INNISFAIL – The Birds of Innisfail have found ice to practice and financial hope to head to Ontario this month to make their long-awaited return challenge for the historic Allan Cup.
And the competition for the four-team 2023 senior men’s hockey championship series, which is running from April 16 to 22 in Dundas, Ont., has shaped to become a true national event.
The Innisfail Eagles are western Canada’s team in 2023. It is the team’s second attempt for a national Allan Cup championship. In 2019 the Birds lost a heartbreaking Allan Cup final game to home club Lacombe Generals.
This year’s home team Dundas Real McCoys – the 2014 Allan Cup champions - will represent Central Canada with the Hamilton Steelers.
Eastern Canada’s entry is the Clarenville Caribous from Newfoundland and Labrador – the 2011 Allan Cup champs.
“This is great representation from (across) Canada. It’s going to be really exciting,” said Kent Wing, the team’s vice-president and director of operations.
In the meantime, the Eagles have been practicing hard to claim this year’s top prize.
But not in Innisfail. Scheduled ice removals were made at the Innisfail Twin Arena in late March to create playing areas for lacrosse.
However, a full roster of up to 22 Eagles were at the Olds Sports Complex last week to suit up and hit the ice.
“We're moving forward. Everyone's focused on the next big adventure. Guys are optimistic. There was an electric feeling in the dressing room and on the ice. The intensity is there,” said Wing, who attended the practice. “At one point I looked up and there was a bunch of kids watching us practice and it was a good vibe. The guys are definitely buzzing.”
Wing said the Eagles are looking to Airdrie to practice this week, with the Penhold Multiplex eyed for the following week before the team heads out to Ontario.
But the Eagles still need to get the buzzing to happen in Dundas, and the team needs $60,000 to get there.
Hockey Canada can not fund team expenses this year due to a nine-month freeze from federal funding that is connected to a high-profile scandal.
It’s up to out-of-town teams to get to Dundas on their own.
Fundraising heating up
“We are well on our way. We are very optimistic, yes. We know we are going to hit our goal,” said Wing, adding he was unable at this time to provide funding figures.
The Eagles have their own sponsorship program on the team website (www.innisfaileagles.com).
Two Innisfail community builders, Janice Wing and Jason Heistad, have also created a GoFundMe page called ‘Support Allan Cup bound Eagles’ with a fundraising goal of $5,000. As of March 31, the initiative had raised $900.
Kent Wing said the team partnered with the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame to split money raised at a pub night fundraising event on March 30 at The Hideout Restaurant and Bar in Red Deer.
He added regular season sponsors have also stepped up.
“I think everyone kind of realizes how important winning a national championship or even just representing our town is,” he said. “It puts our name on the map across Canada. Anybody that follows hockey is going to follow the Allan Cup and they are going to know exactly where Innisfail, Alberta is.”
And just before the team is scheduled to head to Ontario there will be a big fundraising event on April 13 at the Innisfail Golf Club’s Divots Restaurant.
Chefs from Dark Woods Brewing and Divots are teaming up to create a special tapas-style menu featuring Dark Woods products.
Tickets for the event, which goes from 6 to 9 p.m., are $40 with a significant portion of the proceeds going to support the Eagles’ quest for the Allan Cup.
“I wanted to do something that brought Dark Woods and Divots together,” said Talitha Watkinson, who is the front of house supervisor at Divots. “We had actually been talking about trying to come up with something for a month or two now. And then when the Eagles came out about the Allan Cup and trying to fundraise some money, it seemed like the perfect opportunity.”
Michael Devine, the food and beverage manager and executive chef at the club, said the plan is to have up to four stations of food with each featuring some Dark Woods brands in the cooking, such as a citrus ale turned into a salad dressing for a green station and an amber ale for a potato station.
“This is a community event. We are really trying to help the Eagles,” said Devine.
Helping out on the Dark Woods side is 17-year-old Innisfailian Carver Johnson. He is a part-time chef at Dark Woods and student at École Secondaire Notre Dame High School.
He is manning one of the food stations, and just as importantly he’s a huge hockey fan.
“I play hockey myself in Innisfail. I have grown up around the Eagles,” said Johnson. “The team’s supporters and people that help fundraise for them come into Dark Woods all the time and play golf at the club.
“This is my way of giving back to the community,” he added. “I feel like I am doing a good deed.”
