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.

Sutter Said What Many Are Thinking: Change Is Needed

Brent Sutter is right, absolutely 100% right.

His comments about grassroots hockey in our country, which were spat on by Don Cherry, are right on the mark.

Sutter’s contention is that our current focus when it comes to building hockey players is off the mark.

The Hard Hitting Topic of Body Checking

Hey gang.

I am fortunate enough to have been invited by Hockey Alberta to serve as moderator for an interesting, and quite possibly emotional, forum discussion taking place tomorrow night as part of their Annual General Meeting.

The topic of discussion… body checking. There has been no shortage of opinions voiced both for and against Hockey Alberta’s, followed by Hockey Canada’s, decision to eliminate body checking from pee wee hockey.

The bottom line is there’s no turning back. The decision has been made and the focus of tomorrow night’s forum will be on “what’s next.” Now that this change is being made, how do we (coaches, managers, officials, players, parents, etc.) move forward while also improving the game of hockey?