INNISFAIL – The third annual Battle of the Badges charity hockey game between Innisfail RCMP and Innisfail Fire Rescue was once again entertaining for a near packed house but more importantly it was a boost for the Innisfail and District Food Bank.
Almost $3,000, including $657.50 from the Innisfail Lions Club, and 1,000 pounds of non-perishable food, was raised at the Innisfail Twin Arena on Jan. 3.
“I would like to thank our community so much for their generous donations not just for the Battle of the Badges but throughout the holiday season. We seem to be serving more people every month and the donations make it all possible,” said Heather Taylor, co-coordinator of the food bank. “I would like to give a huge shoutout to all the volunteers and organizers of the battle.
“It has become a great event,” added Taylor. “It was so great to watch the little kids come in with their donations and big smiles.”
As for the game, it was billed as a rubber match.
The Innisfail RCMP easily won the inaugural game in 2023 by a score of 15 -10 but Innisfail Fire Rescue came back in 2024 with a thrilling 9-8 overtime victory.
For the rubber match the firefighters loaded up their roster with five members of the senior men’s Innisfail Eagles hockey team, including Mike Marianchuk, Dave Nippard, Joe and Dan Vandermeer, and goalie Wade Waters.
“It’s always a good competitive game against the police,” said Marianchuk, a past Innisfail firefighter and current member of the Cochrane Fire Department. He has played in all Battle of the Badges games.
“Obviously this is a huge event. They put it on right and it's just great to come back and support the community,” said Marianchuk.
The extra help from the Eagles team made an immediate positive difference on the ice for Innisfail Fire Rescue.
They built up an early first period 3-1 lead and never looked back, despite a second period rally by the Mounties to make the score close at 6-5 after being behind at one point by four goals.
But the firefighters found their legs again and ultimately skated to a convincing 12-7 victory to take the Battle of the Badges trophy.
“I think we just jelled well tonight, so that definitely helped. I think the local firefighters chipped in quite a bit on the goals tonight,” said Steven Kennedy, the Town of Innisfail’s operations director who is also a community firefighter and played on the Innisfail Fire Rescue team for the second year in a row.
Innisfail RCMP Staff Sgt. Ian Ihme, the coach behind the Mounties’ bench, noted the support the firefighters received from the Eagles but was gracious in defeat.
“There's no taking that away from the fire guys as they played a hard game,” said Ihme. “We started to make a game of it in the second period. We came back pretty good. But the fire team definitely rallied there at the end.”
As for Gary Leith, the chief of the Innisfail Fire Department and coach of Innisfail Fire Rescue, he noted that while there is some competitiveness and rivalry between the two teams, it was all in “good spirits”, especially for the cause both teams were playing for.
“At the start of a new year the food bank needs its shelves replenishing, and this is a great cause and great way of doing that,” said Leith. “And the crowd was awesome.”
