6-2 in the early game.

Allan Cup - One Month Away

allancup2013.ca

Yesterday at the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, the 2013 ATB Financial Allan Cup organizing committee gave an update to the local media.

With the tournament now just one month away, excitement for the Senior AAA national championship tournament is starting to pick up. 

Ticket sales are a clear indicator of that excitement as the tournament is already more than 80% sold out.  Tournament Chair Dave Mousseau expects that number to reach 100% by the time the tournament starts on April 15th.

"With our choice of venue being the [Red Deer] Arena, I think the atmosphere there is second to none, especially for championship calibre," Mousseau proclaimed.  "But unfortunately there's only a certain amount of seats in that venue.  With the following that senior hockey has now, it is going to be a sellout."

Generals Briefing With Brandin Cote

Despite being the host team this time around, the road to the Allan Cup remains a long and eventful journey for the Bentley Generals.

The Generals, under the guidance of new Head Coach Brandin Cote, split their first two games to open the Chinook Hockey League season last weekend.

They have two more league games this weekend before heading to Saskatchewan for a two game trip next weekend.

Following that, they welcome their long time rivals, the Fort St. John Flyers, for a pair of exhibition games on the Remembrance Day long weekend.

On Thursday, I chatted with Cote about a number of topics concerning his club... including opening weekend, new faces on the Generals roster, and how he's settling into his new gig...

A Fresh Cote

Bentley Generals Head Coach
Brandin Cote

Coming off of a season in which they failed to make the Allan Cup for the first time since 2006, the Bentley Generals knew that the time for change had finally come.

After winning the cup in 2009, the Gens did an admirable job of scrapping their way back to the final tournament twice more only to come up just short. 

"We had to make some changes," team manager Jeff McInnis said on Wednesday.  "We were stagnant and we knew that.  We've learned a lot of lessons over the years. We watched other teams who are stagnant and you're saying 'gee, why don't they make changes?' But then you realize how hard it is to make changes when you're dealing with players who become your friends.  But you have to kind of separate that."

Letting go of a former NHL coach of the year definitely counts as change.  But in the minds of Bentley Generals management (McInnis and Team President Wes Gyori) it was the right thing to do.

Generals Look To Be "Hosts With The Most"

Tickets for the 2013 Allan Cup are now on-sale.

The Bentley Generals plan on giving their faithful 'army' plenty to cheer about, on and off the ice.

The 2009 Allan Cup Champs and three time runners-up will host the 105th edition of the Senior AAA national hockey championship at the Red Deer Arena from April 15th - 20th, 2013.

1,500 full tournament ticket packages are available.  You can also sign up to help out as a volunteer.  

Complete details are available on the tournament's official website - allancup2013.ca

The Eagles Have Landed Sutter

The 65th season of Innisfail Eagles hockey has taken flight, quickly.

The Chinook Hockey League team confirmed today that Brian Sutter is their new Head Coach, bringing along longtime assistants Brian Stephenson and Jason Lenz and other support staff with him.

Brian spent five of the past six seasons coaching the Bentley Generals.  He guided them to four Allan Cup appearances including their championship win in 2009.

Sutter Era Over In Bentley

As it turns out... Brent isn't the only Sutter who won't be coaching the same club next season.

The Bentley Generals have parted ways with Brian Sutter.

MONDAY MASH-UP

Scott Kalinchuk scored in overtime to give the Bentley Generals a 3-2 win last night over the Lloydminster Border Kings.

 With the win... the Generals clinch their sixth straight Chinook Hockey League.

The best-of-three league final series turned out to be quite a classic. LBK won the opener in overtime on Thursday, Bentley won at home 6-3 on Saturday before taking last night's finale in OT. The Generals trailed 2-1 late in the third period until Jason Lundmark found the back of the net setting the stage for Kalinchuk's heroics. It's possible that these two teams will meet at least once more this season if the Generals qualify for the 2012 Allan Cup which the Border Kings are hosting.

Bentley will now take on Horse Lake in one of two Senior AAA Provincial semifinal series. 

Horse Lake eliminated Fort Saskatchewan over the weekend. Sylvan Lake will take on Stony Plain in the other semifinal series. 



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The Red Deer Optimist Rebels clinched first place in the Chrysler (south) division of the Alberta Midget Hockey League with wins 5-0 over the UFA Bisons on Saturday and 8-2 over the Edmonton KC Pats on Sunday.  

In that game, Scott Feser led the scoring attack with two goals and two assists.  The Optimist Rebels can clinch first overall in the AMHL with a win over Lethbridge next Sunday.



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Red Deer's foursome of Jocelyn Peterman, Brittany Tran, Rebecca Konschuh and Kristine Anderson will represent Canada at next month's World Junior Curling Championship in Sweden.

 They won the Canadian title Saturday in Ontario with a 12-6 win over Manitoba. 

The team is coached by Red Deer's Nancy McInernay.



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Notre Dame won the boys title at Lindsay Thurber's 30th annual senior basketball tournament. Hunting Hills won silver in the girls division. 



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The RDC Queens hockey team has rallied its way into the ACAC playoffs.

The Queens 4-0 fell at Grant MacEwan but have tied SAIT with 18 points in the standings.  RDC owns the tie breaker and still has two games remaining while the Trojans have none.

Staying with RDC... the Queens volleyball squad split a pair of matches versus NAIT this past weekend to finish 4th overall in the ACAC. The Queens and NAIT will meet in the opening round of playoffs.

Kings volleyball finished first overall thanks to a pair of wins over NAIT. Unfortunately, Briercrest was in first place at the Christmas break and as a result won the right to host the ACAC championship tournament instead of the Kings.

Kings basketball are second in the south division. They fell to both Keyano and Grant MacEwan over the weekend. Queens basketball also lost to Keyano and GMac.

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Best Grammys Tweet - @rcress8872 "The state of music in 2012, the 4 most talented musicians on the Grammys are in their 60's (Bruce, Brian Wilson, Stevie & Sir Paul) #Grammys"

In all fairness... the Foo Fighters were killer with their performance, proving that rock is alive and well (at least somewhat)!

Paul McCartney's closing performance from last night borders on perfection! Seriously. The second half of Abbey Road is one of the greatest pieces of music of all time... and Sir Paul sang it bang on, note for note, more than 40 years later... check it out, incredible stuff! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUs_dXXGs44