Road To The Royal Bank Cup: Excitement Builds In Quest For Junior A Supremacy:

This is in the BC Hockey Now Newspaper:

Road To The Royal Bank Cup: Excitement Builds In Quest For Junior A Supremacy

Thursday, February 24, 2011 /

By Mark Janzen /

If there were ever a town and a franchise that most definitely deserved to host the RBC Cup, Camrose would be it.

The town of 16,500 just southeast of Edmonton that is home to the AJHL Kodiaks lives and breathes Junior A hockey. And it’s no wonder why.

Since their inaugural 1997 season, the Kodiaks have been to five RBC Cup tournaments, played in four national championship games and won one, via a 5-0 win over Flin Flon in 2001.

So it was only fitting that Camrose would host the Canadian Junior “A” championship tournament for the first time on the 10-year anniversary of the Kodiaks first RBC Cup title.
While it’s still more than two months until the best Junior “A” teams in Canada converge on the Edgeworth Centre, with the first puck set to be dropped April 30, the excitement within the city is palpable.

“The enthusiasm for this event is electric,” said Darcy Steen, assistant GM of the Kodiaks and a member of the RBC Cup host organizing committee. “There is a great love affair between Camrose and this team. It’s just the talk of the town and everyone is jumping on board. I look outside my office right now and people are lined up to buy playoff tickets or RBC Cup ticket packages.”

So far, more than 1,400 ticket packages have been sold for the tournament, which is a Hockey Canada record for the most sold at this stage, and Steen says the tournament will only gain momentum as the time nears.

“We have been very successful in promoting the tournament,” Steen said. “And we anticipate a strong February, March and April in terms of even more ticket sales. The Kodiaks are really the entertainment heartbeat of Camrose.”

Although the Kodiaks on-ice product is having a bit of down year (31-21-6) – this in comparison to five straight South Division championships from 2003 to 2008 – it would be silly to count out the most dominant Canada Junior “A” hockey team of the last decade.
With the legendary Boris Rybalka the steadying force as both coach and GM, despite likely coming into the tournament as underdogs, they could well be the first team to win the national title on home ice since Weyburn did it in 2005 -- a game in which they coincidently beat Camrose 3-2 – and also bring the RBC Cup back to Alberta for the first time since 2001.
But despite having the potential for a home ice advantage of nearly 3,000 fans strong, claiming that title won’t be easy.

Potential Combatants
Out of the AJHL alone, the Spruce Grove Saints – led by the forward tandem of Vincenzo Marozzi and Joel Miller – currently sit atop the CJHL Top 20 rankings while Okotoks has the league’s top scorer in Kyle Reynolds and is currently ranked No. 4 in Canada.

Then from B.C., there is the defensive-conscious Powell River Kings who have goalie Michael Garteig stonewalling the opposition and keeping the Kings ranked No. 2 in Canada.
From the CCHL, the Cornwall Colts are ranked No. 3 in the CJHL and are led by the high-scoring trio of Jacob Laliberte (122 points in 55 games), Tyson Spink (91 points in 49 games) and Tylor Spink (80 points in 43 games).

In the OJHL, Newmarket, Wellington and Burlington go into the playoffs all having at least an .800 winning percentage.

And in Saskatchewan, the La Ronge Ice Wolves have kept momentum from last year’s RBC Cup appearance and are the cream of the SJHL crop.

While in the MJHL, Portage is currently the top-ranked team but is closely followed by Selkirk, Dauphin and Winkler.

So at this point, the only thing certain is that Camrose will be there and so will its fans—in droves.