BENTLEY, Alberta – With back-to-back wins last weekend, ‘The Army’, is back on the war path. In complete charge of the 2010 Alberta Senior ‘AAA’ Finals, following up their series opening 4-2 win at home, the Bentley Generals served up a stunning 9-3 performance in Fort Saskatchewan 24 hours later.
If there were any signs of rust upon their armour it was shaken off very quickly in front of a sold out Bentley Arena on Friday night. The Gens’ gave up the first goal of the series when Matt Hunter’s long distance slapshot beat Scott Galenza before 10 minutes had been played. Kurt Bensmiller responded, converting a rebound from Joe Vandermeer’s point shot. The powerplay goal announced an eruption of dominant size and skill from the line of Bensmiller, Daryl Laplante and Travis Brigely which Fort Saskatchewan had no answer for. Churning in and out of the corners with perpetual flow, burying the Chiefs under a hot blanket of volcanic ash, with 7 goals and 20 points spread out over just 2 games. The ‘Lava Line’ made a lasting impression all weekend. Five minutes into period two, Bentley went ahead by jamming a loose puck behind David Tetrault: After saves on Bensmiller and Brigley in the sequence, Tetrault couldn’t hold off the former Detroit Red Wing, Laplante. Scott Hood then scooped up a mistake from the Chiefs, interrupting their powerplay breakout, when he slammed a close range slapshot off a turnover ten feet from the net. Fort Sask’ sorely missed the services of high scoring defenceman, Benjamin Lindemulder, who attended the ‘Crashed Ice World Series’ in Quebec City instead. Without Lindemulder’s blinding speed to lead their attack, scoring chances were few and far between. A quick response to Hood’s shorty’ (just 6 seconds later) from Corey Rutt, was set up by Blair Manning to make it 3-2. Outshooting Fort’ 14-4 in the period, the Gens were turned away time and time again by Tetrault. Derek Pess’ slashing penalty, granted Bentley a 5 on 3 PP starting off the 3rd. The ‘Lava Line’ came pouring over the boards to lead off the final frame and Travis Brigley brought the house down with a brilliant shot 39 seconds in: Former Boston Bruin, Darren Van Impe ignited a taut passing sequence, which freed Brigley from coverage very deep in the right face-off circle, where he calculated a ninety-degree angle wrister over the short side shoulder. The Gens’ PK was twice called on late in the game. Led by Scotty Galenza’s 11 3rd period saves, Bentley held the fort against The Fort’. Head coach, Brian Sutter, felt his team; “could have been a bit better” in game 1 but nobody could have forecasted the natural disaster the following night at the JRC in Fort Sask. Fort Saskatchewan failed to fire on four straight PP oppurtunities, got outshot 16-4 and trailed 3-0 after the opening period. Van Impe opened the game in style, surfing on a wave of lava, when Brigley set him up at the crease for an easy touch at 18:29. Kurt Bensmiller’s backhanded conversion off a rebound at 7:40 earned Laplante and Brigley their 2nd assists of the game. Sean Robertson set up Scott Hood, all alone in front, less than a minute later. That spelled the end for Tetrault, replaced by Garret Kindred in net. Five minutes into period 2 (again) Scott Hood scored (again). With Fort Sask down 4-0 they tried baiting Bentley into the penalty box but it backfired and (again) the Lava Line was doing the damage. Brigley (former member of Colorado Avalance and Calgary Flames) scored a PPG with 3:20 remaining in the 2nd. Showcasing his powerful shot (again), on a PP later in the period, Brigley blasted a puck off Kindred’s mask and out of play. The Generals took 38 SOG’s to Fort’s 14 through 40 minutes. One shift into period number three, Van Impe took a pass from Tyler Haarstad and whipped a 50-footer over Kindred’s glove, making it 5-0. The 5’5″ Chiefs goalie was hopping mad, his team stemmed the flow, on goals from Eric Sonnenberg and Richard Kelly. Laplante then set up Brigely for his 2nd and 3rd of the game restoring Bentley’s 5 goal lead; 7-2. Fort Sask melted down with a stream of undisciplined penalties. The Gens fired nearly 50 SOG’s as their frenzied fans begged for Bentley to add to the lead.
Brady Cook beat Scott Galenza with a wrist shot to make it 7-3, Bensmiller added another goal for the Lava Line, at which point Kindred went into a fit, lumberjacking his stick over the cross bar.
As the linesman picked up the debris, cat-calls were heard coming from the far end of the rink with only 1:34 remaining in a game which the Gens… quite clearly…’put the laughter into manslaughter.’ 9-3. Laplante had 5 assists and Brigley a hat-trick. The Gens’ return home on Wednesday night, trying for a 3-0 strangle on this best of seven. As for Fort Sask, they will regroup and expect a much better showing now that Lindemulder returns from his auspiciously timed participation in ‘Crashed Ice’. Hoping to crash back into a series to decide (potentially), ‘a once-in-a-lifetime Allan Cup opportunity’, one has to wonder how many of those one man should be dedicated towards in the same week? Lindemulder is an incredible talent to be sure, but without him, Fort Saskatchewan Chiefs lost half their playoff lifeline. His team needs him now, more than ever. Contact Wade.Giesbrecht@prohockeynews.com
