Allan Cup Hockey West future in jeopardy after Rosetown withdraws

Innisfail Eagles Head Coach Brian Sutter, who led his team to its very first Allan Cup and final this year, calls the news disappointing.

“Rosetown is run by quality people. They run a first class organization, and they’re the only team in Saskatchewan, so they’re able to get players from all over,” he says. “It’s a lot of expense to run these teams and that’s what they found out.”

Innisfail Eagles Head Coach Brian Sutter speaks to the media post-game during the 2019 Allan Cup in Lacombe. (rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

Rosetown, which joined in 2016, was a big part of making the entire operation viable, Sutter adds.

“We’re in real jeopardy. You can’t have a league with three teams. I don’t know at any level whether it’s mighty mite or any sport to have a league with three teams in it,” he says.

The most likely option, he says, would be to have the remaining teams — Innisfail, Lacombe and Stony Plain — play exhibition games throughout the season against AA teams, but maintain their AAA status in order to have an Allan Cup qualifying tournament in the spring.

However, that option isn’t palatable for Lacombe Generals GM Jeff McInnis.

“Our future is dark right now. The league already had structural issues that we needed to face because we’re shrinking, not growing,” he says. “The level of hockey gets higher, but retraction isn’t a good thing. For the fans of our brand, I would be scared if I was them.”

McInnis adds, “If this is what it takes to get some changes made so that we have some control of our own hockey, maybe that’s the silver lining.”

Meantime, ACHW Interim President Richard Gregory is more optimistic the league will faceoff this fall.

More will be known following the league’s AGM on June 1, and he adds that while it’s sad to see Rosetown go, it wasn’t entirely unexpected.

“They were a really strong franchise, they brought a lot to the league, and their commitment to the league had expired. Because they were a bit outside our area, they had put down a financial commitment to the league for a certain period and that was up at the end of this season,” says Gregory, though he’d hoped they would re-sign.

“In fairness to them, they showed up religiously for all their games with good teams and competed hard. More than anything, I would express thanks to them and hope that in future seasons they may come back.”

Gregory says one problem for senior men’s hockey in Canada, AAA in particular, is that there are only two leagues. Meanwhile, standalone teams can qualify for the Allan Cup by winning provincials and avoiding the expenses of an entire season.

“It’s been a bone of contention for the eight teams that compete in a league regularly that they invest a lot of time and energy to try and qualify,” he explains. “Then another team can start up out of nowhere and almost get anointed automatically.”

Nonetheless, Gregory predicts the league will play come October.

The Lacombe Generals celebrate a 2019 Allan Cup title on home ice earlier this year. (rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

“Although we’ll be a bit lighter on teams. it’s probably better than not having a league. The strength of the league is sometimes a bit of a kiss of death because it’s difficult to put together another team to join,” he admits.

Gregory reveals the league has reached out to Morinville and Daysland of the Senior AA NCHL to see if there’s interest in moving up, but nothing is imminent. On the possibility of one day welcoming the Red Deer Rustlers to AAA, he acknowledges they have a strong volunteer base and proximity to existing teams isn’t a bad thing.

“We’re open for business,” he says.

Gregory says Hockey Canada may be looking at a restructuring of the Allan Cup for the 2021 season, and there could be a taskforce created to look at senior AAA men’s hockey as a whole.

Allan Cup Hockey West, formerly the Chinook Hockey League, was founded in 1955.

by Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

Allan Cup Hockey West future in jeopardy after Rosetown withdraws

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