For the first time in their 71-year history, the Innisfail Eagles will play in the Allan Cup.
Innisfail won 5-4 Saturday in overtime in Stony Plain against the Eagles and earned a 4-2 victory in the best-of-seven Senior AAA Provincial semifinal. With the win, Innisfail picked up the final spot in the six-team Senior AAA National Championship that starts April 8 in Lacombe.
“It was a tough series and we played them six times throughout the year and every game was a tough one,” Innisfail coach Brian Sutter said.
”They had a very skilled team, but we prepared for it the whole year. We’ve been talking about these games since day 1. We knew how we had to play and we stayed with it for 60 minutes. It took us six games, but in every game, we were the better team.”
They will play the Lacombe Generals for the provincial title.
Your Innisfail Eagles win! We are Allan Cup bound! #Wagon @the_achw @AllanCupWest pic.twitter.com/PKKd6FrL2v
— Innisfail Eagles (@innisfaileagles) March 24, 2019
Chad Robinson had a hat trick in the win Saturday and Blair Mulder scored the overtime winner to clinch the series. Innisfail Goalie Allen York also stopped 30 shots to earn the win.
Innisfail trailed 2-0 in Game 5 at home and roared back with five unanswered third-period goals on the way to the victory.
“In that game we dominated, the score was 0-0 going into the third and we scored a goal that the referee didn’t count,” Sutter said.
“We stayed with it and they got a couple breaks. They scored two power play goals. We just stayed with it, it was 2-0 with nine and a half minutes left and we won the game 5-2. That was typical of every game in the series of how we played. We took over 5-on-5.”
Sutter added congratulations have been rolling in from all over North America since they clinched the series win. He also said that winning the series is not just special for the coaching staff and the players, but the community as a whole that has always been behind the organization.
“Everybody is really excited about us doing what we’re doing. We’ve got a good group of people and we deserve to be where we’re at,” Sutter said.
The 2019 Allan Cup is set. Congratulations to all teams. We look forward to a fantastic tournament!
— Lacombe Generals (@LacombeGenerals) March 24, 2019
- Lacombe Generals (Host)
- @innisfaileagles (AB)
- @RRedwings (SK)
- South East Prairie Thunder (MB)
- @SCGenerals (ON)
- Haut-Madawaska Panthers (NB)
Cedit: @AllanCup for pic. pic.twitter.com/gTJTHmKUEa
They will play the Rosetown Red Wings on April 8 at 4 p.m. in the opening game of the Allan Cup at the Gary Moe Auto Group Sportsplex. Lacombe will open the tournament against the South East Prairie Thunder.
Email sports tips to Byron Hackett
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter