2023 Allan Cup

The 2023 Allan Cup officially worded as the 2023 Allan Cup Challenge is to be held April 17-22 2023 at the J. L. Grightmire Arena in Dundas, Ontario being hosted by the Dundas Real McCoys of Allan Cup Hockey. This event marks the 112th time that the Allan Cup will be awarded since the beginning of competition for the Allan Cup began in 1909 when it was presented by H. Montagu Allan as a challenge trophy emblematic of the Senior level championship of Canada replacing the Stanley Cup which though originally intended as an amateur championship had become openly professional in the earlier years of the 1900's.
Due to several issues within Hockey Canada the Allan Cup tournament has moved to a lower priority as opposed to other tournaments under its' sanctioning. Indications are that if the bid for Dundas is not helped financially by Hockey Canada, the bid will be pulled and the Ontario Hockey Association, Ontario Hockey Federation, and Allan Cup Hockey will host their own tournament. Hockey Canada had indicated that it was not going to give as much (if any) financial support to help the two Alberta teams to offset travel expenses. 
The only confirmed teams attempting to qualify for the Allan Cup as of December are the four members of Allan Cup Hockey (Brampton Buccaneers, Dundas Real McCoys, Hamilton Steelers, and Wentworth Gryphins) along with the Innisfail Eagles and Stony Plain Eagles of the Chinook Hockey League with it at the time being uncertain if a new third team in the league will be attempting to qualify as well as Hockey Alberta's by-laws indicate that a new team must play one season as the Senior AA level before being eligible to compete at the Senior AAA level. The Cremona Coyotes joined the league as its' third member but opted out of the league playoffs after being announced as being allowed to play as a Senior AAA team.
==Host Venue==
The J. L. Grightmire Arena in Dundas, Ontario, which is the home rink of the Dundas Real McCoys is the host venue for the tournament. The arena, which has a capacity of just over 1,000 first opened as the Dundas Arena in 1952. The arena previously hosted the Allan Cup in 2003 and 2014. The arena was intended to be either host or co-host of the 2020, 2021, and 2022 tournaments all of which were cancelled by Hockey Canada as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
==Qualifying==
The Dundas Real McCoys automatically qualify for the tournament as the host team.
Due to the lack of teams playing at the Senior AAA level as a result of many teams being shutdown for 1 to 2 years and not being able to raise revenue to finance travel to Ontario the only actual qualifying event ended up being the Allan Cup Hockey league playoffs. The playoff champion (or runner-up if the Dundas Real McCoys win the championship) qualify as the league's representative.
The 2022-23 Chinook Hockey League season playoffs doubled as the 2023 Alberta Senior AAA playoffs; however, both participants were already announced as participating in the Allan Cup tournament.
==Senior AAA Teams for 2022-23==
The following teams declared as Senior AAA for the 2022-23 playing season, which by Hockey Canada standards make them eligible to compete for the 2023 Allan Cup.
Team 	League	Founded	Allan CupTournaments	Notes
Brampton Buccaneers 	ACH 	2022 	N/A 	Did not qualify for league playoffs
Clarenville Caribous	AESHL 	2006 	4th 	Annouced as replacement team in March2011 Allan Cup champions'''
Cremona Coyotes 	ChHL 	2022 	N/A 	opted out of participating in league playoffs
Dundas Real McCoys 	ACH 	2000 	9th 	Qualify as host;2014 Allan Cup champions
Hamilton Steelers 	ACH 	2015 	1st 	previously known as Hamilton Steelhawks until 2022qualified when they and Dundas reach league final
Innisfail Eagles 	ChHL 	1947 	2nd 	qualify as 2023 Alberta Senior AAA playoffs champions
Stony Plain Eagles 	ChHL 	1946 	14th 	qualify as at-large bid;1999 Allan Cup championsopted out after completion of Alberta Senior Playoffs
Wentworth Gryphins 	ACH 	2021 	N/A 	founded as Flamborough Ducks in 2021eliminated in league playoff semifinals
Note: Hamilton, then known as the Steelhawks, was on the verge of qualifying for the 2020 Allan Cup with a 2 games to none lead in the best-of-seven ACH final, and Innisfail was also on the verge of qualifying for the 2020 Allan Cup with a 3 games to none lead in the best-of-seven Alberta Senior AAA playoffs when both playoff series and the Allan Cup was cancelled by Hockey Canada along with all game play under Hockey Canada's sanctioning on March 13, 2020 as a result of the emerging COVID-19 pandemic.
==Format==
All four qualifying teams participate in a single round robin to determine seeding. The first place team advances to the championship game against the winner of the semifinal game which matches up the second and third place teams. The fourth place team is eliminated from further play.
==Schedule/Results==
===Round Robin===
*April 17: Hamilton Steelers 3-4 Clarenville Caribous
*April 17: Dundas Real McCoys 0-2 Innisfail Eagles
*April 18: Innisfail Eagles 2-3 Clarenville Caribous
*April 18: Dundas Real McCoys 8-6 Hamilton Steelers
*April 19: Hamilton Steelers 6-5 Innisfail Eagles (ot)
*April 20: Dundas Real McCoys 4-5 Clarenville Caribous (ot)
===Standings===
Rank	Team 	GP	W	L	OL	GF	GA	Pts
1 	Clarenville Caribous	3 	3	0	0 	12	9 	9
2 	Dundas Real McCoys 	3 	1	1	1 	12	13	4
3 	Hamilton Steelers 	3 	1	2	0 	15	17	3
4 	Innisfail Eagles 	3 	1	2	0 	9 	9 	3
===Semifinal===
*April 21: Dundas Real McCoys 7-4 Hamilton Steelers
===Final===
*April 22: Clarenville Caribous 3-5 Dundas Real McCoys
Category:Allan Cup
Category:2023 in hockey