Generals expect tough adversaries in Chiefs
The Horse Lake Chiefs, with their high-profile roster featuring the likes of Theoren Fleury and Gino Odjick, made plenty of noise during the mid-point of the last decade.
The Horse Lake Chiefs don’t have the big names of their predecessors, but the Bentley Generals won’t be taking them lightly when the clubs tangle in the first two games of a best-of-seven Alberta senior AAA hockey semifinal Sunday at 2 p.m. at Bentley and 24 hours later at the Red Deer Arena.
Bentley general manager Jeff McInnis admitted that his knowledge of the Chiefs is limited, but he knows the Horse Lake defence is solid and that Jase Weslosky — who played three years of NCAA hockey at St. Cloud State and appeared in four ECHL games last season — is a top-notch goaltender.
“They’ve done a good job of recruiting defencemen. The have a very skilled blueline,” said McInnis, in reference to former minor pro veterans Steve Later and Jesse Dudas, as well as four-year NCAA player Andrew Derton.
Former Medicine Hat Tigers star Darren Reid — a veteran of 21 NHL games with the Philadelphia Flyers and Tampa Bay Lightning — is a key player up front and one-time San Jose Shark Dody Wood is behind the Horse Lake bench.
Personnel aside, just the fact that the Chiefs wiped out a 1-0 deficit in games to defeat Fort Saskatchewan in a best-of-three series to advance to the provincial semifinals tells McInnis that the Generals have their work cut out for them.
“We never had an easy game against Fort Saskatchewan this season and for Horse Lake to beat them shows that they are legitimate in senior AAA status,” said the Generals GM.
“I think we have good reason to fear them . . . to think that they’ll be more than a quality opponent.”
The Generals weren’t the same quality of team this winter than they were in the past — at least during the regular season when they lost eight of 24 games.
Bentley, by comparison, was 19-1 last season and finished 11 points clear of the rest of the Chinook Hockey League field.
The Generals placed second to the 2012 Allan Cup host Lloydminster Border Kings in CHL play this season, but came on strong in the playoffs and captured the league title in a tight, three-games series with Lloydminster.
“I think complacency crept into our locker room this season,” said McInnis. “We managed to beat it out in previous years but I think complacency found itself into our organization this year.
“As people get older and are doing the same thing over and over, sometimes it takes a kick in the butt to get a reaction. Hockey players are no different.”
Whatever was said or acted out to motivate the team seemed to work. The real Bentley Generals have shown up in recent weeks.
“So far it looks like we’re responding the right way,” said McInnis.
“Over the last month to six weeks we really had only one ugly game and that was a stinker in Sylvan Lake. Other than that we’ve played pretty much the way we should.”
Certainly, the Generals are not lacking in talent. The familiar faces — Curtis Austring, Scott Galenza, Joe Vandermeer, Sean Robertson, Darryl LaPlante, Donald Morrison, etc. — are still in place, with a handful of newcomers contributing to the mix.
Forwards Kyle Sheen and Pete Vandermeer have been welcome additions, as have defencemen Scott Kalinchuk and Brett Thurston and netminder Travis Yonkman.
“Kyle has been a big pick-up,” said McInnis. “He replaces what Braden Appleby gave us. He plays that physical style and has the hardest shot on the team.
“He also brings a lot of character. He hasn’t missed a beat. He’s there for every optional practice and every game.”
Sheen played five seasons in the WHL with Kootenay and Kamloops and three seasons of minor pro hockey, as did Kalinchuk, a former Olds Grizzly who was with NCAA Alabama-Hunstville for four years.
Vandermeer is a former Red Deer Rebel whose pro career started in 1996 and ended just last year. He appeared in two NHL games with Phoenix in 2007-08.
“Scott has been an absolute dream, a real class act on and off the ice. And Pete has been a big plus for us in the dressing room. He’s a real character person,” said McInnis.
Yonkman, a former WHL goalie who played one season at the minor pro level, suffered an injury in the first half of the current season but came back stronger than ever and has shouldered much of the playoff load.
In addition, forward Diarmuid Kelly has returned to the team after missing last season and defenceman Brett Thurston — a key player on the Generals 2009 Allan Cup championship squad — is back after playing two seasons of minor pro hockey.
The Generals have added affiliate defenceman Donny Lloyd to their provincial playoff roster. Lloyd is a veteran of four WHL seasons with Kootenay and Swift Current and has played senior hockey with Grande Prairie and Fort St. John.
The third and fourth games of the provincial semifinal will be played Feb. 25-26 in Horse Lake and, if necessary, the series will return to Bentley for a fifth game March 2.
Sixth and seventh games, if needed, will go March 4 and 7 at Horse Lake and Bentley.
gmeachem@reddeeradvocate.com
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