It was great that Don Cherry and Ron MacLean mentioned the 2010 Allan Cup during tonight’s Coach’s Corner. Senior hockey in Canada needs all the help it can get. The fact that the final game was broadcast on TSN 2 is fantastic. The fact that the broadcast was taped-delayed until after NASCAR and the Canadian midget girls hockey final (Esso Cup) might be a bit of a blow to the players’ egos but hey, you have to start somewhere. TSN only started broadcasting the final game of Canada’s senior AAA hockey championship in 2008, the hundredth anniversary season of the storied trophy. The tournament has been a major small-scale success in the towns and cities across Canada that have played host since the early 1990s, with little or no coverage of the event nationally.
After Cherry bumbled and stumbled on about the 2009 final between Bentley (Alberta) Generals and South East (Manitoba) Prairie Thunder (while being constantly interrupted by MacLean, as usual), the stale broadcasting duo wished this year’s finalists (Bentley and Fort St. John) best of luck in tomorrow’s final. Too bad the final had ended in Fort St. John, BC, about an hour before Coach’s Corner started. The host Flyers prevented a Bentley repeat with a 4-1 win, becoming the first British Columbian team other than the Powell River Regals (3-time champions) to win the Allan Cup since the tournament format was adopted in 1992.
If you’re going to talk about something, please prepare a little and get the facts straight. The majority of people watching might not realize how off the mark Cherry and MacLean were, but those in the senior hockey world certainly did. Hopefully recognition on a national broadcast still makes it a positive, despite the obvious lack of knowledge the pair have about the Allan Cup. Exposure is needed for this level of hockey, take what you can get senior AAA, and remember, the NBA final series was broadcast on tape delay until the early 1980s. Look at them now…
Congrats to the Fort St. John Flyers!
http://www.2010allancup.ca/fort-st-john-flyers-are-allan-cup-champions
