INNISFAIL - When the game clock ran out of time at the J.L. Grightmire Arena in Dundas, Ontario on April 24 there was only heartbreak on two dozen faces lining the Innisfail Eagles’ bench.
“The boys are pretty heartbroken. It’s a lot of time and effort, and guys have all taken time off work. For some, it’s maybe the last kick at the can,” said Ryan Dodd, the Eagles' general manager and assistant coach a day after his team lost its third game in a row during this year’s Allan Cup Challenge. “But I don’t think it is.
“We’re looking at hosting next year.”
That’s right. For the first time in the Eagles’ 76-year-history their hockey-mad town will host the week-long Allan Cup Challenge tournament for 2025; an event that will begin April 5 and give the town national exposure.
“We had a meeting yesterday with the Allan Cup committee and Innisfail has been awarded the Allan Cup (tournament) for April 5 of next year,” said Dodd. “It's something that we're really excited as a team, and it really perked the players up.”
On the ice the Eagles were challenged from the start of the four-team Allan Cup Challenge 2024, which ran in Dundas from April 20 to 27.
The team fell behind 5-1 in the first game of the preliminary round-robin against the Ontario senior men’s champions Stoney Creek Tigers. The Birds roared back late in the game to make it 5-4 but the Tigers held on for the win.
Innisfail faced defending Allan Cup champion Dundas Real McCoys in the second game and were defeated 5-2.
And in the third and last game of the preliminary round against Newfoundland and Labrador’s Southern Shore Breakers, the Eagles ran into a hot goaltender and lost 2-0. The team could not advance to the semifinal and were out of the Allan Cup.
“We hit four goal posts, a crossbar and missed a wide open net,” said Dodd. “The hockey gods weren’t looking down on us."
Dundas went on to win its second consecutive Allan Cup, defeating Southern Shore 6-1 in the final on April 27.
In the meantime, Innisfail got the news they have long been waiting for from the Allan Cup Tournament Committee.
Innisfail will host the Allan Cup Challenge in 2025, and it will be a bigger and more inclusive senior men’s hockey national championship that has been held since 1909 to determine the country’s best amateur men’s hockey club.
“There won’t be just four teams anymore. There will be six. It is going to be open to AA challengers now,” said Dodd of next year’s tournament that has in the past been open only to AAA teams. “Right now it possibly looks like Newfoundland will come back. Ontario will be represented and I’m hearing Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island are talking about having a rep, and I know B.C. has talked about having one too.”
While the magnitude of Innisfail hosting the tourney can’t be overstated as the Eagles will have a golden opportunity to win at home, just like the Lacombe Generals did in 2019, the tournament will put Innisfail and Central Alberta in the national spotlight and showcase everything both have to offer.
To make all this happen two courses of action will begin immediately. Dodd and senior team executives will stick to hockey operations, and a citizens committee will be struck for all the planning in the community.
The Town of Innisfail will also negotiate with user groups at the Innisfail Twin Arena on their scheduling, as the ice has always been taken out by the end of March. The timeline for ice removal will have to be extended to at least mid-April.
Janice Wing is an Innisfail town councillor, and has a long past career in governance and organizing. She was on a past committee in the City of Red Deer attempting to bring junior hockey’s Memorial Cup to Central Alberta.
Wing sees the immense potential an Allan Cup tournament can bring to Innisfail and Central Alberta.
“Allan Cup is a huge, huge opportunity for Innisfail, certainly from an economic perspective,” said Wing. “I have already been contacted by friends in Calgary who say, ‘save us a bed. We are coming to the tournament.’ People will come from far and wide.
“Not only will businesses enjoy more foot traffic and people coming through the doors but we've been talking a lot in our region, province and country about why Innisfail is a good place to come and be a part of and live,” she added.
Wing pointed out that while preliminary work to host the Allan Cup has already begun there has to be a “large coordinated effort” to be able to pull off an event of the magnitude of a prestigious week-long national hockey championship.
“We need a strong media plan, a communications plan, and a strong sponsorship plan. We’ve got to do all the work that will pay off in the end,” said Wing. “Because as soon as you start talking about economic impact, then that elevates it to a whole other level, and yes, we need to go and meet with the chamber.”
Jason Heistad, who is also a town councillor and a longtime supporter of the team, said the upcoming event is also an opportunity to bring in the leaders of the team’s past with ones earmarked for the Eagles’ future success.
He also believes the tournament’s success will come down to leadership, and organizing as many volunteers as possible.
“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for the senior men's hockey team in our community, and Innisfail is going to do this right, and it will come down to great volunteers,” said Heistad. “I see council’s role to step up and make sure all our facilities are available and to help within our own organization to ensure this event is a success.”
