INNISFAIL – It’s official.
Innisfail will not host the Allan Cup tournament in 2025.
And the Eagles will no longer be a AAA senior men’s hockey team in the Chinook Hockey League (CHL).
The team has opted to drop down to AA to play in the North Central Hockey League (NCHL).
And they will once again play against arch-rival Stony Plain as the northern Eagles have also opted to join the NCHL, which will now be a 10-team league for the 2024-25 season.
Earlier this month Ryan Dodd, general manager of the Innisfail Eagles, said his team would likely have to pull out of hosting the Allan Cup as Stony Plain was planning on leaving the two-team CHL.
He added two new teams he had hoped would join the CHL had bowed out.
With no other AAA team to play against in western Canada for the 2024/25 season that would lead to an Allan Cup challenge, Innisfail was left with only one viable option for next year; jump to the AA-level NCHL to give players a stable home to play in, and give up Innisfail’s dream to host the Allan Cup for the first time in the team’s 76-year history.
With the move to the NCHL, Innisfail is a AA team for the first time since 2013.
The final decision for the Eagles to join the NCHL was left to representatives of the league’s eight existing teams during a meeting last week, said Dodd.
“We had some push-back. Ultimately they were worried we were going to be stacking up to build a triple A team, and still challenge for the Allan Cup,” said Dodd. “They didn't want to let a team in that was going to destroy everybody in the league.
“Ultimately it came down that we had to give up (hosting) the Allan Cup in order to play in the NCHL.”
Dodd said Stony Plain was also accepted in the AA, leaving the Eagles with no AAA team to play against next season in the CHL.
“I think it's more important the Innisfail Eagles stay alive, that they stay strong and stay viable. And we need to listen to people within our community,” said Dodd. “We had sponsors telling us that they didn't want to sponsor us anymore because we didn't play in a league.
“We had people in the community that were saying, ‘you know what? Your hockey is phenomenal but I watched you play Stony Plain 10 times in the last two years.”
Dodd told the Albertan last week he had notified the Allan Cup Tournament Committee in Ontario of its decision to remove Innisfail as the host for the 2025 Allan Cup.
He added he is also hearing there are AA teams in the country that are interested in a future Allan Cup challenge.
However, Dodd said it’s not a viable possibility for the Eagles organization to consider at this time.
“We could have raised a good chunk of cash to go to Newfoundland in 2026,” said Dodd of the planned tourney in two years. “But to go back to the well again and say, ‘hey, sponsors, we need more money.’ At some point, you just got to let go.
“So for now, we're double A and we're looking to put a good product on the ice and fill the rink,” he added. “We’ll have some great rivalries between Red Deer, Lacombe and Stony.
“This is exciting. You're going to see nine different teams, not just one. There will be nine.”
