Toiling in the amateur hockey leagues around Alberta is a tough road.There is some reward for the people involved at this level. The Senior AAA circuit gets plenty of spotlight because the league champion goes on to compete for a national championship with a hockey bag full of history.
But there is another senior league where the players there are on a similar path of holding down jobs, starting families and then getting to the rink for a practice or a game. The difference is their season ends with a provincial crown and less publicity.
The Rocky Rams are part of the North Central Senior Hockey League but the franchise began life in the Chinook league in the mid 90’s, then became the Sylvan Lake Admirals who folded after a brief hockey life. The Rams were fired up again shortly thereafter and have been a North Central Senior Hockey League member for about five years now.
Bill Lowry is the Rams head coach. He jokes he got the job simply because they couldn’t find anybody else to take it on. He’s a former player with a long history with the Rams so it seems to be a natural fit.
There are no border lines stopping the Rams from recruiting players. Many come from the immediate Rocky region with others from Red Deer, Sylvan Lake, Okotoks and Calgary filling out the roster.
The comparison with the AAA loop is inevitable but Lowry feels the double A league is not too far behind.
“There are players in our league that play on those teams as well,” said Lowry, pointing to Matt Stefanishion who played with Big Valley AA and then suited up for the Bentley Generals to win an Allan Cup.
“There’s some pretty good players. Almost every team has one or two players who suit up with those other teams.”
The NCSHL got bigger and stronger as the Battle River AA league disbanded and some very good teams from there joined, making for a ten team league.
It’s an 18 game season for the Rams and they face the same challenges as any other working man’s league in getting players out consistently for practices and games.
“It’s hard when guys are working and stuff like that to field the same team two games in a row,” he said.
The Rams had almost 40 players turn out for training camp this season, including four or five goalies and Lowry says while the quantity was great the quality was much better this year.
“Everybody wants to play hockey and these guys are all around 18 to 32 and they just want to play hockey. It’s a good opportunity for all of them.”
The Rams had a very young team last season with an average age of about 23 years old so Lowry spent most of the off season contacting players with more experience under their belts. One new addition is Daulton Siwak, a former Red Deer Rebel who should be one of the stronger players in the league.
The Allen Cup has always been the AAA pinnacle and the AA league has a provincial championship to strive for. Lowry says that is enough to still motivates players to play.
So what does get in the mind of a player to have them hop in the car, drive a long distance in frigid temperatures with a blizzard happening?
“Well that’s just being a Canadian. It’s in their blood,” said Lowry.
A lot of these players haven’t reached the “Beer League” stage in their hockey lives as the competitive fire still burns but maybe not as hot as it might have been at one point.
“Many of these guys have had a cup of coffee or something in some sort of professional league or in the WHL so now they’re just kind of playing to have some fun.”
The fan support for the Rams is good with around 200 people turning out for games depending on who the home team is facing. The natural rivalry will be with the Eckville Eagles just down Highway 11 and Lowry says they are looking forward to that.
A massive upgrade to the rink has maybe kept some people from showing up but that is close to ending with the work nearing completion.
So if hockey is in your blood as a fan, check out the NCHL in Rocky this winter. Even if it is cold, snowy and dark outside. The players will be there.
