Further to the article regarding our attempt to establish a senior AA/AAA team in our fine city some clarification of exactly what a senior hockey team is seems to be in order.
The players in the senior hockey league come from many different branches of the hockey world. Most teams have several former NHLers – Theo Fleury, Gino Odjick to name a couple – as well as CHL, university/college and junior players.
Contrary to what the name may imply, you will not find any senior citizens lacing up unless you consider a young man older than 20 "old."
Our intention is to field a team that will qualify for the senior AAA league and one day compete and host the Allan Cup, which is kept in the Hockey Hall of Fame and has been awarded to the best senior team in the country for the last 106 years.
As far as senior hockey history in these parts, in 1952 the Edmonton Mercurys senior hockey team represented Canada in the Olympics that year and brought home the gold medal.
We are not requesting anywhere near the ice that would be allotted to a junior A team. We are asking for just one three-hour game slot per week to accommodate our nine home games – compared to 30 home games a junior A team will require. The city has graciously accommodated us in that aspect but they have stated that playoff ice will not be made available.
With the tremendous amount of interest by some exceptionally gifted players wanting to play on a senior team in our fine city are we willing to squander this opportunity? Do young men that grew up in St. Albert lose the opportunity to continue playing the game because they turned 21?
With the AGM for the senior league set for May 2, I encourage anyone who is interested in bringing this high calibre of hockey to our city to contact our city councillors to get this team on the ice for the upcoming 2015/16 season. Cheers!
Rick Dory, St. Albert
