By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

Innisfail Eagles soaring high ahead of first Allan Cup appearance

Mar 25, 2019 | 6:18 PM

For the first time in their long history, the Innisfail Eagles are headed to the Allan Cup.

The Eagles defeated their counterparts from Stony Plain over the weekend in the sixth game of a best of seven series to clinch a berth at next month’s national Senior AAA championship tournament in Lacombe.

“It’s pretty special for the players, coaches, trainers and sponsors,” said Brian Sutter, who feels his team continues to get better each night out. 

“That’s what we’ve talked about from the beginning. You’ve got to get better every day, and that’s what we’re doing.”

Sutter says his team was full marks for its series win over Stony Plain. 

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“The first three games, we had 60 shots on net in each of those games, and they had 20. Then in the last game, it’s 0-0 going into the third, shots are about 38-15, they get a couple 5-on-3s, score two goals, but we stay with the program and end up beating them 5-2,” he recalls.

“With the playoffs, you don’t look at seven games, you take it one game at a time, one period at a time, and get better. We were pretty good the whole series, but the neat thing was we played the last six straight weeks, and we’ve got the MVP and top goalie in the league.”

Sutter noted that guys like Kraymer Barnstable in net, and Joe Vandermeer, who’s been to the Allan Cup a number of times when he played for Bentley, brought a lot of vital experience to the team at various stages of the post-season.

Innisfail rounds out the field of six teams for the 2019 Allan Cup tournament, joining the host Lacombe Generals, Rosetown Red Wings, South East Prairie Thunder, Stoney Creek Generals and Haut-Madawaska Panthers.

The tournament will be played at the Gary Moe Auto Group Sportsplex from April 8-13.