Last weekend the Jasper Bantam Bearcats boarded a bus and plied the snow covered, icy roads northward towards the Lesser Slave Lake region for their final road trip of the regular season. They were on a two game swing through Slave Lake and Wabasca, two teams with whom they’ve been previously competitive.
At the Arctic Ice Centre in Slave Lake on Saturday, it was Rhys Malcolm who got his road legs under him first, with a nice cross-crease passing play a couple of minutes in, just missing sniper Hunter Zenner, and then scoring at the four-minute mark, weaving his way through the ranks of Slave Lake Thunder players.
This woke up the entire Bearcat squad, with only the sharp moves of the Thunder netminder keeping the score at one, ahead of Jasper’s quick passing.
Still in the first, with Slave Lake a man down for tripping, Jasper had the game’s most vacuous moment, giving up a shorthanded goal after they collapsed into their own zone.
Hayden Hart would give Jasper back the lead two minutes later, ending the first period 2–1 in favour of the Bearcats.
Things got a little out of hand in the second, with a parade of players from both squads heading to the penalty box for all kinds of infractions, including a couple of head shots. When the dust settled, though, Jasper had scored two more, one by Malcolm in a rare even-strength moment, and a shortie by Cooper Hilworth as the period wound down.
Bearcat goaltender, Severin Golla was perfect on about a dozen shots with imperfect counting.
Leading by three going into the third, cooler heads prevailed and Jasper went back to work on scoring goals rather than the racking up penalty minutes.
Nathan Howes whistled in a shot that was saved, but Malcolm made good on the rebound for his third of the game. Then Brendan Auger got going with two of his own. Again Golla would be flawless, making a huge save five minutes into the third to keep the momentum in Jasper’s favour. At the final buzzer it was Jasper 7, Slave Lake 1.
Having defeated Wabasca by four goals the previous weekend, the Bearcats rolled into this northern burg brimming with confidence. But home cooking does wonders for some teams, and it was the Wabasca Royals who would strike early and often, building a two goal lead before the game was four minutes old.
Stunned at this setback, it took Jasper almost the whole period to rebound, but rebound they did just before the buzzer, with two late goals from Auger and Hilworth. In the second, the Bearcats netted two quick early goals themselves, again from Auger and Zenner.
Golla was sharp between the pipes and d-“men” Crimson Derbowka, Kolby Kongsrud, Matthew Park and Drew Tank kept the Royals to the outside.
Nevertheless, Wabasca was able to equalize about half way through the period, and if not for Zenner’s second marker of the period, this game would have been knotted after 40 minutes. But with Hilworth buzzing all over the ice, Zenner got himself in scoring position and buried a wrist shot with five minutes to play in the second.
Entering the third with a one goal lead to protect, Jasper did not slip into a defensive shell, again scoring two quick goals, this time from Malcolm and Auger.
With a three goal lead, and 15 minutes to play, Jasper already had its eye on its second victory for the weekend. But less than three minutes later, Wabasca got one back, and then in a flurry got three more in under two minutes to take the lead mid-way through the period.
Jasper had plenty of time to equalize and regain the lead, but, despite sustained pressure, couldn’t find the net. Under a minute to play, Wabasca sealed the deal with the team’s ninth goal of the game.
That would be it. Final score on Sunday, Jasper 7, Wabasca 9 and the Bearcats drove home with a one and one record for the weekend.
Next Saturday, Jasper takes on Whitecourt at home. The final game of the Bantam regular season is at 12:15 p.m. in the Jasper Arena.
Playoffs will begin mid-February.
See you in the stands.
John Wilmshurst
Special to the Fitzhugh
