AHL · ALBERT CUP FINAL
"Beware the Bear", Belleview defeats Rakovnica 4-1 in Albert Cup Finals
Belleview's victory brings the Albert Cup back to Cassier at the end of the 100th season of AHL hockey, arriving in the wake of a disappointing bronze finish at the 2020 Winter Invictus Games in Ulan Khol.
Abelone Genest · SRC Sports · Posted: June 19, 2020 | Last Updated: June 20
The Ours celebrate after beating the Yastreby 4-2 for a Game 5 finish at Angisooqnuna Stadium, Rakovnica.
The Belleview Ours (Bears) clinched their final game in the Albert Cup Finals, winning the cup for the seventh time in franchise history on Friday evening and bringing the it back to its native Cassier at the conclusion of the Asterian Hockey League's 100th season.
The Bears secured a convincing 4-2 win over the defending AHL champions Rakovnica Yastreby (Hawks) in Game 5 at Angisooqnuna Stadium in George Ruset Land, Narozalica.
The Hawks were generally considered to be on the back foot for much of the series, suffering three straight losses to the Bears, but the prospect of a comeback was not entirely out of the realm of possibility. Even with the difficult challenge of overcoming their deficit to Belleview commentators, fans and team members alike were hesitant to write Rakovnica off just yet.
"The Hawks still represent one of the best offensive lineups we've had to play against this season," Bears coach Ernest Figuier said. "I've seen crazier things happen on the ice, so we're not going to take any chances on Friday if we can't help it. We are going to go in, play smart, and do what we've got to do."
The puck dropped at 6:00 PM Belleview time.
An intense first period saw the Hawks' first line exploit the absence of the Bear's star goalie Dany Rodier in the net to the fullest, quickly gaining an early two point lead. The Hawks' offense would relentlessly clash against the Bear's defense for the full twenty minutes, making 14 shots on goal and achieving a 2-1 lead.
The Hawks would manage to make a total of 10 shots on the Bears' net in the second period, however Belleview's defense prevented their lead from widening further. With less than three minutes left in the period a surprise breakaway would allow the Bears' forward right-winger Miroslav Klapil to score for the second time and bring the game to a 2-2 tie.
The third and final period would see the Hawks' potent offensive momentum taper off, with the total shots on the Bears' net decreasing drastically to only 5. Meanwhile the Bears' offense was beginning to pick up steam, with centre Werner Destinn scoring another goal to place Belleview in a 3-2 lead.
After the Bears' third goal many Hawks' fans attending the game began to silently stand up and leave, a movement which would only increase in number after forward left-winger Aaron Cormier scored Belleview their fourth and final goal of the evening.
"The writing was on the wall. I didn't need to see any more of it," a Hawks fan who left early commented. "Besides, it's only fair that the Cassiens win something this year. We wouldn't want them to lose too hard, after all."
By the time the final buzzer sounded both the original capacity crowd of over 17,800 and other large gatherings spectating the Finals in Rakovnica had thinned. The Hawks team themselves would also follow suit, returning to their locker room and leaving the Bears' in an unusually empty and quiet stadium as they held up the Albert Cup.
Rakovnica's police department issued a statement thanking both local and visiting hockey fans for dispersing relatively quietly after the game, reporting no major incidents.
In contrast to Rakovnica the scene in preemptively shut down Belleview saw large numbers of fans jubilantly celebrating the team's victory throughout the city, with #BewareTheBear quickly took over the top trending spot on Twitter.
Though a few minor incidents have been reported, Belleview's police chief announced that the gatherings have mostly been peaceful and cooperative with law enforcement.
The Bears' cup win sees Cassier's 2020 hockey fortunes reversed
With both teams hailing from Cassier and Narozalica respectively and featuring a variety of Winter Invictus athletes in their lineups, many hockey fans and media outlets presented the 2020 Albert Cup Finals as a rematch between the two giants of the sport.
A bitter 1-0 defeat to Narozalica at the ice hockey semi-finals and subsequent riots during the 2020 Winter Invictus in February was a source of anger and humiliation to Cassien hockey fans. With the resumption of the AHL's season after the Winter Invictus' conclusion Cassiens turned their focus to winning the arguably more important prize in the Albert Cup for the league's centennial season.
Donated by Gaullican king Albert III back in 1890, it was first awarded to the Sainte-Marie hockey club, making it the oldest professional sports trophy in the Asterias. Upon the AHL's foundation in 1920 the cup was designated as the league's championship trophy, and has since been considered one of hockey's most prestigious awards ever since.
Even with the expansion of AHL from its original eight teams to thirty-two spread across six nations, Cassien teams have collectively won more Albert Cups than any other nation in the league. The record for most AHL championships also remains with a Cassien team; the Sainte-Marie Habitants, with twenty-five season wins.
"...the Albert Cup is perhaps the most important award in all of hockey. Who actually wins it and when carries significant ramifications to the whole of Cassien hockey culture," Hockey Night in Cassier commentator Ange Rochefort said on Thursday. "A Cassien team not earning gold in the Winter Invictus but still clinching the Albert Cup or vice-versa is one thing, but losing both in the same year can symbolize nothing less than a complete failure of Cassien hockey in the minds of fans. Just ask anyone what happened in Barnier after the 1992 season, it's not pretty."
Among fans of the sport the 1991-92 season is widely regarded as an all-time low point in Cassien hockey, seeing the Barnier Oceanic swept 4-0 by the "upstarts" team from Leon, Halland in the Albert Cup right after Team Cassier's defeat in the finals of the Winter Invictus. The ensuing riots caused by angry hockey fans were the worst in Barnier's history, with damages amounting to over 7 million Cassien Deniers and police making 178 arrests.
"While I can only assume that most Cassiens are less than thrilled at the prospect of a different city winning the cup I am willing to wager that most would prefer that over the alternative, especially after what happened in Ulan Khol 2020," sports commentator Dany Duval commented on SRC Sports radio. "The idea of a 1992-esc perfect storm happening again this year is reason enough for a lot of fans to want a Cassien franchise to win the cup."
Unfortunately for doomsday preppers, no such perfect storm would take place.
A total of six Cassien franchises would qualify for the 2020 AHL playoff tournament, the most out of any country in the league, but only half; Bougainville, Sainte-Marie and Belleview, would move forward to the second round.
Only Belleview would progress further after sweeping Sainte-Marie in the second round, going on to beat Avelon 4-2 in the Western Conference Finals, until finally reaching the Albert Cup Finals.
With the Rakovnica Hawks' defeat to the Bears and the Albert Cup in the hands of a Cassien team for its centennial anniversary, the pain of sports fans from Cassier's earlier failings this year have been assuaged.
"Alas, the hockey gods, pleased by the burnt offerings and spray painted effigies offered up by fanatics in February, decided to spare Cassier from further misery in 2020. The Cassiens would receive their cup, but at what cost?" the self-proclaimed sports "memeposter" YourAverageCassien tweeted.
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