BENTLEY, Alberta – Clarenville Caribous : For the first time in 25 years Newfoundland has found its way to the Allan Cup. The ‘Bous boast back to back Herder Cups as the top senior team in their Province. Clarenville is coming into this tournament without any prior Allan Cup experience but they aren’t traveling across the country just for fun. Delegated to attend the tournament over a year ago, they expect to compete. The Maritimes last made their way to the big dance in 2007. Halifax Molson Canadiens (Nova Scotia) were easily disposed of that year going 0-3. A lesson learned. Three years later, Atantic Canada’s new bid will have one thing the 07′ team did not and thats conditioning. Halifax’ had no idea what they were getting themselves into. They tried to recruit older players with impressive but stagnant hockey resumes. Clarenville has fine-tuned from competing in the East Coast Senior Hockey League. This allowed them a 20 game regular season schedule and a playoff journey followed for the better part of two months. They are blessed with speed and youth backstopped by the goaltending of Jason Churchill. Drafted by San Jose in 2004, Churchill, will need to be a factor from the start. Clarenville opens their round robin versus Fort St John and follows against Bentley. A win in either of those games would go a nautical mile to justify the Caribous’ historic migration. Dundas Real Mcoys : Ontario is an annual contender for the Cup. In 2008, Dundas was one of 3 Ontario teams in Brantford. Many pundits believed it would be Dundas’ tournament to lose. It turned out they did, in overtime against their Provincial nemesis Brantford. The Real Mcoys’ attempt for redemption last year in Steinbach seemed to be a step back. Losing out to Steinbach in a high scoring quarter final thriller. This 3rd consecutive appearance will require sharper goaltending and more composure for marked improvement. Mark Jooris gets one more try. Jooris is 46 years old but he led Dundas in scoring at last years tournament. Team President, Don Robertson, calls Jooris ‘the greatest player to never play in the NHL.’ Thats a hard title to conclusively assign amidst tens of thousands of exceptional players who never got a shot in the show but Jooris is a classic and classy template type of story at the amateur ranks. Dundas definaltey took last years shortcomings to heart. They’ve recruited 6’6″ goaltender, Dan Turple, direct from the ECHL to cast a shadow on the crease. He will likely start both round robin games against South East Prairie Thunder and Powell River respectively. South East Prairie Thunder : Your 2010 Western Canada Reps’. Far and away the top team in Manitoba this year, ‘SEP’ made a powerful statement when they eliminated Saskatchewan’s Lloydminster Border Kings in regional qualifying. This team’s captain, Ryan Smith, is not ‘Captain Canada’. He is ‘Captain Manitoba’. He is also the top scorer from last years tournament and back for vengeance this time around. South East fell in 2OT of the Final in 2009, 4-3, to Bentley. Coming within inches of winning it all fueled the cause for the team’s core to return. Joining this bid are two terrific defencemen in Jon Cara and Dane Crowley. With Theo Fleury’s name on the marquee in Steinbach, not much was said about ‘Manitoba’s other team’. As it always is the focus was on Fleury. That all changed when South East goalie Brent Zeleniwich stopped 99 of 105 shots through 2 thrilling elimination games at the culmination of an incredible tournament. Zelly’ was an RBC Cup winner in 2000, with the Fort Mac’ Oil Barons. South East has everything required to contend including as strong a motive as there is: Revenge. Bentley Generals : Quite simply, they are the standard of excellence in senior hockey. In the time Brian Sutter has coached this team, they’ve never lost consecutive games over a 3 year span and they have finished no lower than 4rth in the country. ‘The Army’ has become and Allan Cup mainstay. Qualifying 5 times since 2005 and appearing in the final in the last 2, winning it all last year when Diarmuid Kelly beat Zelenewich on a play eerily similar to the famous goal Bobby Orr scored in May of 1970. In Bentley, its Dairmuid Kelly. In Boston its Bobby Orr. The fame is not the same but the historic effect amongst the inner circle of each teams fan base shares a common bond. Each is endeared eternally. Bentley doesn’t want it to end. Who can blame them? Manager Jeff McGinnis has done everything he possibly can to ensure this ‘Army’ continues to roll. Darren Van Impe was signed out of retirement from an extensive pro career (400+ NHL GP’s) and Travis Brigley also brings NHL experience onto an already well rounded group. The Gens’ leading scorer for the last 2 season is Curtis Austring. Its a common error for neophyte senior hockey followers to overlook a player like Austring, whose resume doesn’t range into professional ranks. On paper…you never see him coming. Allan Cups aren’t won on paper. They are won with guys like Austring, Scott Hood, Jared and Kevin Smyth and, of course, a coach like Sutter. A team like this could become the first to win back to back Allan Cups this millennium. Powell River Regals : Back in the mix. The best senior hockey organization BC has seen since the glory days of the Trail Smoke Eaters circa 50’s and 60’s. Its been a strange comeback story. The 3 time Allan Cup winners were not registered as ‘AAA’ last year but the allure of an easy qualification bracket in 2010 was too much to turn down. Powell River has only played 3 games to earn a spot, sweeping a series in Whitehorse Yukon, but Steve Passmore joins a roster which won the Coy Cup (BC ‘AA’ Championship). Passmore played briefly in the NHL. He may not even be the starting goalie in Fort St John. Counterpart Chad Vizzuti was on each of the previous Allan Cup winning teams in Powell River. Although they will smugly announce proclaim themselves to be in a state of ‘rebuild’, thats a concept that every senior team embraces each hockey season. Truth is…its only been 4 years since Powell won an Allan Cup. They have several players back from that team and they have all the resources, experience and trickery needed to do it again. Fort St John Flyers : Finally. The Flyers tried and failed to win McKenzie Cups in 2007, 08 and 09. Vanquished via Bentley each time. The Flyers did the smart thing: Instead of trying to qualify (again) for the Allan Cup, host it. Automatic inclusion grants each host team the leverage to promise recruiting targets an opportunity to play for a National Championship. It’s worked well for Host teams in 2004, 2006 and 2008. Each of those tournaments were won by the host. The Flyers feel they have the group to make that trend carry forward. Kimbi Daniels, Ryan Manitowich and Kip Noble will figure prominently and Clay Pool (U of A Golden Bears alumni) along with Rod Branch could give FSJ the best goalie tandem in the field. This team has been, arguably, too good for their own good. Forced to invent an exhibition schedule featuring extensive travel and logistics to replace the games they would play in the North Peace Hockey League which voted to now allow FSJ to participate in league playoffs this year. While the Peace Country’s league could have been kinder to FSJ…its citizens are still sure to back them when the chips are down. They will have a sold out rink revving their emotional engine. Contact Wade.Giesbrecht@prohockeynews.com
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