The Junior B St. Albert Merchants are gearing up to hoist a Founder’s Cup championship banner for the first time in almost two decades.
The festivities for the 2023-24 Capital Junior Hockey League (CJHL) champions go on at 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 20, at Jerome Iginla Arena.
The Merchants, who defeated the Stony Plain Flyers and Morinville Jets on their way to the final, took five games to vanquish the Beaumont Chiefs in the CJHL championship in March.
They actually have a few new decorations for the barn, including their 2022-23 and 2023-24 Challenge Cup banners as regular season win leaders for the last two seasons, the Western Conference championship banner, the first to ever be awarded, the Founder’s Cup CJHL champions banner, and their bronze medallist banner from the provincial championship tournament.
It is the team's first Founder’s Cup victory in nearly 20 years, but it is the seventh title in team history. The Merchants first championship was in 1988, and then the club won four straight between 1995 and 1998.
Team president Brad Laporte said Monday the festivities will include player, staff and coach introductions and a send-off for the Merchants who have aged out of the league.
The Merchants defeated their “nemesis” the Jets in the CJHL semifinal to win that inaugural Western Conference banner. Laporte is looking forward to facing off against them after making them watch that banner ascend to its rightful place among the rafters at Jerome Iginla Friday night.
“We feel like we're going to be competitive again,” Laporte said. “We have the same coaching staff in place. Our goaltending has changed, so we'll have to see how that goes, but from what I hear, we're going to be pretty good in goal. We'll be just fine. We’ll be strong.”
Laporte couldn’t nail down exactly how many players would be returning but said the team may pick up a player or two if required.
“We do have four over-agers, which we're allowed to carry as per capita Junior Hockey League policy,” he continued. “We'll see how things go. One game at a time. We just want to be a good product on the ice and promote the best hockey in St. Albert right now.”
