Skip to content

Generals kick off bid to reclaim Allan Cup

The Bentley Generals have maintained their ‘practice makes perfect’ mentality.

The Bentley Generals have maintained their ‘practice makes perfect’ mentality in their preparations for another possible Allan Cup win this month.

The Generals were scheduled to kick off their cup run in Clarenville, N.L. on Tuesday with a game against the hosts the Caribous, who beat the Generals to the cup in 2011 in Kenora, Ont. The Generals then beat the Caribous to win the Allan Cup in 2013 in Red Deer.

Generals players work hard every year for the chance to win the Allan Cup, with each of the team’s players selected based on his reputation, said general manager Jeff McInnis. That selectiveness, he feels, plays a big role on the team’s overall success on the ice.

“I feel like we have an extremely good group of people who run it, coach it, play in it, and we have a lot of volunteers off the ice who make it smoother for the players on the ice,” McInnis said. “We are a committed group from top to bottom and head to toe.  Through 16 years of grinding away, we've found a way to put ourselves in a good position every year with the right type of people.”

Coming out of the gates strong earlier this week, he felt, would be vital in the team’s pursuit of Allan Cup success this year.

“I believe being good from the drop of the puck,” McInnis said. “Last year I felt that we got better as the tournament went on, but we ran out of time. Losing the first two games last year put us in a tough position. We needed to try and win our first two games this year.”

Overall, the Generals have been successful in winning most of their games. That success, McInnis said, is due in strong part to the team’s support from volunteers, sponsors and fans.

“The public needs to know how appreciative we are of the support,” he said. “The support could be someone coming to the game or someone sponsoring it, but that's the formula.”

Generals Allan Cup game results, unavailable at press time, will be viewable on the Allan Cup’s official website at www.allancup.ca.