I’ve never pretended to be an unbiased reporter, but I try to at least keep a bit of a lid on it. But, this Jasper PeeWee team—which last weekend kicked off its season with games against the two Edson teams here at home—is unreal.
The players can skate, they can pass, and they can goaltend. They blow the cork out of it and they seem to be having a pile of fun while they're at it.
Game one on Saturday against the Edson Wildcats looked a lot like the first game of the season for any team. It took the Bears 10 minutes to get their first shot, and more than a period to get their first goal. The team looked a bit tight and nervous out there. But the players didn’t give anything away either. Netminder Kelan Polard was calm and solid, getting his team out of the first 20 minutes scoreless. Period two was a different matter, with the Bears breaking out with five goals, the first from smooth skating Dana Angebrandt, two from the shifty Matteo Tassoni, one from sniper Dylan Dekker and another from playmaker Sebastian Golla.
Edson managed to poke one past Polard in the second, but the Bears had a healthy 5-1 lead after 40 minutes.
In period three, Edson got a goal to pull within three in their first shift, but Tassoni got that one back on a powerplay moments later. Then Angebrandt, which means “stick in the blue ice” in German, picked up her second, third and fourth goals of the contest, including a spectacular wrap around marker in the final minute of play, to finish off the Wildcats.
The final score: Jasper 9, Edson Wildcats 2.
While the goal scorers stood out on the scoresheet, the five-man defense stood out on the ice, shutting Edson down for the most part. Hats off to blueliners Josh Howes, Owen Kearnan, Aidan Deagle, Justin McIsaac and Jacob Bartziokas for a flawless defensive performance.
Game two was also in Jasper and saw our Bears facing off against the Edson Mighty Macs.
This time Jasper didn't wait for the second period to heat the scoreboard bulbs, as Tassoni found pay dirt within the first minute of play. Rolling three forward lines, coaches Geno Tassoni and John Polard have a wealth of talent to send into the fray, making for hockey that sure is fun to watch.
The ACDC line centred by Camas D’Antonio, with Adrian Torres and Liam Crozier on the wings, rock-and-roll out there, keeping the opposition thunderstruck when they're on the ice.
Tassoni, assisted by linemates Golla and Lucas Oeggerli, picked up a first period hattrick using that seeing-eye wrist shot of his. Then, Dekker added to Jasper’s lead with a top-shelf laser of his own to give Jasper four goals after 20 minutes against Edson’s one.
Eight minutes into the second, Golla and Tassoni combined on a passing play that ended with Tassoni shooting for the roof to put Jasper up by four. However, that lead evaporated minutes later when Edson stuffed a low shot under Polard’s butterflied pad.
Golla regained the Bears’ five-goal advantage before the period would expire, using Tassoni as bait on a 2-on-1 and blasting a wrister past a shifting Edson goaltender.
Tassoni picked up his incredible fifth of the game, tucking the puck in far post from a bad angle and then, to polish things off, Baden Koss scored his first of the season, burying a Dekker pass from the side of the net with five minutes to play.
At the end of game two, it was Bears 8, Mighty Macs 2.
If you ask me, with the other major Canadian newspapers embracing editorial bias during the recent federal election, it is time for the Fitzhugh to take a stand on Jasper sports.
I, for one, am prepared to endorse Jasper minor hockey as the sport of choice in the Jasper Arena for the 2015-16 season.
These Jasper PeeWee Bears have given me much cause to take such a bold position.
This weekend, the PeeWees are on the road visiting Wabasca and Slave Lake.
John Wilmshurst
Special to the Fitzhugh
