The Bentley Generals hockey club was formed in 1999 and began play in the Chinook Hockey League. The team won its first provincial senior 'A' title in 2001. The following year, the Generals registered as an 'AAA' club and competed in the Allan Cup playdowns for the first time. Former NHLer
Kelly Buchberger was a member of the Generals in 2005, while the team also attempted to play
Ryan Smyth during the
2004–05 NHL lockout, though Smyth was ruled ineligible to play. The Generals, coached by former
National Hockey League player and coach
Brian Sutter, qualified for the
Allan Cup for the first time in
2007. In 2009, the Generals, once again coached by Sutter, won their first Allan Cup with a 4-3 win in double overtime over
Manitoba's
Southeast Prairie Thunder. In 2013, the Generals hosted the Allan Cup in
Red Deer, Alberta and captured their second title by defeating
Newfoundland's
Clarenville Caribous 3-0 in the championship game. The Generals returned to Steinbach in 2016 and defeated the host Prairie Thunder again by a score of 4-3 in overtime to win their third Allan Cup. In 2019, the Generals won their fourth Allan Cup defeating the Innisfail Eagles 5-2 in the final game. The Generals have been Allan Cup finalist six other times:
2008,
2010,
2011,
2015,
2017, and
2018. In December 2015 it was announced that the Generals were relocating to
Lacombe, Alberta for the 2016–17 season, citing a drop in attendance as a reason for the move. The partnership with the City of Lacombe was made official in the summer of 2016. The Generals played in the newly renovated Gary Moe Auto Group Sportsplex in the Can Pak Ice Complex, formerly known as the Barnett Arenas. After hosting, and winning, the Allan Cup in
2019, the Generals announced they would cease operations. The reasons given cited concerns with the organization of
Allan Cup Hockey West, the league they belonged to: several teams had withdrawn recently making it difficult to sustain play. ==Season-by-season record (Regular season)==