Last weekend, the Bantam Bearcats joined the advanced polling station at the Jasper Activity Centre to start their 2015–16 hockey campaign with a Saturday home game against local rivals the Edson Warriors.
Running on a platform of thrills, spills and drills, Coaches Gary Hilworth and Steve Malcolm were anxious to see how well this coalition of Green first year players and experienced second years would perform.
Play from both the Bearcats and Warriors was clearly Conservative in the opening five minutes—the length of time that lapsed before Jasper's co-netminder Severin Golla stopped his first shot. He would face only 12 in his shutout effort, before his running mate, Duncan MacLeod would take over halfway through the game.
Shortly after that, Bearcat sniper Rhys Malcolm would score his first of four goals to put Jasper ahead by one at the end of the second period. Cooper Hilworth made no mistake, burying a sweet pass from Elvis Gorontzy-Slack to put Jasper up by two, opening the third period.
Then Malcolm took over the party, which is neither New nor Democratic, firing three more goals before the end of the game, which saw a heated, goal-mouth debate between Jasper immigrant and left winger Joel Peleshaty and several Warriors.
Edson would sneak in two of their own before parliament was suspended for a clear 5–2 majority for Jasper.
Sunday saw the Jasper campaign bus heading to unfamiliar territory, as the Bearcats travelled to Stony Plain to play the Predators in the Sturgeon River-Parkland federal riding—home of right-winger, Rona Ambrose, Canada’s minister of health, who's seeking her fifth term in office (never say you didn’t learn anything reading the sports page).
Stony Plain opened the scoring 12 minutes in, but just before the buzzer at the end of the opening frame, Drew Tank lofted a wrister from the right point that found its way to the back of the net to tie the score.
Early in the second, the Predators regained their lead in the polls, flipping a rebound past MacLeod who together with his blueline Bloc were keeping the Bearcats in the race with unbelievable defensive zone play.
But, again, Jasper would equalize five minutes later when Gorontzy-Slack expertly tipped a Tyler Carlton point shot into the top corner just before the game’s half-way point.
Second half Bearcat netminder Golla barely had a chance to get set before Stony Plain had scored twice. Jasper closed the gap just seconds before the end of the second frame off the stick of the very patient Jax Kading, who fired a wrist shot over the shoulder of the set Predator goalie.
After two periods, the score was 4–3 for Stony Plain.
In the third period, however, with a Liberal application of the body, the Predators took over the game, scoring four more goals and making it first past the post at the end of 60 minutes by a margin of 8–3.
It was a disappointing defeat for the Bearcats, but the long trip home gave them plenty of opportunity for sober second thought.
This weekend the Bearcats will travel to Whitecourt for an away game. You can read about it here next week.
John Wilmshurst Special to the Fitzhugh
