Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny. Dude, you’re a sports writer, not Niki Wilson, and this is not a first year bio lecture. But, bear with me folks.
This obscure expression describes the astonishing process of embryo development (ontogeny), which replays in a few months, millions of years of evolution (phylogeny). Take for example, humans. We start off as a single cell organism, proceed to a simple multi-celled embryo, pass through an aquatic fish stage, become amphibious, and on to an air breathing, big brained stage at birth, all in 40 weeks of gestation.
As I watched the Jasper Atom Bears last weekend, I was reminded of this lesson. Each game seems to step through the stages from ankle skating to fluid transitions, from individual to team play. Isn’t nature wonderful?
The Bears played two games last weekend against two very different opponents. On Saturday, the Swan Hills Grizzlies rolled into town, hungry for a victory they had yet to taste. Due to outstanding goaltending at both ends of the ice, neither team scored in the first period.
Donovan Fawcett was between the pipes for Jasper and was simply unbeatable all weekend. Forty-nine seconds into the second period however, Bears’ winger Apollo Hardman made no mistake on a feed from Adrian Torres to open the floodgates for the Bears. In the ensuing 40 minutes, Jasper was to get 10 more goals from the likes of Dylan Dekker (3), Baden Koss (2), Sebastian Golla (2), Lucas Oeggerli, Michael Hayashi and Dexter Fawcett.
Although Swan Hills was able to put 12 shots on net, they got none past Donovan who put up his first (but certainly not his last) shutout of the season.
The Bears’ second game would be a very different evolutionary path. Fox Creek, which was stinging from its first loss of the season the day before, was clearly looking to rebound against our hometown Bears. But Jasper—amped to take on the first placed team—was keen to send a message early. The Big Bang was sent by Golla who took the puck from the opening faceoff, waltzed into the Bulldogs’ end and shelfed one.
Twelve seconds in, Jasper 1, Fox Creek 0.
Donovan came up big three minutes later, but then a high knuckle ball from the left dot ended up behind him for his first goal against for the weekend. The Bulldogs had tied it up.
In what would become the best game of the season, Jasper and Fox Creek traded goals for two periods. Two very different styles of play were evident. The Bulldogs rely on the fast-break with a couple of dominant goal-scorers who rarely miss.
The Bears are an adaptive, sure-passing team with half a dozen regular scorers and a strong work ethic.
After two periods of play, Jasper had a total of five goals from Golla, Dekker, Hayashi, Tanner Carleton and Oeggerli. Fox Creek had solved Donovan four times on 17 shots. The final 20 minutes were going to be decisive.
In the third period, the Bears’ defense stepped up yet again. But not just the regular defense corps of Jacob Bartziokas, Owen Kearnan, Dexter Fawcett, Haysahi and Carleton—the rookie line of Nash Hilworth, Janelle Tank and Ty Crozier played impressive shut down hockey as well. These kids are grinding it out in their zone, bottling up opposition forwards and blocking shots. No question, they have developed from novice to atom hockey and I look forward to big things from them in the future.
While the Jasper defense and Donovan were playing third period shutout hockey, the offense was on fire at the other end. Dekker scored on a wrap around for his second of the game. Koss hammered in a goal from the slot and then Dekker finished a Golla feed from the half-wall to complete his hattrick. At the final buzzer, Jasper had doubled Fox Creek: 8–4 and solidly established itself at the pinnacle of the Sturgeon-Pembina evolutionary chain.
With each shift and each game, these Bears recapitulate their hockey evolution from the first time they stepped on the ice. The ontogeny has just started.
The Bears get a week off, but get back on the ice at home against Whitecourt on Nov. 29 and 30.
See you at the rink!
John Wilmshurst
Special to the Fitzhugh
