BENTLEY — Hockey isn’t just big in Bentley — it’s everything, say the throngs of people who gathered to strut their stuff for a CBC camera on Thursday.
“This is a hockey town, whether you’re recognized for it or not,” said hockey volunteer Jean Fraser, who moved to Bentley in 1956 when her husband found a job in the local oilfield industry.
There are two signs at the entrance to the small town of just over 1,000 people. One sign announces Bentley, the Model Town. The other announces Bentley as the home of the Generals Senior AAA hockey team, Allan Cup winners in 2009 (and serious contenders again this year).
There might be some heated disputes over which is the best NHL team, but everyone in Bentley is a Generals fan and they’re all involved with the sport in one way or another, said Fraser as she did her bit to help prepare for the CBC crew’s arrival at the arena.
Some people play the game, some people volunteer and some watch, she said.
Just before Christmas, community worker Angela Hand had organized Bentley’s entry into the 2011 Hockeyville Canada contest, sponsored by Kraft and airing on CBC TV.
Bentley citizens contributed 209 stories and more than 300 pictures to support the bid.
But Hand and fellow organizers had only three days notice that the crew would tour the town on Thursday, said Bentley School Principal Lane Moore.
Everyone worked like mad to make the grade, including finding hockey jerseys for all 320 students to wear and creating life-sized paper cutouts featuring each student’s face on the body of a hockey player. The cutouts lined the street between the school’s two buildings and more were placed at the arena.
Town Hall got into the act, putting red, white and blue ribbons around the trees in the centre of Main Street and providing grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch.
“We just had a blast doing it,” said teaching assistant Linda Howard, who arranged with the AG Foods store to donate a variety of Kraft products and then organized a crew of staff and volunteers to arrange them in front of the school office.
Elsewhere in town, hockey displays showed up like magic in storefronts along Main Street while individual homes also bore signs welcoming the TV crew and announcing their love of the game.
Bentley’s 50-year-old arena is really the focus of the town’s efforts to put on a good show on Thursday.
Of the more than 300 communities entered, including Bentley, 10 will make it to the semi-finals on March 8 and one will win the final prize of $100,000 to go toward improving its local arena.
And boy, could Bentley’s arena use some improvements, said a group of teenaged hockey players gathered in the concession area.
Elected to speak for the group, 17-year-old left winger Michael Plamondon said the arena doesn’t have enough heaters nor does it have enough bleachers.
Condensation drips from the ceiling and makes bumps on the ice and when it’s -30C outside, the conditions are not much better inside, said Plamondon.
Bentley Mayor Joan Dickau said the facility was built entirely by volunteers in the 1960s and there are still people in town who are proud to show the piece they contributed.
But it’s showing its age and could really use an overhaul, including upgrades in the washrooms and dressing rooms, said Dickau. One major drawback is that there are no separate dressing rooms for the female players, which is something the local hockey teams have had to work around, she said.
Girls make up roughly half the children enrolled in the Bentley School’s new Hockey Academy, said Moore, who teaches the program and coaches minor hockey in Rimbey.
Now in its first year of operation, the Bentley School Hockey Academy has already attracted students from Blackfalds and Rimbey, said Moore, who suited up in his best Don Cherry costume to greet the CBC crew at the school.
While CBC will not say whether Bentley has actually made it to the Top 10, Dickau is confident that the small town’s big spirit will shine through.
bkossowan@www.reddeeradvocate.com