The Jasper Atom Bears finished up the pre-season schedule last weekend with a tie and a win in a two-game home stand against two regional rivals the team can expect to see in the regular season.

Saturday’s game against the Sangudo Storm was an offensive battle that saw centre Cooper Hilworth score five goals, stalwart Matthew Park net one and newcomer Trenton Rae score twice. It was not enough to beat the Storm who themselves potted eight markers, four each against goaltenders Severin Golla and Duncan McLeod, who share the netminding duties this year.

On Sunday the Whitecourt Huskies came to town but this time Jasper prevailed with nine goals against three from the Huskies. Again, Hilworth featured prominently on the scoresheet with a hat trick supported by two more from Park and singletons from Magnus Stenlund, Hyunki Kim, Rhys Malcolm and Ethan Morin (scoring his second career goal).

Each step in a player’s minor hockey career, starting with initiation, lasts two years. This means that this team of Atom players is a mix of players with a year of experience at this level, as well as players fresh from Novice, for whom league play and the faster pace of positional hockey is brand new. Players like Magnus Stenlund, Cooper Hilworth, Talen Moorhouse, Rhys Malcolm and Drew Tank are all veteran Atoms and you can count on reading their names often in this column during the year.

And while they will dominate the play, they are joined on the ice by the fresh energy of players such as Abhigya Devkota, Troy Jackson, Tyler Carlton and Eric MacMahon. These guys were lighting it up last year in Novice, but, not for lack of talent or effort, will have to work hard to make the scoresheet this year. 

But this weekend can be taken as a sign of things to come. Trenton Rae, a first year Atom, lit the lamp twice this weekend and was a key element to Hilworth’s eight-goal performance. As well, Hyunki Kim is playing his first games ever after being on the practice roster last year, yet was centering his own line on Sunday, with wingers Jackson and Devkota.

It’s a long season that hasn’t really started yet. Along the way, under the capable tutelage of head coach Steve Malcolm, these kids will learn a lot about the skills it takes to play hockey, the dedication it takes to achieve personal goals and the pride it means to be part of a team, win or lose.

League play will start in November. 

Correction: Hyunki Kim’s name was spelled incorrectly in the photo caption accompanying last week’s article on the Jasper Atom Bears. The correct spelling is reflected in this article.