Powell River Regals, at the behest of BC Hockey, put together a team and made the trip to Red Deer, Alberta, last week to take on the Bentley Generals.
The Generals are the defending Allan Cup champions and the Regals found out why when they lost three straight, 5-0, 5-1 and 6-5 in overtime in the best-of-five game series.
Actually, the games were a lot closer than the scores indicate but in the end the Generals were too fast, too big and too experienced for the Regals.
This year’s edition of the Regals was put together so late that they opened the series without the benefit of a single practice let alone one game together.
The Generals, on the other hand, finished atop the five-team Chinook League with 21 wins and three losses.
From there they swept both best-of-seven game series against Stony Plain Eagles and Innisfail Eagles to win the right to represent Alberta in the McKenzie Cup.
The best-of-five series began on Thursday in Red Deer where the Regals iced a team of players signed for the competition.
While the players needed some time to get to know each other Regals’ goaltender David Brumby was sharp from the get-go and turned aside 15 shots to keep it scoreless after one period.
He continued to shine in the second period but the Generals scored on two of their 16 shots and then three more times on 16 shots in the third to shut out the Regals 5-0 in game one.
Despite the lopsided score, the Regals, including Andrew Derton, Andy Welsh and ex-Powell River King JP Villeneuve, were encouraged by their performance against the strong Bentley team.
“We were outshot 47-18,” admitted spokesman Cliff Milne, “but we kept up to them for two periods.”
The wide shot differential spoke to the brilliant goaltending of Brumby who won the Regals’ star of the game but unfortunately suffered an injury in an altercation with a Generals player.
Backup goalie Cory McEachran got the call for game two on Friday and he too was deserving of the game’s star with 35 saves in a losing cause.
This time, after the Generals opened the scoring, Regals responded with a powerplay goal from Scott May to tie 1-1 after one period.
That was it for the offence, however, as the Generals once again had a 40-17 shot advantage and skated to a 5-1 win.
Aside from the score there was gradual improvement from the Regals with every shift and game three on Saturday afternoon was evidence of that.
Each team had a pair of goals in the first period and a single in the second to head into the final period tied 3-3.
The Generals struck for two goals in the first 10 minutes to go up 5-3 and possibly got caught celebrating early when the Regals scored twice in the final minute.
Derton turned sniper when he scored a powerplay goal with 23 seconds left and then, with McEachran out, he tied it 5-5 with just 0:07 seconds remaining.
With the encouragement of over 1,000 fans, Generals got back on track quickly in the first overtime when Jason Lundmark scored the winner at 1:29.
It would have been interesting to extend the series considering the Regals’ game-by-game improvement but Welsh conceded the best team won.
“This Bentley team is the real deal,” he said. “They’ve got some big guys just out of pro and they’ve played together all year.”
Welsh, who this year worked and played in Fort Nelson, joined the Senior AA Yetis at the Coy Cup and lost in the semifinals to host Williams Lake.
“That was really good,” he said, “but triple A is a whole new level of hockey.” In comparison, he added, “Playing in the Coy Cup was a piece of cake compared to this.”
With the win Generals head to Dundas, Ontario to meet the host Real McCoys, Brantford Blast, South East Prairie Thunder, Clarenville Caribous and Kenora Thistles in the 105th Allan Cup championship.
Tense finish sends Regals packing
articles by Shane Carlson
UPDATED: Powell River’s Andrew Derton scored twice in the final 23 seconds to send game three of the McKenzie Cup BC/Alberta championship to overtime but a complete dramatic Regals comeback on April 6 was not meant to be.
Bentley’s Jason Lundmark was the overtime hero, ending the Regals' season 90 seconds into the extra period when his point shot found its way over the shoulder of goaltender Cory McEachran and into the net, giving the Alberta champions a 6-5 win, a 3-0 series sweep and a berth in Allan Cup 2014.
Scott May was named game star for the Regals after scoring twice in the first period and adding two assists for a four-point night. Chad Euverman had the other Regals’ tally while Michael Lalonde recorded four assists for the green and gold.
Two down, must-win situation
UPDATED: Powell River Regals scored their first goal of the series in game two of the 2014 McKenzie Cup BC/Alberta championship but gave up five goals against for the second straight game to fall behind Bentley Generals 2-0 in the best-of-five series Friday, April 4.
Craig Weller’s shorthanded goal for the Generals was the turning point, breaking open a one-goal game midway through the third period. Generals added two additional insurance markers before the final buzzer.
Scott May scored the lone goal for the Regals in the second period, tying the game at one, with assists going to Andrew Derton and Ryan Carter. Curtis Austring answered for the Generals, giving the home team a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes. Cory McEachran replaced injured Regals number-one goaltender David
Brumby and made 35 saves to earn star of the game for the visitors.
Regals will try to stave off elimination in game three of the best-of-five series at 2 pm, Pacific standard time, Saturday, April 5, in Red Deer.
Tough start to best-of-five series
Defending Allan Cup national hockey champion Bentley Generals held a 2-0 lead after two periods and scored three more times in the third en route to a 5-0 win over Powell River Regals in game one of the McKenzie Cup BC/Alberta championship Thursday, April 3.
Goaltender David Brumby was the game star for the Regals, stopping 40 of 44 shots before suffering a lower body injury and leaving the game with three minutes remaining. His status for game two is unknown at this time.
Game two of the best-of-five series is at 6:30 pm, Pacific standard time, Friday, April 4, in Red Deer.
The series winner represents the Pacific region at Allan Cup 2014 in Dundas, Ontario from April 14 to 19.
Fans can check for updated scores at allancup.ca.
