Generals win Allan Cup
Generals 4 Thunder 3 (2OT)
STEINBACH, Man. — Diarmuid Kelly scored the double overtime winner as the Bentley Generals defeated the South East Prairie Thunder 4-3 to win the Allan Cup on Saturday.
Kelly took advantage of a sprawled out Thunder netminder Brent Zelenewich to pick the puck out of the air and bang it into the net at 5:21 of double overtime to end the stalemate.
It was a bitter defeat for a South East squad that came into the final considered a prohibitive underdog against a Bentley team that outscored their opponents 22-5 in three games here this week.
And yet it was South East who had a 3-2 lead until the eight-minute mark of the third, when Generals forward Kent Beagle took advantage of a Thunder giveaway at the blue-line to skate in all alone on Zelenewich and go five-hole to score the short-handed equalizer that tied things up until Kelly put the game away an hour later.
“I had a feeling he’d go five-hole,” said Zelenewich. “For that split second, I opened up....”
Zelenewich was spectacular in the final — as he’d been all week for South East — turning away 56 of 60 shots. Zelenewich was named the tournament MVP, but it seemed small consolation outside a quiet Thunder dressing room.
“It’s a downer for sure. That’s what we played for all year. This is what we wanted all year,” Zelenewich said. “It just doesn’t feel the same.”
South East — playing with a no-name lineup that even head coach Rob Friesen describes as a “mishmash” — overcame the odds just to get to Saturday’s final, beating a talent-laden squad, which included former NHL player Theo Fleury, in the semifinals Friday to advance to the final.
But they didn’t look a bit out of place against a Bentley squad that is coached by former NHL player and coach Brian Sutter.
On the contrary, they felt like they let one get away against the Generals.
“We still feel in there that we should have won that game,” said Zelenewich.
Already leading 3-2, South East looked poised to put the game away at 7:15 of the third period when the Generals’ Jeremy Stasiuk took a double minor for high-sticking.
But instead of padding their lead on the power play, the Thunder gave up a short-handed goal and that was all the second life the Generals would need to finally win an Allan Cup in their fourth appearance since 2004.
“To come out here, play with guys like this and accomplish what we did is amazing,” said Generals forward Kurt Bensmiller.
Among the huge contingent of Bentley fans that packed the Centennial Arena Saturday was Colorado Avalanche forward Ryan Smyth, who was in the stands watching his brothers Kevin and Jared, who both play for the Generals.
With the win, Sutter became the first member of his hockey-playing family — six Sutter boys played in the NHL — to win an Allan Cup, a 101-year-old hockey tradition in Canada reserved for the best senior team in Canada.
But Sutter wanted only to talk about the men around him Saturday night. “I’m just happy for all these guys and for their families,” Sutter said. “I’m glad I could help them out.”
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