John Wilmshurst | Special to the Fitzhugh
If the first game of the year is to shake off the cobwebs, the second weekend of hockey should be to get the wheels rolling.
After being taught a lesson by Hinton’s number one team in their first on-ice action, the Jasper Bantam Bearcats were cobweb free and ready to go when the Maskwacis bantams rolled into town last Saturday for the first of two Thanksgiving weekend games for our boys.
And let me tell you, wheels were a-rolling.
With a holiday-weekend shortened bench, Bearcats’ coach Eric Bouchard had lots of opportunity to get everyone plenty of icetime.
More time on the ice means more chances for shots from more players.
More shots means more goals and this game saw production from Bearcats that are unusual scoresheet entries.
Jasper had the bulk of puck possession in the first, penalty-filled period.
As if he was a harbinger of a weekend of defensive scoring, Jacob Bartziokas potting Jasper’s first goal; an unassisted end-to-end rush for the Bearcats’ normally stay-at-home blueliner.
Less than a minute later Maskwacis tied it up, but before the period was out, Ty Crozier and Tanner Carlton would give Jasper a two-goal cushion that they could put their feet up on.
For in the second period, Jasper exploded for six goals, and allowed only three shots on their underworked goaltender, Donovan Fawcett.
Crozier scored his second goal less than a minute in, followed quickly by Mac Carmichael’s first ever Bantam marker.
Dexter Fawcett, a d-man whose usual target from the blue line is a dump into the corner, scored an astonishing hattrick in the second, and before the middle frame was over, his defensive partner Bartziokas had his second.
Maskwacis went scoreless; 9 to 1 after two periods.
In the third, Carmichael got his second goal for an impressive rookie performance and power forward, Owen Kearnan capped the scoresheet with his lone goal of the game.
Again, Maskwacis was unable to score on Donovan in the final 20 minutes, giving the Bearcats their first victory in the pre-season, winning 11 to 1.
Given the smack-down that happened between Hinton’s first team and Jasper the previous weekend, the league asked the Bearcats to test their mettle on Thanksgiving Monday against the second Hinton team.
This was not much of a contest.
Jasper, again playing with a shortened bench, found the back of the net six times in the first period alone.
With Hinton barely able to gain the offensive zone, let alone muster a shot on Donovan, they never stood a chance.
Again, the blueline led offensively for the Bearcats as Jacob Bouchard, and Michael Hayashi both defensemen, each scored two goals, harking back to Bartziokas’ and Fawcett’s performances the previous day.
At the final buzzer, the score was 12 to 0 for the Bearcats.
Perhaps the most important lesson on the day was respect.
The Jasper kids showed a lot of class in this very lopsided game, muting their celebrations and giving props to what must have been a demoralized Hinton squad at the end-of-game handshake.
This is the sign of a mature hockey team and quality coaching.
With two wins against one loss in the pre-season, the Bearcats hit this road this weekend for a pair of games in Whitecourt and Calahoo. You can read all about it here.
