Special to Transcontinental
RED DEER-They say that defence wins hockey games and the Bentley Generals are a testament to that saying.
On Saturday night, Bentley shut out the Clarenville Caribous 3-0 in the 2013 Allan Cup championship game held before a packed house at the Red Deer Arena in central Alberta. Bentley, a town of 1,000 residents is located 28 kms northwest of Red Deer.
The Generals only allowed four goals through the week long event in Red Deer while the Caribous were the most offensive club scoring a total of 12 goals.
“We picked the wrong one to lose,” Clarenville captain Dustin Russell said. “Bentley played great tonight and they deserve this victory. I have to say hats off to them, that’s for sure.”
Andrew Sweetland pointed to the Player of the Game and all-star Bentley goalie Dan Bakala as being instrumental in his team’s success. The Generals outshot Clarenville 36-33.
The Calgary native joined Bentley after being released by the Tulsa Oilers of the Central Hockey League in January. During the Generals’ league playoffs, Bakala posted an eye popping .963 save percentage and a GAA of 0.80.
“We threw everything at him but they just would not go in,” Sweetland said.
The shots were dead even at 21 per side when Bentley scored their first goal on a tip in by Chris Neiszner in the second period. The Generals added another on Scott Doucet’s goal before rounding out the scoring in third period with the final goal scored by Keenan Desmet.
First year Bentley coach Brandin Cote admitted to a small degree of revenge. Cote was a player on the Bentley team that lost to Clarenville in the championship game of the 2010 Allan Cup in Kenora, Ontario.
“Yes, it felt good to win this one,” Bentley coach Brandon Cote laughed. “We knew that defence was going to be extremely important for us in this game. I think when we killed off that five on three advantages Clarenville had in the first period, it really turned the game in our favour.”
“We had to make sure that we did not give the Caribous too much room in the neutral zone to get it going and I think we accomplished that. “
The win was also a special one for Bentley players Tyler Haarstad and Don Morrison who are the only two players on the Generals who are actually from Bentley.
“The two of us grew up together,” Morrison said. “It is the second time we have won it and we have been gotten to the championship game three or four times too. It is a great feeling.”
Affiliate player Chris Hulit won the tournament scoring parade with three goals and two assists and along with team mate Mike Dyke was named a tournament all star at his position.
“In the end, I was not happy we didn’t win,” Hulit said. “This is really ultra competitive hockey played in a very short period of time.”
On Friday, the Caribous rolled over Rosetown., Saskatchewan 6-2 in the semifinals while Bentley got past Kenora, Ontario 3-2. Matt Quinn, Brett Morrison, Ryan Desrosiers, Hulit, Sweetland and Dale Sullivan scored for the Caribous. Earlier in the week, the Caribous knocked off Fort St. John , BC 9-3 and nipped Stony Plain, Alberta 3-2.
“Rosetown were a bit tired in that one having played three games in three days,” Hulit said. “They have a lot of skill and it took all of us to win it.”
