These last 5 weeks have felt like an eternal damnation...and as a type this I realize tomorrow is "The First Official Day of Winter."

We've had mostly -30-ish temperatures and cumulative snowfall estimated at about a "Crap-Tonne". So, Wednesday night I fired up the Snow-Blower, closed my eyes, and let it auger into the awesome abyss of crystal sprinkles blanketing my frozen front driveway.

A funny thing happened as the old Husqvarna heaved a high arching, relentless plume over the hedge into the alleyway along side of the house. The frosty air had  forced me to take an extra long blink to thaw my eyelids. As I did this...God reached out his omnopotent finger tip and flicked me into a secret garden where my skin was impervious to windchill and everyone around me was Canadian.

The Bentley Arena...in the middle of the work week...filled with 500 masters of treacherous black ice and brutal shopping mall line-ups...all gathered for The Biggest Game of All Time...(Round 3).

The Generals went into the game trailing Brian Sutters' Innisfail Eagles by 1 point in the CHL standings. Innisfail has played exceptional hockey ever since they were soundly thumped by Bentley back in early November. The 'Southern-Birds" were looking to clamp their talons into a second win over "The Army" this season.

There was a snowdrift high pile of former Generals in the Eagles line-up...The Vandermeers' (leading their team these days) along with Daryl Laplante and Travis Dunstall.

Kevin Smyth (pulled groin) and Tyler Harstaad (UBI) were both out but that didn't quell the high hopes of the Innisfail fansbase who brought a full busload down the QE2 and eagerly gathered into the Beer Gardens before the game.

The hyped up scene started all the way up and down the street where cars and trucks were perched up on top of the wind-rows of snow creating two tier parking for 2 blocks around the Bentley Arena.

It was a surreal and super-intense setting. The Generals dialled up their best stuff... bone-jarring, old school hockey where every proverbial  plough was pushing through an impossible tide of pure Alberta-Blended snow and salt.

The Army's beloved Captain, Sean Robertson, cut a quick shot off the short post for the opening goal of the game at 6:13 of the 1rst. It was a vital pinhole poked into an airtight checking game where scoring was clearly at a premium...totally opposite of the previous week when The Army whipped up 10 goals in the 2nd period alone, en-route to a 14-2 collapsing of the Okotoks Drillers.

This one was back and forth and almost dead even the entire way. The Army dare not take anything lightly. Cruise control was not an option. Instead...patient, patented, defensive driving the entire way...got the Generals into the middle of the 2nd period where Kyle Sheen marched onto an odd man rush an launched a warhead from 45 feet, beating Johhny Larose clean and low to the stick side. The lead was doubled to 2-0.

In the 3rd...Innisfail pushed to break James Reids' Shutout bid and Scott Kalinchuk's Power Play goal made it 3-0 at 11:30. Kyle Bailey and Craig Weller helped set it up with a long sequence of accurate perimter passing. was almost feeling like The Army might be good enough to reward themselves with a perfect zero goals against... until Pete Vandermeers' slapshot took a crazy defelction and found a hidden Christmas gift behind the Gens' goaltender.

The Eagles swooped in on several late game attacks and tried for another exciting rally...as they've been prone to doing this season...but The Army has a double-re-enforced system of trusses and rafters. This old rooftop held the entire weight of 10 minutes of the best hockey Sutters' squad could muster, allowing the Gens' sole possesion of #1 spot in the Chinook Hockey League.

The Gens' have one more home game tomorrow night at 1900HRS and then finish 2013 in Fort Saskatchewan the following afternoon.

You don't know what its like to bask in Shangri-La until you've been frost-bitten by a few losses. The Army was bitter about losing to Brian Sutter (for the first time ever) about a month ago. It was also a nose-crinkling outcome in back to back exhibition games against college dominanting teams from U of C and RDC two weeks ago.

But...those set-back are the fuel to improve going forward and if this most recent ringer over Innisfail is any indication...the defending Allan Cup Champions are ready for whatever this wild winter has to offer the rest of the way.

Wade R. Giesbrecht