By TREENA MIELKE
Saturday night wasn’t stellar for the Bentley Generals nor for the little village that put its heart and soul into officially becoming this year’s Kraft Hockeyville.
Bentley came in fourth in the Hockeyville competition and The Generals lost 6-3 to the Fort St. John Flyers in the third game of the 2011 McKenzie Cup Senior AAA Championships held at the Red Deer Arena.
“We’re a little sad we lost the hockey game and we’re a little sad we’re not Hockeyville,” said Derek Dickau, who attended the game with his wife, Joan, Bentley’s mayor.
Close to 2,000 people filled the Red Deer Arena April 2 to watch the game and wait in anticipation for the big announcement, which the crowd was hoping would name Bentley the 2011 Hockeyville.
Minutes before NHL commissioner Gary Bettman made the announcement from New York during the final game of the HNIC doubleheader between the Edmonton Oilers and the Vancouver Canucks, excitement at the arena was at an all-time high.
A huge television had been rolled onto the ice for the announcement, but it was difficult to hear as the noise level at the arena reached a fevered pitch.
Prior to the announcement, excitement peaked when the crowd participated in a huge wave and at one point the cheers for Bentley drowned out everything else.
However, the atmosphere at the excitement charged arena took on a decidedly different tone when the crowd learned Bentley, despite showing amazing community pride, involvement and effort during the competition, came in fourth and did not win the coveted Hockeyville title.
The 2011 Kraft Hockeyville winner is Conception Bay South, Nfld, a town located west of St. John’s, with a population of 24,000.
Conception Bay won the contest with 995,368 votes, followed by Mackenzie, B.C. with 652,442 votes. Saint-Raymond, Que. was third with 534,325 votes and Bentley captured 467,607 votes to come in fourth place. The fifth pace winner was Wolfe Island, Ont. with 450,228 votes.
Win or lose, Mayor Dickau is very proud of Bentley and grateful for the experience of competing in the Hockeyville competition.
“Of course we’re disappointed, but we are very grateful to CBC and Kraft Hockeyville and very grateful for the chance to show our community pride. The community spirit has been phenomenal and the level of enthusiasm amazing.”
Dickau commended all the volunteers who helped out during the competition, noting that Angel Hand, who was in charge of the Hockeyville committee played a huge role.
“She truly is our angel,” she said.
Hand, who came down with a cold during the final festivities, never lost her cheerful, positive outlook, even when the results were announced.
She said later, the experience was one the community will remember for years to come.
“It had a neat effect on our community. And it taught us all to dream big and things can happen.”
Hand gave credit to her organizing committee consisting of Lane Moore, Sherry Haarstad and Pam Hansen for all the hours of work they put into the competition.
She also noted the representatives from CBC and Kraft were fabulous to work with.
Being in the top five means Bentley will receive $25,000, money which will no doubt be put to good use at the arena.
“It’s $25,000 we didn’t have before,” said Hand.
“There are many things that need to be done in the arena,” added Dickau.