Thunder seek third Allan Cup title

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This article was published 09/04/2017 (2578 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The allure of winning yet another Allan Cup is just too much for some journeyman hockey players to resist.

After all, not too many hockey players can say they have won a national championship, and that is what it is all about once again for the Southeast Prairie Thunder, one of the top senior men’s hockey teams in the country for the past decade or more.

This year’s edition of the Southeast Prairie Thunder, competing at this week’s 2017 Allan Cup in Boutouche, New Brunswick, a small community near Moncton, includes a collection of players from senior leagues from across the province, many of them former pros, who have once again gathered with that common goal, to win a national championship.

One of those is Steinbach’s Tim Plett (now living in Blumenort), who is actually the only local player on the team this year. Plett, 33, one of the top players in the Carillon Senior Hockey League the past several years, has been a mainstay with the Prairie Thunder line-up over the past few years.

As his family grows, now with three kids, and perhaps playing a little less in the CSHL this season because of the rigours of family life, there always seems to be time for that Allan Cup quest come March and April.

This time around in New Brunswick, the Prairie Thunder are hoping to add yet another Allan Cup title to the ones they claimed in 2012 at Lloydminster and in 2015 at Clarenville, NL.

Competing in eight of the past nine Allan Cup championships, having criss-crossed the country to do so, the Prairie Thunder also lost in the finals, both times in overtime, to Alberta’s Bentley Generals when it was hosted in Steinbach in 2009 and then again last year in 2016, both well attended highly successful tournaments here in Steinbach.

Plett, who played locally for the Eastman Selects, then on to the MJHL with the Portage Terriers and with the Moose Jaw Warriors of the WHL before playing semi-pro for three seasons in the East Coast and Central Leagues, says he’s back for another kick at the can this year because, “I like the fact that it is a highly competitive tournament.”

“The history of this trophy, this national championship, is pretty cool, everyone getting together from across the country to compete for this trophy, this is what I like about the tournament,” said Plett.

“We always seem to be in the mix,” added Plett, “we have another good team this year, I think we are even deeper than last year, our goal once again is to make it to the final, where we have been the last three years.”

The Prairie Thunder won six qualifying games to get to this year’s Allan Cup, sweeping the Ile des Chenes North Stars three straight in the Manitoba final and then did likewise to the Saskatchewan champion Rosetown Red Wings in a three-game series contested in Winnipeg at the U of M.

The Allan Cup begin today and wraps up with the national championship game Saturday afternoon.

Southeast will open the tourney against the Stoney Creek Generals from Ontario Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. and then will face Lameque, New Brunswick Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. Atlantic Time.

Also competing in the tourney are host Boutouche, Grand Falls-Windsor and the Lacombe Generals (Bentley).

The top team in each pool advances to Friday’s semi-finals while the other teams will play in the qualifying quarter-finals on Thursday.

Saturday’s final game, at 4:30 p.m. Atlantic Time, will again be broadcast nationally on TSN.