Heading Back To The Allan Cup

When the South East Prairie Thunder's team bus left Headingley last Thursday for Rosetown, there was more than enough room for the nine skaters, three goaltenders, the coaching staff and executive to stretch out and get comfortable.

That is until Del Cowan, Mark Agnew and Nick Cowan of the Tiger Hills Hockey League's Hartney Blues jumped on the bus in Brandon and it got a little more crowded.

They may have been a little thin on the bench but that didn't matter one bit to a Prairie Thunder team that swept the Red Wings in three games straight, brought the Rathgaber Cup back to Manitoba and qualified for the 2015 Allan Cup Senior “AAA” Hockey Championship which begins April 13th in Clarenville, Newfoundland.

“It definitely feels good,” said Thunder coach Brad Purdie. “Before the weekend I don't think many would have picked us to go three straight especially shutouts the first two but that's a testament to our guys. We were short staffed there a couple of the games and the guys just bought into the game plan we laid out, to play just a simple game. They played a near perfect game those first two. A couple of mistakes by us – I think fatigue played a part in the third game but we stuck to it and got the wins.”

Steve Christie, who backstopped the Carman Beavers to the South Eastern Manitoba Hockey League's final and was named the Most Valuable Player this past season, stopped 28 shots in game one and 22 in game two as the Prairie Thunder won 5-0 & 4-0.

“We managed to keep everything to the outside,” explained Purdie when asked about his hockey team's tremendous defensive effort in the first two games of the Manitoba/Saskatchewan series. “Steve (Christie) played really well. Our plan was to just play a patient game, have them carry the puck up and dump it in because Steve is like a third defenseman back there. He was able to get pucks, stop them behind the net and catch them on the forecheck. We were able to break out easily. We did that on a number of occasions and it was successful the first couple of games and we just kept going with the same thing.”

Four more players joined the team for game two on Saturday and even though the Thunder had three chances to end the series – Sunday was thought of as a must-win game for the hockey team because a few players and the coach were heading back home regardless of the outcome.

That's senior hockey.

“We knew that we were losing some guys,” Purdie said. “I had to leave Sunday after the game win or lose and we were losing a couple of other guys. We knew what was at stake especially after winning those first two. We had to get it done and the guys battled. We were up 2-0 and they made it 2-2 – no panic, no nothing set in. We found a way.”

Dustin Hughes had two goals and an assist as South East won game three 6-3 and swept the series in three straight.

“It was certainly impressive,” said Purdie. “We had a good mix of young and old and we had some pretty fast guys and I think that was the difference for us. Even though they had a full lineup they couldn't match the speed of some of our guys. We were able to get in and get on loose pucks, beat them to loose pucks and just find a way to put pucks in the net.”

The roster that made the trip to Rosetown included Steve Christie, Murray Cobb, Jamie Dowhayko, Dale Butland, Dustin DeGagne, Tyler Dittmer, Dane Crowley, Mark Agnew, Travis Kornelsen, Ryan St. Laurent, Blake Forsyth, Justin Kurtz, Greg Beller, Mike Hellyer, Terry Yake, Blair MacAulay, Dustin Hughes, Nick Cowan and Del Cowan.

Some of the 17 played in the NHL, Europe, the American Hockey League, Central Hockey League, Western Hockey League and a number of them played university hockey.

Now some of 17 play in the Carillon Senior Hockey League, the South Eastern Manitoba Hockey League and the Tiger Hills Hockey League.

With Rosetown out of the way - next up is a trip to the east coast, and for the players who can take the time off – a chance to play for the Allan Cup.

“It's definitely an honor,” said Purdie. “I hope that we can have the same team going but with work commitments and school commitments there is going to be a few changes to the lineup. I think we just go in there with the same attitude and same game plan and try to keep it as simple as possible. It's a lot of hockey to play especially with the travel and all that stuff. We're going to take it one game at a time and look for good results.”

It was only three years ago that South East found those good results.

The Prairie Thunder defeated Rosetown 4-1 in Lloydminster and won the 2012 Allan Cup.

photo by Shirley Kornelsen