Bentley Generals Senior AAA Hockey Club - Powered By esportsdesk.com

~~After 3 rounds of “The Battle of Antler Hill” I don’t know if it’s accurate to consider the 2014 Alberta SR AAA Finals a true classic…but…after the latest installment in the battle between Bentley Generals & Innisfail Eagles it’s safe to say this best of 7 series is an especially compelling & impressive display.

Brian Sutters’ Innisfail Eagles came soaring into their first Alberta Finals series since 2005 after dispatching Fort Saskatchewan with shocking ease. The Gens’ are playing in their ninth Provincial Championship since 2004. In the opening game of the series it was obvious who the more experienced team was. In front of 1600 faithful fans, filling the RDA to capacity, Bentley set the tone with a tremble-free, totally dominant and true to form 3-0 shut-out victory. Kyle Sheen was an all-around leader in this hard hitting affair. “The Big Lug”, as he’s been described on Twitter, tallied twice and took a toll with some terrific hits to boot.

Two of the three losses the defending champs sustained this season have come on the south side of Antler Hill where Innisfail had been able to…almost… tie the regular season series back about a month ago. The Eagles hoped to use a huge home crowd, combined with a few stunning roster changes to tie the Alberta Finals in game 2. This time, however, the Gens’ weren’t about to be distracted from the task at hand. They facsimiled another template copy of their defensive blueprint and promptly decimated the opponent by a 6-2 final in a game which was close to spawning Bentley’s 4rth shutout in 6 playoff games. Only a couple of late goals, as fans were filing for the doors, stopped Travis Yonkman’s shut-out streak at 118 minutes + change. “The Piranha Line” of Brett Roberston, Scott Doucet and Keenan Desmet had a whale of a game, producing 3 of the 6 goals for Bentley.

It was almost tempting to feel like the series was safely in hand, turning onto the QE2 and riding back over Antler Hill with a 2-0 series lead and a chance to take a 3-0 head-lock on home ice the next night.
I’ve been back and forth over a lot of hills in my day. One curious thing about that free and easy feeling you get when cruising down an easy grade is…how easy it is to lose control.

The first period of game 3 had a different look than any prior. The shot totals, which had been tightly managed by Bentley up to that point, trend-spiked and without two more big plays from Kyle Sheen the Gens’ staggered. Sheen scored a PPG and later executed an impressive pass to Randall Gelech who lifted a perfect deflection over Laroses’ shoulder making it 2-0.

The Eagles were overdue to respond. The team which had caused such a stir this winter…wasn’t finding ways to score and it was almost curtains for them until a secret weapon Sutter had stashed away put some air under their wings. Andrew Buote, an affiliate player from the GP Athletics of the NPHL scored a PPG 18 seconds into the 8th period of the series. Finally…Inny was actually “in” a game with enough time still on the clock to make a game of it. And make a game of it…they did! The 2nd period produced an insane 29 total SOG’s between the two teams as they split 4 goals. The Gens’ still held a 4-3 when the 2nd ended…but…the Zamboni doors weren’t the only ones which had opened. The lock on the Gens’ defensive vault had been picked and the chances were pouring in on Travis Yonkman who was fooled by a vicious bounce on the Eagles’ 3rd goal.
Innisfail got some more help from their extensive list of “affiliates” early in the 3rd period when Okotoks Drillers’ All-Star Mike Kneeland was set-up from Buote to make it 4-4.

It was nothing short of uninhibited thrashing the rest of the way. The 3rd period + 2.5 OT sessions served up 50 more shots with goalies at both ends making god-like saves to take the game deep into the night.

Somewhere just after midnight…Cinderella’s pumpkin popped.

Kyle Sheen crushed a perfect shot inside the short post off a quick faceoff win via Connor Shields and the Gens’ emerged from the drama with a 3-0 series lead.
Hard to say what’s next at this point. The Gens’ now have Innisfail on the brink…but…next weekend holds a scheduling scheme that only this rivalry would dare attempt to pull off:
Game 4 is set to go in Innisfail next Friday. If necessary, game 3 goes the next night at RDA…and if hell should freeze over…The Battle of Antler Hill…will play 3 games in 3 straight nights with game 5 at Innisfail a week from today!

We can’t. We won’t…look that far ahead. The next game is all that ever matters. The Army has eyes to make one last climb up the old hill.