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| January 1, 2002
By Richard Nault
Edmonton Backhanders, New Guys In The Pro Division
| After winning the Senior Platinum Division at the NARCh Finals in 2000 and then again in 2001, it's time to go Pro.
The Edmonton Backhanders are a local team who have been playing inline hockey together for six years. The team started off as the 'Slave Lake Backhanders',a group of childhood friends playing intramural ice hockey in their local high school league. Although each player played ice hockey in their own respective leagues, the boys would get together each week for intramurals. The team got introduced to the rollerhockey scene at their community outdoor ice rink. When the outdoor ice melted in the summer months, the guys would get together and strap on the rollerblades and shoot around a hockey ball on the concrete. Even local friends Paul and Mike Comrie (Edmonton Oilers - NHL) would come out and play.
In 1997 the Backhanders joined the Northern Stars Rollerhockey League and finished a perfect season with a record of 18-0-0, winning the League Championships and the gold medal at the 1997 Alberta Provincials. "This was the team's first time playing organized rollerhockey and already we had big dreams. We used to call as many reps as we could to see if they could provide us with any equipment" says forward Brian Scherban.
The Backhanders then went on to compete internationally for the first time at the 1997 NARCh Finals held in Vancouver, BC. The road to Vancouver was not an easy one as the boys were low on funds and were forced to camp out in the backyard of a relatives' after they had spent all their traveling money on a minivan and a Volvo wagon to race to the rink with.
The first appearance at the NARCh finals was an eye opening experience for the Backhanders, as they were finally introduced to the U.S style of inline by taking advantage of no lines, no offsides and no icing calls. "It was an adjustment we had to make in the midst of the tournament in order to be able to compete.
We had to dump our ice hockey mentality and adapt" says Backhander Defenceman Dave Kelcher. The Backhanders were also forced to make adjustments when they realized that the wheels they had been training with on the cement surface did not stick to the surface used at NARCh.
The highlight of the 97' Finals for the Backhanders was playing back to back games vs. Team Bauer. It was an exhausting battle that ran until 3:00am ending in a defeat for the Backhanders. Even though the team lost, the hard fought game left them with the realization that they could compete and gave them the drive to return as a stronger team.
1998 was a transition year for the Backhanders as the team picked up a few additions with Rollerhockey experience. The team also changed its' strategy which was originally a run-and-gun ice hockey style, full of penalties, to a more strategic rollerhockey style. The team focused on using the goalie as a fifth player and has since focused on keeping the goals against to a minimum. The team practiced extremely hard all summer as the lore of sponsorship was the main goal.
The Backhanders' hard work continued with an undefeated record throughout the 98' season bringing home gold medals from the 1998 Alberta Inline Cup in Calgary, AB. and earning a berth in the Canadian National Inline Championships held in Edmonton, AB. The team really thought that this was their chance to show the rollerhockey world who they were. The locals went undefeated on the way to winning the Gold medal and National Championships.
"The Canadian Nationals were a great test for us. All summer we practiced extremely hard, working on our systems to try and have a good showing. We knew there would be some really tough competition and this was the first real test with our new style of game." comments Backhander forward Sandro Trulli.
The Backhanders did not compete in any tournaments in 1999 due to some of the players traveling with outside obligations. The team then put their heads together to try and figure out a way to make their mark in the industry.
"The local Mission rep at the time, and a childhood acquaintance, told us straight out - sponsorship has changed - the days of handing out sponsorship packages are long gone - it is a two-way street now" said forward Richard Nault.
The 2000 season was epic for the Backhanders! The team competed in a league comprised of 5 teams from the Edmonton area. Teams were made up of Junior A (Tier 1 & 2), College/University and Professional ice hockey players. The Backhanders went undefeated, and set their eyes on the 2000 NARCh Finals.
Winning the 2000 NARCh Regional Qualifiers, the team jetted off to Brampton, ONT. for the Senior Platinum Finals.
Right from the start the Backhanders were faced with a huge upset that really made them get together and focus on their ultimate goal of bringing home nothing less than the championship cup. "Losing the first game to Team Franklin (due to forfeit because of a scheduling conflict) was a big blow to the team and our confidence. We tried to get the game rescheduled but NARCh rules would not permit it. We had to put it behind us and work that much harder to overcome the odds" comments forward Chris White. The Backhanders then went undefeated throughout the tournament beating Nevada's Team Cheetahs in the final game to win the Gold Medal and bragging rights as Western Canada's first Senior team to win the Platinum title. The Backhanders were delighted when approached at the end of the game by a Cheetah member downing beer to help celebrate the victory. "It was a great display of sportsmanship and really sums up the NARCh culture and camaraderie amongst players" says Trulli. Later the Backhanders headed to Toronto to finish the evening off in style with an Allman Brothers concert.
2001 was another stepping stone for the Edmonton boys. For the first time, the
team was approached for their services. Hockey Alberta approached the Backhanders and asked if they would be interested in an equipment sponsor from Tour. Accepting the offer, the Backhanders and Hockey Alberta put on 17 Tour Exposure Camps throughout Alberta. "We went into different communities across the province to expose kids to the sport and teach them stopping techniques, basic puck handling, skating, passing and shooting skills.
Some kids came to the camps with previous rollerhockey experience where as others came with none - some would arrive with brakes on their blades, wearing skateboarding knee pads and elbow pads. That was great though, just to get out and have them learn how to properly stop or pass and introduce them to a great sport" commented Backhander goalie Derek Shybunka.
The Backhanders also put on a Tour Coaches Clinic at the 2001 NARCh Regional Qualifiers in Sherwood Park, AB. Here the Backhanders went over team strategies, offensive and defensive with all the coaches of the participating teams. Says Shybunka "This was great! We didn't expect this many coaches to show up - and to have them all taking notes and asking questions, shows the willingness and passion for the game. The sport is really growing here."
This was the first year that the Backhanders were a sponsored team. It was also the first year that teams were gunning to dethrone them. "Usually we would come into a game and teams would take us lightly. Even after winning our first NARCh Championship, a lot of teams thought we just got lucky, that's all. But for the most part, teams wanted to see where they stood by how they competed against us. So it was a whole new game for us," says Nault.
The 2001 NARCh Qualifiers held in Sherwood Park, AB. were a big test for the Backhanders as competition was stiff.
The Winnipeg Motor Express showed up looking for redemption as Backhander defenseman Kelly McClain who also won 2 CIAU National Championships with the University of Alberta Golden Bears (ice hockey) states "The Winnipeg team won the bronze medal at the 2000 NARCh Finals last year and felt that they would have beat us in the Final. So they were looking to beat us pretty bad - and they're a great team with loads of talent." The Tour Backhanders went undefeated, beating the Winnipeg team 5-4
in the final game.
On to Estero, Florida for the 2001 NARCh Finals! The team knew there would be a lot of hard work ahead as fundraising was now the main priority. The team hosted a tournament in Edmonton to raise some funds and also did a Skate-a-Thon with the Kids-for-Sports Charity organization. The team also approached as many people as possible to try and come up with travel costs.
Luckily the boys have some great family and friends. "We also did as many media events as possible to promote the game throughout the summer. We did radio shows and had TV News companies come out to different fundraisers to increase awareness as well."
The Backhanders were no longer the unknown underdogs of the West.Fundraising
efforts in place, the team practiced hard and continued to try and develop the sport throughout Alberta. "We knew winning a second consecutive NARCh Championship (Senior Platinum division) would be that much tougher than the first one, because we were the defending champs. We also looked like a team now. At the last NARCh Finals, we would skate onto the floor and you could just tell teams looked at us like we were a bunch of throw togethers. So we were underdogs and no one knew what to expect from us until it was too late!
In Florida, people knew we won it all last year so they didn't take us so lightly. Although we heard through the grapevine, we were ranked 2nd or 3rd out of the teams there. We would be checking out the tournament scores and always heard people talking about the Detroit Can-Am All-Stars and commenting about how talented they were. That gave us some ex
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