Man, playoffs are complicated. Way more complicated than opening an envelope and reading a name. In the standings, the Jasper Midget Bearcats finished 10th in the Interlock Hockey League and second in the Sturgeon Pembina Hockey League. The auditing firm in charge figured out that this put our Bearcats in the penultimate playoff position and thus matched us against the second-place finisher in the regular season. If we are to believe the standings, this meant the Barrhead Steelers. Two games were scheduled, one in Jasper, one in Barrhead, and both were played last weekend.
Barrhead finished the regular season with six more wins (and 400 or so fewer penalty minutes) than Jasper and were a big mountain to climb. They have a big bench in every sense of the word and play a skilled passing game that puts the puck on the stick of a half-a-dozen kids who can finish. Last Saturday night the Steelers and the Bearcats took to the ice in our fair, Moonlit town. The action was furious in the opening minutes with the Bearcats benefitting from the Arrival of a couple of high-energy Bantam call-ups, Jax Kading and Troy Jackson. Jasper鈥檚 Hunter Zenner narrowly missed getting Jasper on the board first, glancing a shot off the outside of the post on a set up by Elvis Gorontzy-Slack. At the other end of the ice, Jake Melanson came up with some huge saves on the Steeler鈥檚 big shooters. But eventually, they would solve Jasper鈥檚 veteran netminder, scoring twice in the opening frame.
Barrhead added to this tally in the second, scoring twice more and generally peppering Melanson with rubber. He faced 36 shots in the opening 40 minutes. Early in the third, Barrhead made it 5-0. The game looked like it was all over before Dimitri Buttazzoni scored for Jasper and then Rhys Malcolm closed the gap even further with plenty of time to play. Jasper played like Lions in the third and really made a game out of it, but time was not on their side. The not-so-Hidden Figures at the end of 60 minutes were five goals on 53 shots for Barrhead and two goals on 26 shots for Jasper.
Playoffs are a two-game, home and home series, so Sunday morning our kids hit the road for an afternoon start in Barrhead. Down both a game, and a bunch of players who could not make the trip, the Bearcats were in deep. But come Hell or High Water, they were determined to make a game of it. Coach Chuck Barker was particularly looking to Erik Paukstat, Ty Bangle, Liam Fengler-Wood, and Melanson to stand out as it could possibly be their last game on skates as Jasper Minor Hockey players. Add strong games from Malcolm and Elvis and a three-point, outstanding performance from defenseman Matthew Park and this certainly was memorable. At the end of 60 minutes鈥he envelope please.
And the winner of the first round of the playoffs is鈥he Jasper Bearcats. Wait. My mistake. It was the Barrhead Steelers. Jasper did score three, but Barrhead scored eight and that was more than enough to end the Bearcats鈥� season. No La-La-Land here.
That鈥檚 a wrap on Midget hockey for the 2016-17 season in Jasper. There鈥檚 been some highlights. Jack Hilworth dismantling the entire Vegreville team on an end-to-end scoring rush back in January. Tegan Barker giving Jasper life in a very tough game against eventual league champs, Drayton Valley back in November. Brendan Auger scoring twice on absolute rockets against this same Barrhead team, again back in November. And how about rookie netminder, Severin Golla having to come up big as the teams鈥� best penalty killer in some rough games during their home tournament. And, of course the unknown elements of the Hinton imports, Buttazzoni and Jayden McDonald who stepped into this team and made huge contributions on the ice and in the dressing room.
Next season, this year鈥檚 core of first-and second-year players will be joined by the Bantam graduates. It should be an excellent group to watch. I鈥檓 looking forward to it. I鈥檒l see you in the stands.
