Thundering From Out Of The Bush
Being as how this is...kinda...like the NHL lockout of 2005...maybe the most appropriate SR AAA hockey season to reminisce is that 05’ season. That was.- as it’s probably most recognized: “The Year of Theo Fleury, Gino Odjick and the Horse Lake Thunder.”
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The season began on the heels of Bentley Generals having made their first ever trip to an Allan Cup in St George Quebec 2004 and I kinda just assumed we would be going to Lloydminster for AC-05. We were a bit stronger than the previous year, adding WHL 50G man, Dean Tiltgen.
The Chinook League was the only league in Alberta which had sent an Allan Cup representative in the tournament era and although I was very aware of other leagues existing...I really had no idea what a big deal the North Peace Hockey League was, at the time. In fact, it wasn’t until around November of that season I first caught wind of what was going on in the NPHL. Some team from some unheard of place was absolutely blowing out their league. I figured I better sign onto their league chat forum to find out what the fuss was about...
First thing I noticed when I looked up Horse Lakes roster was their top guys were much older than the top Gens’ at the time...these guys were mid-30’s. A couple of them...into their 40’s...Sasha & Greg Lakovic were already up there. I think maybe @stevenparsons, too...@TheoFleury14 & Gino Odjick would be coming on board soon enough. Fleurys’ signing was a controversy all to itself. He was (technically) still a member of NHLPA & if Hockey Canada was gonna allow him to play SR AAA it seemed worth a shot for Bentley try & get Ryan Smyth signed.
But even after the Gens’ were denied permission to sign Ryan Smyth...I still foolishly anticipated the Gens’ would steam-roll these bush-leaguers from the North and I blindly poured rocket fuel on the whole thing with months of trash talking levelled towards Horse Lake Thunder. Like...seriously...these little local team websites were blowing up with 1000’s of weekly hits. And whispers grew to screams....Horse Lake was selling out rinks in GP, Dawson, FSJ...and they had registered SR AAA! By the time 05’ playoffs began they were traveling in a convoy...
The Horse Lake First Nation had benefitted from some big oil wells on Reserve land and the $$$ was being used to sign ALLLLL these ringers + buy two huge custom busses...which led the infamous convoy they travelled with...big block letters on the sides: “HLFNR” & blacked out windows. And that was how they rolled into Red Deer in March of 2005: Two blacked out busses, a stream of black Cadillac Escalades behind that and the contents inside? The baddest mother-fuckers to ever play SR AAA hockey in the last century. Bar none, man.
The Lakovic Bros’, Kip Noble, Steve Parsons, Misko Antisin, Brent Dodginghorse and of course ...Travis & Jerry Cunningham...among many others...Parsons...like...3rd all-time in AHL PIMS...was prolly the cornerstone of their intimidation game. He was a big, juiced up D-Man who was a full weight class above & beyond pretty much anyone playing at the amateur level. But he was smart enough to know his reputation alone was a weapon & his antics began before the series even did...
Horse Lake had a game day skate the day of Game 1 in the Red Deer Centrium. I was NOT in attendance, but the Horse Lake team was looking for ME. Apparently firing pucks into the stands & demanding to meet me (the guy who’d been doing all the internet trash talking). As game time got closer...we found out the Centrium was SOLD OUT. Ya. 6000 fans were about to watch a Senior hockey game in Red Deer. This had all snowballed in just a matter of weeks. My little home town Bentley, at war with Horse Lake First Nation. 6000 fans and 60,000 beers!!!
I came into the building in a side door and had been instructed to “lay low” but by faceoff I was hammered drunk just like most everyone else and the level of animosity & intrigue was too much to resist. I sat amongst all the Gens’ most dedicated fans and made myself known. The Horse Lake team had caught on in so many ways. They had prolly 8-10 full blooded indigenous players...including the Cunningham Boys. Whom, I would later learn...we’re basically famous among the indigenous peoples -they were even world class fastball players in the summer.
And even though neither Jerry or Trav’ had played pro hockey...they might’ve been the best players HL Thunder had. And I’m not talking raw skill. I’m talking about master level on-ice smarts. It took not even 10 mins of action to notice them along with Kip Noble. There were Indigenous fans from Alberta & Saskatchewan in attendance in those games...watching & supporting those guys. They demanded respect. But the reputation of that team...with so much $$$ & big name former pros made it difficult to see the hockey amidst other stuff...
Things got really carried away...Sasha Lakovic was looking for a scrap. The Gens had signed some guy named Graham Burns (?) I think. He was supposed to be our answer, but he ducked away at any offers to scrap and to be honest...the only guy keeping the score respectable was Bryce Wandler, in net. Wands’ was standing on his head. We were down 2-0 late in game 1 and Lakovic TOMAHAWKED Jimmy Lawrence in the arm. Broke Jimmy’s wrist in front of 6000 people and then flipped off the crowd. Refs missed the call. We were losing our marbles...but... Just when it seemed like we weren’t gonna do fuck all about it...Travis Stephenson...our Captain and homegrown star player....absolutely corked someone. Might’ve been Dodinghorse. Dropped him at centre ice with a lightning quick jab to the nose. The place went bananas.
Fleury started running around yapping at anyone in range. He was barely a factor around the puck but he was soooo verbal. His mouth never stopped. And nothing anyone could do about it with the police force he was protected by. But he did get a misconduct which further revved the crowd. So, The Gens’ end up not really being in the first 2 games..but...not really out of it, either. It’s a best of 5 series...and we stole a game thanks to Wandler. Tiltgen set up Tyler Haarstad for a breakaway and Haarsty buries a GWG. Series tied 1-1.
The major sports networks had caught onto this thing by this time. It was like a Hollywood B list in the crowds...local celebs and all kind of stuff going on around the games. Death threats. Racial slurs back & forth. Money laundering. Broken limbs. Gambling debts. Cocaine. You know your usual SR hockey.
Fleury became a show all to himself. My GF at the time was working in the Red Deer Lodge and she witnessed the poor Fucking guy drop $20,000 cash through the VLT’s during his 3-4 day stay there with the team.
And me...having delegated myself into the middle of it all...pumping more fuel than was necessary & continuing to fill the Sr hockey chat forums with my passion-blinded perspectives. So, the best of 5 is 1-1. Now? It’s time to go up north for games 3 & 4.
You’ve prolly still no idea where Horse Lake is. It’s about 45 mins north of GP. A tiny Res’ just off the highway heading toward something like Ellesmere Island or the Mackenzie River trading post. Like...I’m talking 1000’s of miles of just muskeg, wind and nothingness up there. But in the middle of all that nothingness...HLFNR has built a god damned hockey Mecca. A $3.9M arena in a hole in the Bush! That’s where this team is operated out of. Of course...the 300 of us fans who make the 10 hour pilgrimage are staying in GP with the Gens’ team.
That was one of the really Slapsho-Esque things about those days...the fans & players all basically travelled in convoys together. Oh fuck ya. We’d be all pissed up in the lobby of the Super-8 and the team bus rolled into a throng of chanting & chatter. Ya. Fans helping the boys unload their gear off the bus. The locals are wondering WTF is going on...like...Hutterites are in town and they’re heading out to Horse Lake tonite to get into some kind of brawl with Gino Odjick and Chief Horsemen, apparently.
Thing is...in Red Deer...I could hide among the crowd. 6000 people to mix up with. In Horse Lake...I’m in enemy territory I figure. This rink holds about 2500. And only 30 of them are friends and it feels like about 2000 others wanna find me. Big time. And I’d suggest some of the Gens’ didn’t appreciate the way I’d signed their fight cards, so to speak. All my trash talk has put them in a tough spot. So, basically, I’m a lone wolf. I wouldn’t say I was “hiding” but I definitely wasn’t gonna be a loudmouth anymore.
But when we all actually got into the Horse Lake rink for the first time...our perspective on this thing began to change: The Horse Lake Arena didn’t even have a liquor license, actually. Unlike Red Deer...these fans were sober. And prolly half the crowd was little boys & girls 5-13 year old kids...seeing a few NHL heroes playing right in front of them! They didn’t know anything about Fleury getting paid to play. They were wearing Horse Lake Thunder coats & hats & this was by far the best thing to ever happen to them, I’d say.
So, Ryan Smyth is with the Gens’ crowd: Both his bro’s - play for us. He’s “touring” with the team. And I figure I’ll stay close to him cuz all these kids line up to get Smittys’ autograph, I figure that’s the safest spot for me in the rink. And about 10 mins before game 3 start The Thunder begin to emerge from their dressing room & the already full arena rises as one to look down to that end of the rink and take “attendance” on who is dressing for the game because in the past...NOT ALL of these high priced stars have always dressed to play in same game. But tonite they’re all playing. Fleury, Odjick, both Lakovics’. Fuck! I think they even added a few more. Kevin Marsh, who’d played at U of A Golden Bears. Tyler Brough, who was an AP and leading the North Peace League in scoring. And they’ve picked up a goalie from Spirit River
That’s one of wild the things about Senior hockey...the rules are just fucked. You can sign guys from all over/all the time. Rosters 50-60 guys deep. Ringers. We’ve got what’s left of our crew. 16 skaters. They’ve got that many scratched. And? They have a war drum in the rink! Ya. 2 mins before the Zamboni is done...this war drum starts up. And then the lights go dim and AC-DC comes into the $35,000 sound system. Here they come. The Horse Lake Thunder. Most intimidating 5 mins I think I’ve ever seen live. They’ve got guys like Misko Antisin; he’s probably 6’1” 200lbs D-Man. Played all his pro in Switzerland. Once started a Fucking free for all brawl in Oslo or Bern or something and allegedly was thrown in jail for it. His legs are thick like sequoias. He’s circling in the pre-game like an old California Condor looking down at the Gens end of the rink as if they’re carrion. Jesus lord fuck. It was a hollow feeling. The boys are not taking it well. Who can blame them?! We basically have one resident tough guy still in the line up: Colin Bergen. Bergie is a Farm Biotech guy or something by day - never played higher than Jr B. And tonite? He’s gonna fight Sasha Lakovic. NHL fights with Probert, Kocur, Domi you name it. Bergie actually does ok. Made it out alive, at least. But Wandler wasn’t quite as fortunate in net. The environment just got real hot up there, and I think Odjick ended up blasting a shot from about 80’ out...beat Wands’ over his shoulder to make the score 9-4 in game 3 and The Army was DOA at that point. We kept game 4 a bit closer...but...Horse Lake was undoubtedly much the deeper & scarier team.
Craziest part was...after the series was over...all the blood and war-crying aside...The Horse Lake team set all of us up on their tab in a bar in GP and we partied with them til dawn. Maybe even a bit later than dawn. They were just a bunch of crazy Fucking beauties from all over the hockey map...they earned most of their PIMs and reveled in the villain role but most of those guys already had kids they were raising & coaching & that spring...a lot of senior teams made a sic amount of $$$ when The Thunder rolled into town. Nothing like it has ever happened in the age of modern SR hockey and prolly never will again. Ohhh...The Army of course grew some big crowds and actually ended up icing even better/deeper teams than that 2005 Horse Lake team. But it was prolly BECAUSE OF what happened in 05 we were able to grow!!
As for the Thunder, they just shredded everyone in their path for the next few weeks. Double digit goal spreads over a pretty solid Powell River Regals team in the McKenzie Cup series. And by the time they hit Lloydminster for Allan Cup 2005, all of Canada has heard about them. If there were Vegas odds on HL winning the 2005 Allan Cup...It would’ve been called “lock of the year.” But they’re also getting pretty cocky by now. The partying is starting to be a factor. I dunno how much truth there is to it...but...allegedly...at one point Fleury shows up just before game time inna taxi cab from Onion Lake, wearing an Indian head dress or something. Just weird. But HL blows everyone out in the prelim’ round. And if you were in Lloyd’ for that tournament you know, the Thunder were having fun, but the fans were on them. Big time.
As had become the norm...over-capacity rink. Mountains of beer cans pouring over top of garbage cans in the beer tent adjacent to the rink. And there are oil businessmen running around dropping huge $$$secret bets on the games & rumours about who’s behind all the money with HL. But HL goes 2-0 in round robin and clinched a bye. Which means...they now have 48HRS off until a semi-final game. 2 steps from a National Championship. Seemingly in the bag. But they got into a different bag altogether, as it turns out.
Meanwhile, a completely unknown team from Thunder Bay...who’d rode a bus...Thunder Bay to Lloydminster and got to town 45 mins before the tournament started and LOST both their round robin games before innocuously winning a quarter final game earned semi final with HL. Well this Thunder Bay team has 3 things going for them at this point: 1) Cory McEachran. A goalie who’d just come out of Lakehead University in 04’. 2) Barry McKinlay. 40 years old at the time, but he was drafted by the Habs’ in 87’ and had scored 126 pts as a D-Man in the UHL(That’s the United League) and as legend goes...an Al MacInnis level bomb from the point. 3) The Thunder Bay Bombers...were broke flatter than piss onna platter. They didn’t have ANY $$$ to party with or even buy fuel for the bus. So, they stayed sober, and the Horses Lake team???
Well...Idunno what HL did with their 48 hour bye. But they got the shock of the century when they took a couple dumb PIMs early in the semi-final and old Barry McKinlay started laying into open shots from the point. Oh fuck ya’ buds. Barry has a bomb! He was bald AF but badass!! He buried two early in the game...& then when Horse Lake started to get some PP chances to answer...”Big Tex” McEachran barred the door. T-Bay stunned Horse Lake. Sent em packing.
Fleury famously quipped: “Everyone was here to see me, now they can go home.”
T-Bay won the 2005 Allan Cup the following day. But it was that game...and this story, really...that triggered a golden era for SR AAA hockey. The next 10 years...we had so many huge crowds & memorable games all over small town Canada.
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