Blood, Sweat and Beers

I feel like we should start with an experiment. Put your hands up in the air and wave them like you just don't care!!! Oh no, sorry, that's not right. No, what I meant was put your hand in the air if you have heard of the Bentley Generals? The Fort St John Flyers? Powell River Regals? Trail Smoke Eaters? How about the horribly named Dundas Real McCoys? Well these are all examples of Senior Men's Hockey teams and at the AAA level there are none better than the Generals. They are the defending Allan Cup Champions after defeating the SouthEast Prairie Thunder in the 2009 Allan Cup final in Steinbach, Manitoba. Coached by former NHL coach of the year Brian Sutter the Generals are an old school hockey team who play the game hard, fast and physical. There is also a pretty good chance they will be back in the Allan Cup in April right here in Fort St John. The Flyers and Generals know each other pretty well thanks to last year's McKenzie Cup. Oh yeah, sorry, you can put your hand down now.

For those of you who don't know much about Senior Hockey you might have to do some research for yourselves but Senior Hockey is basically hockey for players too old to play junior and of course that means some of them are former professionals. The Generals have several former pros on their team including Kevin Smyth, brother of NHLer Ryan Smyth, and Joe Vandermeer brother of current Coyotes D man Jim Vandermeer. Kevin Smyth actually played some games in the NHL before an eye injury cut short his career.

Senior Hockey is fast, quality hockey and is played by guys who have a tonne of skill. It's also very physical, you could call it old school hockey. You take the best parts of an NHL game, or a hockey game anywhere, and you will get fast and hard hitting hockey with beautiful goals and hits that rattle your fillings. Senior Hockey has all of the best parts of hockey in spades, and oh yeah, these guys who just because they love it. If you are from a small Canadian town or have lived in one then chances are you have been out to the local rink to see a Senior Hockey game.When a senior hockey team is very good they play at the 'AAA' level and those teams compete for a National Championship. The Allan Cup.

The Allan Cup is the trophy awarded to the top Senior Team in Canada and has been awarded since 1909 when it replaced the Stanley Cup. Lord Stanley's mug, previously the prize for amateur hockey players in Canada, was now being awarded to professional teams and so the Allan Cup stepped in to fill the void. And it has done so now for 100 years and counting. This year's tournament should feature former Canuck Harold Druken, who reportedly plays for the Clarenville Caribous, as well as his teammate ,and another former Canuck, Darren Langdon. There are also rumours floating around that former NHLers like Shayne Corson and Curtis Joseph might turn out to play for the Dundas Real McCoys. Those are still just rumours though.

So why am I telling you all of this I hear you asking. Well basically it is because I want you to help me with something. I just discovered a documentary entitled Blood, Sweat and Beers. This is a one hour documentary about the Bentley Generals season last year including their Allan Cup victory. For more on the movie check out this review. This is a documentary that I think all of Canada needs to see, OK not all of Canada will care, but I really think Senior Hockey is a valuable part of the hockey landscape in this country and one that the CBC could help save. The crowds for Senior Hockey games seem to be getting smaller and the number of teams registered to play at the 'AAA' level seems to get smaller every year as well.

So let's get Blood, Sweat and Beers on the TV, nation wide. Help me by heading to the CBC comment page and letting the CBC big wigs know that we want to see Blood, Sweat and Beers. I am not sure this will work, or even if the production company who made the documentary want their movie on CBC but so far only some local TV networks, one in Ontario and one in Alberta, seem to be airing this movie. That's not good enough. Senior Hockey matters