The Jasper Bantam Bearcats play in an interesting hybrid league; it's a blend of their traditional Sturgeon-Pembina foes and a larger pool of more distant opponents from the 16-60 league (towns within 60 miles of Highway 16).
If you go to the 16-60 league website and navigate your way to the Bantam Tier 2 scoring leaders page, you will see that three of the top 10 goal scorers are Bearcats. Rhys Malcolm and Cooper Hilworth are tied in second place with 38 points (25 goals, 13 assists each), and in eighth place is Elvis Gorontzy-Slack with 10 goals and 19 assists.
As the only Bearcats in the league’s top 30 scorers, and credited with more than two-thirds of Jasper’s goals this season, you know before the game starts, that if the puck is going to hit the back of the opponent’s net, it is likely going to come off the stick of one of these three players.
The game last Saturday night against the Athabasca Hawks was no different in that respect, but the subtle differences were compelling.
The opening period was a dance that should be familiar by now. For both teams, the defense got a faster start than the offense, and despite 14 shots by Jasper, only one went in. Mind you it was a thing of beauty, as Gorontzy-Slack fed a pinching Eric MacMahon in the high slot, and then buried the rebound. I'm not sure if that counts as a goal AND an assist for Gorontzy-Slack. I’ll have to look up the rules.
Indeed, MacMahon’s defensive example in the first period was poignant, as the Bearcats three blueliners were the most entertaining part of Jasper’s game on Saturday.
Matthew Park quarterbacks Jasper’s defense and is simply great to watch, whether he’s crushing offensive ambitions or leading a rush. MacMahon is athletic and creative on the blue line, and his defensive partner Tyler Carlton is as effective as he is unorthodox. It was nice to see Carlton calling for the puck and taking some point shots.
The second period was again Gorontzy-Slack's show. The Bearcats scored thrice more, and he had a hand in all three; twice feeding Hilworth who rarely misses an opportunity, and once a goal of his own, picking up the puck in a forecheck, walking in alone and burying it top shelf.
After two periods, Jasper led 4–0 and was outshooting Athabasca by 16 shots. While the goaltender, Severin Golla didn’t have a pile of work at his end, he did face a couple of genuine scoring chances and was equal to the challenge.
In the third, with the game well in hand, the names that you won’t find (this year) on the scoring leaders chart came to the fore.
Trenton Rea, back from a broken wing, was tenacious on the backcheck, and together with linemates Joel Peleshaty and Drew Tank (filling-in up front for sidelined Hunter Zenner) really did a great job manhandling Athabasca’s offensive rushes in the third period.
Hilworth buried another backhander right off the face-off at the nine minute mark of the third, giving Jasper a five goal lead.
Then it was the Malcolm line’s turn to step up. Malcolm is fast and strong with a nose for the net, but he relies on his wingers, Troy Jackson and Jax Kading, to dig the puck out of the corners, get dirty in front of the net and generally get the puck into open space where Malcolm can use his speed to do the rest. This crew was responsible for Jasper’s sixth and seventh goals of the game, and with only one third period shot to face, Golla recorded a shutout for his evening's work.
The final score was Jasper 7, Athabasca 0.
While Hilworth and Malcolm solidified their positions among the league’s top scorers, this game belonged to Gorontzy-Slack, MacMahon, Park and Stenlund and the rest of the Bearcats who put in a solid 60-minute performance.
Jasper is back on the ice at home for three games this weekend, Friday at 7:15 p.m., Saturday at 12:15 p.m. and again Sunday at 10:45 a.m.
Hope to catch you in the stands.
John Wilmshurst
Special to the Fitzhugh
