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Post by wade on Dec 8, 2023 13:48:47 GMT -5
One of the reasons I still post here is because over a 25 year+ time line, I met & witnessed so many incredible people, players, teams and experiences and as the years & decades keep rolling on…every now and then something happens or we lose someone from that giant vault of golden memories and this site is still important for me to be able to share & pay tribute
I learned very sad news this morning, Jerry Cunningham, a Sr AAA legend from the 2000’s passed away.
Jerry was a key player on the infamous Horse Lake Thunder team with Theo Fleury, Gino Odjick and so many others. Included on that team and deeply entrenched in the Horse Lake community, along with his brothers & cousins both on & off the ice.
When that 2005 team was drawing crowds of 5000+ to watch Fleury…it’s been said there were many who we’re equally or more impressed with Jerry & Travis Cunningham than any of the big name pro players.
In 2008, Jerry came to Brantford with the Bentley Generals and I sat & chatted & laughed with him and came to deeply respect who he was as a person & an amazing talent on the ice.
That is the only time I ever spoke to him personally but I saw him play many times over the years and he always seemed to snipe or set something up that made me shake my head at the natural skill & grace he played the game with.
He was a beauty. He will be missed.
Rest In Peace, Jerry Cunningham
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Post by wade on Sept 20, 2023 20:38:42 GMT -5
Gotta say…it’s not looking or sounding great for AAA growth but if I’m fact Powell River is willing to travel to Inny & play an exhibition series …THAT…would be huge news & potentially something that could be considered a sign of possible SR AAA vital sign’s returning.
Powell hasn’t come out to Alberta since Mac Cup 2015 and when they did…they had a helluva time finding players.
But…for many many years Powell DID come out to Alberta & vice versa & they also hosted some Allan Cups (and won a couple)
They seem to always have the $$$ to travel but after 20+ years of sending consistently competitive teams ….The Regals gradually faded toward only operating AA. It seemed like when Fort St John got established…we found out BC could only produce ONE solid AAA team at a time.
At any rate…like I said if they’ll come out & play Inny I’m sure Inny fans would appreciate some new content & so would some players on both teams
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Post by wade on Sept 20, 2023 19:22:04 GMT -5
Sounds like Stony & Innisfail are going to go ahead with a season.
And Innisfail is saying on their FB page they’re bringing Powell River out to play a couple games.
I’m wondering/assuming Stony will find some exhibition games too
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Post by wade on Aug 31, 2023 17:55:50 GMT -5
Then why bother chiming in here Wade? Most of us here seem quite happy to discuss what is going on in Sr hockey, good or bad. If it is dead to you, then leave the forum. I’ll decide whether/when I participate here. Thanks. I’m curious to find out where OutWest got his information regarding Powell River? Seems to me…having been around various chat forums for the past 20 years…lots of BS gets thrown around & sometimes I just can’t help but wonder…is a discussion happening or are folks just bullshitting each other?
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Post by wade on Aug 31, 2023 14:16:32 GMT -5
Not unless they’re allowing Powell River to register as both AA & AAA. The Regals have posted on their FB page, they’ve already applied to host Coy Cup this spring I don’t think anyone has really ever said you don’t know your stuff wade. You’ve been a great insider for many years, nobody is discrediting that. From my perspective, it’s how the posts come accross and the tone they take sometimes. They can be very damaging to teams, leagues, and people etc. I think it’s just that people feel that you “troll” these boards and have gotten away from just stating the info. Not hating on you, I don’t know you, I just am going off the vibe and feel I get. In regards to this Powell River post, who knows. Maybe hockey BC is allowing them to do that and who knows maybe they will declare once the AA season is over. And in Alberta who knows what is going on, again it’s not for really any of us to throw nonsense out there that can be very damaging. We just need to keep the positive flowing and not get so negative towards things or so defensive. It’s the only way we can keep this thread going and keep the buzz that has come off the past year going. Anyway sorry everyone, went off on a little tangent. Just wanted to get the thoughts out while they were there. OutWest, It was you who said Powell River was “for sure” putting a AAA team together, originally. All I did was make 2 clicks of the mouse to try & find out some information regarding that & posted it for everyone to read.. Just facts. Are they negative or discouraging? Maybe. But it’s also TRUE. Is it positive to say Powell River is “for sure going AAA”? I guess so. But it appears to be NON-FACTUAL. And IMO non-factual information is more damaging than facts/truth. It’s about knowing & acknowledgment of where we/you stand. And the truth is…The Allan Cup/SR AAA is dead.
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Post by wade on Aug 31, 2023 9:22:26 GMT -5
What I hear is Powell river is putting in a AAA team forsure this year. Also I hear Caledon is putting in a team in Ontario? I’m sure someone out east can confirm that. Not unless they’re allowing Powell River to register as both AA & AAA. The Regals have posted on their FB page, they’ve already applied to host Coy Cup this spring
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AAA TEAMS
Aug 30, 2023 11:22:34 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by wade on Aug 30, 2023 11:22:34 GMT -5
Just wanted to refresh this thread….someone telling me I know nothing about SR hockey…and me following up with this key prediction:
“There is ZERO CHANCE” the Chinook Hockey League will grow next season.” (My prediction)
Current CHL teams? 2.
And I also expect Stony Plain will NOT have any interest playing in a 2 team league. In fact, in all of Canada, only the Innisfail Eagles would attempt to call 2 teams playing 8 games against one another “a league”.
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Post by wade on Apr 30, 2023 17:37:43 GMT -5
Just wanted to clarify something for a couple people:
No, the 2023 Allan Cup is NOT a “national championship”.
If you look at the banner Dundas Real Mcoys held after winning the final game of the tournament, it doesn’t say “National Champions” nor is it an authentic Hockey Canada Issued Banner.
And you’ll also notice Hockey Canada’s official website is NOT recording Dundas Real Mc’’s as National Champions.
Hockey Canada agreed to loan the Allan Cup Trophy for Dundas to host this tournament, the tournament winner held up the trophy and they’re referring to themselves as National Champions and that’s caused some confusion.
Congratulations to the “Challenge Cup Champs”
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Post by wade on Apr 30, 2023 17:26:34 GMT -5
Well it is a National Championship. 8 teams including Clarenville Nationwide. Can’t help there aren’t more teams. There will be next year for sure - that’s a guarantee. Was the Stanley Cup not legitimate when there were only 6 teams ? I hope Lacombe rejoins AAA down the road and/or high end AA teams declare at beginning of year. Dundas is National Champion ! Sorry Haha Oh. So now that Dundas wins it, it’s a “national championship”? It’s not a National Championship. It’s a fake. Enjoy.
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Post by wade on Apr 27, 2023 8:08:03 GMT -5
Haha
Oh. So now that Dundas wins it, it’s a “national championship”?
It’s not a National Championship.
It’s a fake.
Enjoy.
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Post by wade on Apr 21, 2023 10:34:58 GMT -5
Given the quality of players Clarenville brought to this event, it's obvious to anyone who has followed this over the years that this team wouldn't have even been competitive in previous competitions let alone be undefeated. Teams like the Bentley Generals or Southeast Prairie Thunder from 5-10 years ago would have destroyed them. Not even close. This Allan Cup deserves an asterisk. Agreed. Don Robertson managed to convince someone to allow him to present the Allan Cup Trophy to someone who wins HIS tournament this spring. This is NOT the same as traditional Allan Cup National Championships. In fact, Don has said this himself. The asterisk should be the lack of an actual Allan Cup Banner. I’ll keep coming back here to this forum to remind everyone…truly elite AAA teams decided a few years ago they weren’t willing to continue to compete for Allan Cup because of the lack of governance, lack of elite competition and lack of transparency on the cost of competing. None of the teams attending this years tournament are anywhere close to the caliber of what Allan Cup SHOULD BE
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Post by wade on Apr 19, 2023 17:06:50 GMT -5
OHA sanctioned the event. Because it’s association policy for all on ice officials to only officiate sanctioned events, so, OHA granted permission for this and insurance coverage to happen for the players. That’s about the extent of it
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Post by wade on Apr 18, 2023 9:51:51 GMT -5
It's nice to see HC is really pushing the Allan Cup.... can't find news anywhere on it let alone an official schedule. Do we have any concrete streaming links yet? This is not a Hockey Canada event, lokol. I think that was made clear from the beginning
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Post by wade on Apr 2, 2023 20:09:25 GMT -5
Figured I would refresh this thread for anyone who wanting to follow up on what I was trying to remind everyone of in another thread.
It’s quite a few years ago now and I can’t remember, specifically, who “flyer” was. I remember Paul, Daryl & Blaine all being heavily involved with the Flyers and all posting here under anonymity while privately communicating with me in deeper detail on various topics over the decades. Yes. Decades! And ya, FSJ lost their asses on this particular screw up. As did a few other people, IIRC.
Again, nothing to do with paying players & everything to do with Fly By Nite teams sullying the waters for the truly invested clubs
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Post by wade on Apr 2, 2023 19:00:48 GMT -5
And as far as the question of “Why not open up Allan Cup to all teams?”:
Allan Cup has already been open to all teams for 20+ years. The only clerical requirement is to post a $1000 bond. Once you’ve paid the bond, you’re eligible for Allan Cup.
And depending on what area of the country/branch you’re in, just being the only men’s team in a specific area was actually enough to get you into Allan Cup, Hosting Allan Cup or at least within a few games of getting into the tournament.
This minimal amount of requirements produced some absolutely awful results which, apparently, the few readers of this forum either never knew about, forgot or outright ignore?
Penticton, Whitehorse, Powell River, Kenora…just a few off the top of my head…are examples of teams who (presumably) posted the bond, listed a AAA team, had to be included into schedule planning, qualifying brackets (hell one of them even had an Allan Cup HOST opportunity handed to them and they backed out at the last second.)
And what do they have in common? They either folded before ever playing ONE GAME or they gunnysacked an entire roster through the registry, playing a Mac Cup Series w/o ever declaring ANY roster (2015 Powell River). The Generals took that Hockey BC/Hockey Canada fuckover and did the best they could with it. It cost them a lot of $$$ and when the season was over, they discussed INCREASING the vetting process for SR AAA teams but nothing came of it.
What I’m saying is…the absolute last thing I’d be doing right now is eliminating the Allan Cup qualification requirements. By keeping it as haphazard & half assed as it was for the last 20 years, it caused way more problems than it ever solved.
I think…teams who make a rooted effort to pursue greatness want to compete with like minded organizations. And l know for a fact when these organizations are slopped into the same pail as Joe Off The Street, things get lost. Things like integrity, prestige, interest and maybe most importantly; $$$$!!!
In the podcast I linked on this thread, Don glosses over what happened to Stony Plain Eagles Allan Cup commitment this winter.
TBH, I find it half comical, half frightening it’s only being glossed over, the fact 1 of the 3 teams offered a FREE SPOT in Allan Cup, turned down the FREE SPOT.
Why?!?!
Because they only had about 10 players interested. They recognized they weren’t AAA calibre and they we’re throwing 1000’s of $$$$ down a bottomless well. Same thing with Cremona. I can’t imagine Inny was drawing big crowds either.
Anyone, anywhere and anytime CAN take a run at Allan Cup. I’m at a loss to understand how it’s even possible to make the regulations EASIER to compete? But somehow that’s a conversation here.
I say, if you want to restore Allan Cup, don’t start that initiative by making it easier. Make it harder, if anything. But make it worthwhile
Find some serious money. Not 5 or 10 thousand bucks. Fuck. That. Before you can have a serious conversation about having a serious Allan Cup you need to have serious money.
Six figure pot to the winner. Incentivize people/businesses & sponsors and you’ll have a chance at showcasing something sustainable
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