By Troy Gillard and Josh Hall

what's happening? What's not?

Wranglers moving to Sylvan Lake, no Jr. A in Blackfalds just yet, Lacombe to have senior hockey this fall

Jun 10, 2019 | 3:14 PM

These are busy times on the local hockey scene.

The Lacombe Generals sent shockwaves when the four-time Allan Cup champions announced last month they will not be playing in the 2019-20 season. The long-term future of the franchise remains to be seen.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg as several more developments are in the works involving local teams.

Here’s what we can tell you as of Monday, June 10:

NDTR-Sept. 30

Indigenous leads day successful at Chinook's Edge School Division

3h ago

Suspect Charged With Second-Degree Murder

Arrest made in central Alberta homicide

5h ago

Len Thompson Industrial Park

City of Lacombe celebrates grand opening of $10.8 million Operations Facility

6h ago

Senior hockey in Lacombe

The Eckville Eagles of the North Central Hockey League (Senior ‘AA’) are in negotiations to move to Lacombe for the 2019-20 season to operate as the “Lacombe Generals.”

The move would ensure Lacombe continues to have senior hockey after the Senior ‘AAA’ Generals made the surprising announcement last month that they will not be playing this season.

“I think if and when they (Eckville) get approved from the NCHL to move, it should work out well,” said Jeff McInnis, GM for the Senior ‘AAA’ Generals. “Our hope is that the Generals live on and that will allow Lacombe to have its Generals and perhaps a return to the Allan Cup can happen one day.”

Innisfail, Stony Plain reform Chinook league

The Innisfail Eagles, who announced they will be remaining at the Senior ‘AAA’ level and compete for the Allan Cup in 2020, are working to revive the Chinook Hockey League along with the Stony Plain Eagles.

Innisfail GM Ryan Dodd says the plan is to play Stony Plain twice a month (eight games total) leading up to a provincial playoff series between the two clubs next spring.

“Everybody laughs and giggles because it’s a two team league,” he laments. “If there are going to be teams that pop up for Senior AAA, we’ll have to see what happens, but teams were supposed to declare by June 1.”

Dodd is also optimistic about finding enough interest in B.C. to revive the McKenzie Cup (Alberta/B.C. Senior ‘AAA’ championship).

“Hopefully this downturn, which seems to come every ten years — and there was a season where Stony Plain had to play against ACAC teams for a full season — does turn around. It’s nothing we haven’t been through and worked through before,” Dodd says. “The numbers are dwindling for sure because of the costs with trying to keep up.”

Dodd adds that a number of Alberta-based former Lacombe Generals players have expressed interest in joining the Innisfail Eagles.

Dodd says they also hope to schedule exhibition games and a pre-season tournament with Stony Plain, and teams from the NCHL and ACAC.

Wranglers on the move

The Jr. B Blackfalds Wranglers have been given approval by the Heritage Junior Hockey League (HJHL) to relocate to Sylvan Lake for the upcoming season.

Wranglers GM Kurt Spady says the move is in response to word that Jr. A hockey is coming to Blackfalds.

“It was back in May that we had heard from the Town of Blackfalds that there was a Jr. A team coming to town. We felt that we would have a hard time competing with a Jr. A club in terms of sponsorships, fan base and ice times, so we figured we’d likely have to find a new place to play,” Spady says. “Then we had our board meeting and decided that we would pursue Sylvan Lake.”

According to Spady, a Jr. A team would be coming for the 2020-21 season. This all comes after the franchise was already announced as hosts of the 2020 provincials, which will now be in Sylvan Lake.

Spady is confident moving the Wranglers to Sylvan Lake is a good fit given their already strong community-building efforts.

“It’s been 11 seasons in Blackfalds and we get fantastic support from the fans and local businesses,” he continues. “We did a lot with minor hockey, we did reading in schools, had minor hockey players come in and skate with the team.”

At the same time, Spady admits it’s bittersweet for the Wranglers to be leaving Blackfalds where they’ve been since relocating from Lacombe in 2007.

“It’s tough to leave. We’re fortunate in that Sylvan’s a great community with great facilities, but Blackfalds has been a fantastic place to play. We’ve had good crowds and great people.”

The team still needs to sign a formal agreement with the Town of Sylvan Lake to use the NexSource Centre.

Meantime, the Rocky (Mountain House) Rams have been approved as an expansion franchise for the HJHL for the 2019-20 season.

Jr. A in Blackfalds

There has been growing speculation about the possibility of Jr. A hockey in Blackfalds.

The Town of Blackfalds is working on plans to add a second indoor arena at its multiplex and a new Jr. A team would give them a high-profile anchor tenant.

rdnewsNOW reached out to the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) for comment on the possibility of Jr. A hockey coming to Blackfalds.

Charla Flett, Vice-President, Communications, says to date, the AJHL has not received any formal request for relocation or expansion involving Blackfalds.

“If the AJHL receives a relocation request from a team, there is an extensive process the league will go through to vet the community and proposal before making any decision,” she says.

“The only proposal we’ve had recently is a relocation request to the town of Strathmore from the Calgary Mustangs, but that was vetted and then denied.”

In lieu of relocating, the league approved a one-year leave of absence for the club in order to secure a more sustainable future for the franchise in Calgary, or through relocation.

The Mustangs will remain a member club of the AJHL through the 2019-20 season and retain a vote in all matters of the board of governors.