The Innisfail Eagles will be departing for the small eastern Alberta farming town of Provost on March 31 for the Investors Group Hockey Alberta Senior AA/A Provincial Championship. Six other teams will converge on the town of Provost for this three-day event. All teams have one goal in mind and that is to bring GOLD back to their communities.
The teams that have made it to the provincial championship this year are: Daysland Northstars (North Central Hockey League- Champions), Brooks Blackhawks (Ranchland Hockey League-Champions), Dewberry Mustangs (Sask Alta Hockey League), Provost Blades (NCHL-Host), Drayton Valley Wildcats (North Central Hockey League-Champions), Spirit River Rangers (North Peace Hockey League-Champions) and The Slave Lake Winterhawks (NCHL-Wild Card).
The Eagles’ first game goes Friday April 1 at 11 a.m. against the Daysland Northstars. The Northstars have been ranked as the # 1 team in Alberta since before Christmas. They have a record of 20 – 2 in league play in the 2010/11 season in the BRHL.
With the Eagles not having played any real competitive hockey in the last two months this first game will prove to be a real challenge. The Eagles have more speed and skill than the Northstars, but the Northstars just finished battling Provost for their League Championship. The Eagles will be relying heavily on their skill set to overcome this first game challenge to make sure they stay on the AA side of the tournament.
How the Eagles finish game 1 will decide how they advance in the tournament. If the team wins they continue on in the AA side of the tournament. If they lose, however, they will be knocked down to the A side of the tournament.
With technology today I will be updating the team website after each game with a game recap in the Newsletter section of the website. During the game I will be providing period ending scores on the team’s chat forum. To follow the team on their Provincial run for GOLD log on to www.innisfaileagles.com
Each team is only guaranteed two games in the tournament. If you are one of the four lucky teams that advance then your third game is on Sunday. Sunday’s games are the Championship games for both A and AA. With some luck and a lot of hard work I expect our Eagles to be playing in the 4 p.m. AA Championship game. I also fully believe that we will be returning home Sunday with pride in our hearts and gold around our necks.
