Locals take aim at Allan Cup
By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter
Photo Courtesy of Rod Ince
The Allan Cup is the only other trophy of significance that can hold a candle to the Stanley Cup, as it too carries an encyclopedic history and deep roots in our great nation.
The Allan Cup was donated by Sir H. Montagu Allan in 1909 to the Victoria Hockey Club of Montreal and was to be given to the amateur hockey champion of the Inter-Provincial Amateur Hockey Union, which ended up being the Ottawa Cliffsides.
One week later, the Intercollegiate league champion Queen’s University Golden Gaels challenged the Cliffsides to a one-game playoff and won, taking over as Allan Cup champions.
Since then, the Cup ironed out its playoff format from a challenge to a nationally represented tournament, as the groups responsible for the trophy changed hands as well, all while building up a rich hockey history. The trophy is handed out yearly to the best senior AAA hockey team.
Two local hockey players are looking to get their hands on this iconic piece of hardware one more time.
Keenan Desmet, a local boy who starred with the UFA Bisons before going on to an established Junior A career, college career and one year as a pro in Europe, who is also known around town as an assistant coach to the Strathmore Wheatland Kings, won the Allan Cup for the 2012-13 season with the then Bentley Generals.
The Generals have played in eight Allan Cup finals, winning three of them, and now go by the Lacombe Generals.
“It’s the highest level of hockey for a guy like me in Western Canada. We play with a lot of guys who played pro but have since moved on to get jobs and now have families,” said Desmet, who makes the two-hour drive mid-week for practices and hops in the team van for games on the weekend.
“It’s a huge commitment and I’ve had a lot of support from my family and friends. But for me, it’s all about playing with that competitiveness again. I still love the game. Everyone we play with or against has the same competitiveness and we all want to be winners. To say that you’re a national champion is something special that not a lot of people get the chance to do.”
Desmet isn’t the only Strathmore product to don the navy and gold of the Generals. He skates alongside 31-year-old Brett Robertson, who has won a pair of Allan Cups with the Generals.
In 19 games this season with the Generals, Robertson notched seven goals and 21 points, while Desmet found the back of the net once and chipped in seven assists in eight games.
Keenan isn’t even the only Desmet to have played in the past. Both his brothers, Braden and Taggart, played for the Generals in years past, along with the dozens of locals who have made the trek to the Gary Moe Auto Group Sportsplex Arena in the past.
Joining Desmet and Robertson on those long carpooling rides are a pair of Strathmore coaches in their rookie seasons behind the bench.
Brett Thurston played for the Generals for six years and won the Allan Cup three times (2009, 2013 and 2016) and is looking for his first ring with his new role.
“It’s a little different being a coach; I still have the same rapport with the guys and interact with them the same as I would have when I was playing. Just now it’s a little more game planning in between periods and talking with the coaching staff about how we’re going to try and go about winning games,” said Thurston. “I still have the fire and passion to be out there. It’s fun to be out there with the guys trying to win a national championship.”
The other bench boss is Devin Olson, who enjoyed a 12-year tenure pulling the strings in the Wheatland Athletic Association.
“I always knew the hockey was good. We have two former NHLers on our team (Brennan Evans and Evan Oberg). They offered me a job to help out and I couldn’t say no,” said Olson, who turns 36 this spring. “The main reason you put up with the long hours spent on the road and late nights driving back is to have a chance to compete for the national championship. To win that would be at the top of my coaching list for sure.”
Standing in front of the Generals (18-4-0-2) and their 12th appearance to the Allan Cup are the Stony Plain Eagles (12-11-0-1). The puck dropped in Game 1 of this best-of-seven final March 9 in Lacombe and saw the hometown skate to a 4-2 lead. The following night in Stony Plain, the Eagles battled back from a 3-1 deficit to clip the Generals 4-3 in overtime. Game 3 goes March 16 in Lacombe with Game 4 going the following evening in Stony Plain.
In six regular season meetings between the Eagles and Generals, the Generals had the upper hand, going 4-2 and outscoring the Eagles 22-13.
“Stony will be a good team. We did all right against them in the regular season, but the regular season is a different animal,” said Thurston. “A lot of guys miss games with injuries, work and family stuff, but they always seem to find a way to make it to the rink come playoff time. So, we can’t really base anything we learned from them in the regular season.”
The winner will advance to Rosetown, Sask. where representatives from Atlantic Canada, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta will converge April 9 to 14 at the SaskCan Centre to determine a new champion.
Of course, if the Generals struggle with the Eagles in the ACHW final, they will have a great chance at hoisting the Allan Cup next year, seeing as Lacombe is set to host the 2019 championship.