Preparations are underway for Powell River Regals’ run at their fourth Allan Cup.
The road to the championship starts with a run up the Alaska Highway where the Regals will face Fort St John Flyers in a best-of-five series for the Savage Cup, March 21 to 25.
This storied trophy, first awarded to Vancouver Rowing Club in 1912-13, will be won for the 100th time this year.
Trail Smoke Eaters have won the title 19 times and other notable winners include the Kimberley Dynamiters, Nelson Maple Leafs, Kelowna Packers, Quesnel Kangaroos and Spokane Jets, Flyers and Chiefs.
Regals have won the title 11 times and are the Savage Cup defending champions by virtue of a three-game sweep of Fort St John last year.
They won 4-2, 5-2 and 3-1 to dispatch the five-time defending champions but lost three games to one to the Stony Plain Eagles in the McKenzie Cup.
The old adage, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, figures into the strategy for the Regals this year as the lineup is only slightly tweaked.
“We’ve got a good portion of the guys that were there last year,” said manager Tod English, “and have added Jason Delorme and former King Mike Stutzel who both played with Fort St John last year.”
Delorme is a Kelowna native who travelled to Belarus with the Regals and has since been working hard to rejuvenate senior hockey in the southern interior.
In addition to those two, English was also pleased to announce that Jeff Tambellini has also been signed for the series in Fort St John.
Tambellini collected 168 points with the Chilliwack Chiefs in the BC Hockey League, went to University of Michigan for three years and played professionally in the American Hockey League, National Hockey League and most recently overseas in Zurich in the Swiss-A league.
Tambellini’s association with Regals’ Troy Dalton led to the signing which, English said, is not all that unusual.
“I got an email about February 6 from a guy named Brady Leovold,” English recalled. He called Leovold and asked him how he found English’s name.
“Brent Shepheard [former Regal] is a fireman and my dad is a fire chief,” replied Leovold. “Brent said you’ve got to call the Regals, they are a great bunch of guys and it’s fun.”
English chuckled about the double signing. “That’s how we recruit.”
So far 44 players are signed and they will be coached by English, Rick Hopper and Andy Welsh, who is still on the mend from off-season knee surgery.
“It’s a fairly easy way to keep our brand going,” explained English.
AAA Senior Hockey does not require a team to play any games prior to the various cups while AA has a minimum of six.
Despite the Regals’ efforts, there is no AA competition that offers an economical opportunity to play, so hence the AAA option.
“We have to evaluate what we do year by year,” said English. “We still registered for AA and haven’t abandoned that program but we need to find some local kids that want to play at the AA level.”
This year the winner of the Savage Cup will advance directly to the Allan Cup starting April 15 in Bentley, Alberta to fill a spot left open by Quebec who does not have an entry.
Both the Regals and Flyers are tuning up with action in the near future.
Regals are holding an intersquad game this weekend while the Flyers, who have completed their 22-game schedule, will play the Chinook Hockey League’s Innisfail Eagles on March 9 and 10.
