Last weekend the Jasper Novice Bears travelled to Edson to challenge the region’s best seven to nine-year-old hockey players. Playing three games over two days, this large Jasper team (21 boys and girls made the trip), made their town proud by winning two games against tough opponents. For those of you who have never taken in a novice hockey game, you don’t know what you’re missing. At this age you see some amazing playmaking from kids just learning the game and motivated by the pure joy of being out there on the ice with their friends in front of their enthusiastic parents and grandparents.
Saturday’s first game was a morning tilt against the Whitecourt Wolverines. Both teams had to shake out their roadtrip legs, but it was Jasper that struck first with an early goal from Dylan Dekker. Dekker is one of the handful of Bears who is clearly motivated by the net. He, along with teammates Lucas Oeggerli and Sarah Hayashi, has a drive that propels him towards the goal and keeps that red lamp lit game after the game. At the other end of the spectrum are the defense-minded players that keep the puck out of the net. Jacob Bartziokas, Michael Hayashi, Owen Kearnan, and Baden Koss fill this role for the Bears, shutting down opposing forwards and holding the blue line. Filling the space between these roles are Sebastian Golla, Lucas Prud’Homme, Tanner Carlton and Dexter Fawcett, kids who play defence but are comfortable rushing the puck and have a scoring touch of their own.
All had a hand in the 7–4 victory in this first game that featured a special moment in the first period as Noah Carter banged in a Golla rebound for his first ever Novice marker inducing his parents to zestfully celebrate in the stands. And the third period featured another Apollo Hardman highlight as the first-year Bear potted an impressive backhander high in the Whitecourt cage, ending what was a mounting Wolverines comeback.
Saturday evening, game two pitted Jasper against the Grande Cache Rockies. Coaches Jim Koss and Hugo Prud’Homme put veteran Liam Crozier between the pipes for this one, opting to use his talents to keep the puck out of the net rather than putting the puck in the net as he is also capable. The game got off to an unusually slow start, but after two periods was knotted at 4–4. Then in the third, behind a stellar goaltending performance from Crozier, the Bears turned it on, netting six unanswered goals. Key to this success was the hard work from the up-and-coming troop of first year players like Janelle Tank, Donovan Fawcett and Dylan Skinner, all of whom had close calls around the net. These three are hard workers at practice each week and are clearly motivated by learning the game and improving their skills. The final score was 10–4 Jasper, with goals from nine different players, an impressive stat for novice play. Sarah Hayashi was the lone multi-goal scorer with two in the same shift.
Game three was on Sunday morning against the Edson Outback. If we had a group of tired kids on the ice Saturday evening, Sunday morning was pyjama day. The hometown Outback iced a team of effective stick-handlers and despite solid goaltending from Dekker, our kids came up on the short end of a 7–1 final. The Bears’ lone goal was nonetheless an impressive wrister off the stick of Hardman. Ty Crozier came to play though, and when he was given the chance, found some space for himself on the ice. He’s an athlete to watch. Rachel Angebrandt had the next best chance for the Bears, barely missing on a feed from Golla in the slot, and showed some real jam making her way to the front of the net. Nash Hilworth and Darius Stenlund, always eager to get on the ice, played solid offensive roles, but were denied the space they need to operate from a close checking Outback squad.
