By Thomas Miller
Brett Hull and Kelly Chase are headlining the luncheon at the Raider Well Servicing 2012 Allan Cup this April in Lloydminster.
Hull will take fans on a trip down memory lane and Chase, who now does colour commentary on the St. Louis Blues’ radio broadcasts, will emcee the event.
“We want to make the Allan Cup something that people in Lloydminster remember for a long time,” said Allan Cup co-chairman Barry Gunn. “We’re trying to make this as big an event as we possibly can. Getting a couple of ex-NHL players and a hall-of-famer just adds credibility to the whole event and something people in Lloydminster don’t get to see very often.”
Gunn saw Hull and Chase speak at at similar event at the University of Saskatchewan and thought they would be a perfect fit for the luncheon.
Chase, who’s from Porcupine Plain, Sask., said he enjoys every chance he gets to come back to his home province, though he’s immersed himself in the culture in St. Louis, becoming an avid Cardinals fan.
“The cool thing about doing this is you know hockey is such a big part of our culture,” he said in a phone interview from St. Louis. “It’s kind of the life line in the winter. It’s a social gathering. Our lives revolve around hockey in Canada and not just at the professional level, but at the amateur level.”
According to NHL.com, Chase played 458 games in the NHL and he ranks second in St. Louis Blues history for total penalty minutes accumulated with 1,497.
“It’s an honour for me to get to come back and be around people that are still playing this great game and not getting paid a whack of money to do it, but the passion and the emotion are still there for everybody,” he added. “I think it’s great.”
When he was just 14 years old, Chase played senior hockey in Porcupine Plain and the experience was a memorable one.
“The funny thing is, they used to go to the bar after the game and they would bring me out a pop and chips and leave the car running,” he said with a laugh. “I was really fortunate that I was allowed to play. All my uncles played. I got to do something for our town. That’s where you gather on the weekends. On Saturday night you go to the rink and you watch the hockey game.
“That was the biggest stage I got to play in at that point of my life. I was 14 and I got to play in a rink that held 900 people and had 900 people in it. For me that was cool.”
The Allan Cup organizing committee will start selling corporate tables for the luncheon soon and they’re expected to go fast.
Seats for Allan Cup games have been selling well, with less than 50 of the 844 reserved seats remaining and already a third of the 900 bench seats gone to happy hockey fans.
Those that would like to get involved with the event, Canada’s national senior hockey championship, can also participate as a volunteer.
General manager Marcel Laberge isn’t surprised by the support the community has shown thus far.
“Back when we first held it, the Allan Cup was in trouble throughout the country, it wasn’t as popular as it is now, it took doing some different towns, like Lloydminster, where they put on a great event, to see how senior hockey was received,” said Laberge. “The first year we held it here, we were sold out, the community made it possible by all the sponsorships. It’s been recognized as probably, if not the best, top three that’s been held in the last couple decades of Allan Cup history.”
According to Allancup.ca, the tournament was first held in 1909, with the Ottawa Cliffsides winning the inaugural championship. The Lloydminster Border Kings won the tournament in 2001 and 2007. Since 2001 only Lloydminster and the Saint Georges Garaga from Quebec have won twice.