John Wilmshurst | Special to the Fitzhugh
There is a sweetness to Novice hockey that sugar-coats even a coffee tainted mouth early on a weekend morning. Swarms of excited kids on crowded benches, each housing two teams in these split-ice games and where bleary-eyed coaches organize lines. Even from the stands you can see the rosy-cheeked faces of kids through their face masks, buzzing to get on the ice but equally keen to chat with teammates and opponents.
Last weekend, Jasper’s Novice-aged (seven and eight-year-olds) hockey teams, the Roaring Bears and the Growling (aka Gummy) Bears held their annual tournament, hosting 13 teams from central and northern Alberta turning our arena into a beehive of activity on and off the ice. The rink was a honeycomb of snack, raffle and photo tables, game rooms and hockey teams on the ice or waiting in the wings. Like bears to honey, Jasper families were drawn to the arena for 30 games of bottomless excitement. I caught some of the action early on Saturday.
The Roaring Bears have a lot going for them. Part-time skater, part-time goalie, Zoti Koragonas. played this game between the pipes and was a busy bee, stopping a deluge of shots from Beaumont forwards. Roaring Bear Ash Habib, the game’s eventual MVP, was always buzzing around the puck, scoring a couple of roofed backhanders that had an otherwise solid Beaumont netminder swatting at thin air. Sending Jackson Hughes, Will Lescard and Jesse Groth out on the ice together was a recipe for a scoring chance, and Will missed by a hair 16:45 into the first period. James Handerek combined with Arie Hofhuis and Alice Wannop for a great passing play that narrowly missed. The passing game of this team was very impressive. Gone are the days of missed shots and lost pucks standing in for passes. These kids actually look for each other, call for the pass and move the puck to the open player. The passes don’t always connect but the kids keep trying, cementing their commitment to team play. Call it the hive mind. You’ve got to love players like Cohen Fitzgerald, Kai Dugay and Elliot Vassallo giving it their all to contribute to the team.
At the other end of the rink, the Growling Bears were stinging the Fort Saskatchewan Rangers. This game featured hockey royalty on both sides of the puck with Derksens, Olsons and Irwins plying the ice. Thanks to smooth skating Matteo Artiaga and the confident netminding of Will Routledge, the Growlers had this game well in hand. One of the finest moments came when Kenny Olson unselfishly dished the puck to Macy Irwin who scored her first ever goal. What a shot! Then Kenny’s sister, Ruby scored minutes later, lifting a wrist shot over the Rangers’ goaltender’s blocker. Macy would be deservedly recognized for her Heart and Hustle during the game and Kalahari Harvey was named the game’s MVP. There is way too much talent on this team to describe it all, but the play of Hillary Noble, Braiden Stonehouse, and Clark White stood out to me. Evy and Ben Derksen, and Kellan Smallshaw were very impressive and represent the future of this game in Jasper.
You’ve got to hand it to Novice Bears Queen Bees Elysia Lechoko and Amanada Yagminas. They were doing their own special waggle dances in the stands, keeping the hive on time and on target all weekend. Their skill at managing two teams and coordinating 13 others was pure gold. Hats off too to the Novice coaches. These kids are blossoming, and their efforts to pollinate these emerging flowers spells good things for Jasper hockey in the years to come.
Oh, and how did our teams do? The answer is that everybody won, even the fans in the stands. There were the usual blowout games as teams strive to challenge themselves by playing teams of greater skill – although officially, no scores are kept at this level. There were even goalies getting north of 60 shots in a game can only be chalked up to learning experiences, and something to build on for the future. After all, 30 games had been played, and the beehive atmosphere subsided, the fun that lingers in the kid’s memories will stick in these kids’ minds for a long time. Very sweet.
