My big brother brought the first real rock-and-roll album into our house. It was Bat out of Hell by Meatloaf and we played that record until the grooves wore out and it skipped more than Ferris Bueller. Decades later, I鈥檓 the broken record, revisiting old grooves and repeating well-worn refrains. But like Meatloaf back in 1977, I鈥檓 looking forward to hitting the road for yet another season of Jasper hockey greatness, driving to Alberta鈥檚 rural paradise, face lit by the dashboard lights.
On-ice action begins each year with tiering, where local teams play a range of regional talent to determine which foes will be best suited for a season of competition. Every team registered in a league goes through this process, which includes Jasper鈥檚 Atom, PeeWee, Bantam and Midgets, fitting in three games over a pair of autumn weekends.
The Atoms, led on the bench by Coach Jim Koss, played three tough opponents these past two weeks and came up short in each game. What was evident though, and very positive, was their last game versus Edson. Played in Jasper last Sunday, it was meant to be the Bears鈥� toughest competition. But it turned out to be their closest match, with the game all knotted up until a flurry of late game goals propelled Edson over the top. Each game was an improvement, and, for crying out loud, that鈥檚 all coaches ask for. Look for the names Bartziokas, Johnson and Shepherd filling the scoresheet this year.
The PeeWees were also in tough, playing a seasoned Whitecourt team, a solid Mayerthorpe squad and Edson鈥檚 top PeeWee B skaters in two weekends of play. They also went oh for three, but like the Atoms showed steady improvement and coming within an eyelash of beating Edson in the final game. Add a couple of high flying kids named Dylan to the roster, both injured for this pre-season, and this is going to be a potent team, particularly with first year PeeWee Donovan Fawcett between the pipes. Coach Eric Bouchard, who has to be a Meatloaf fan, has some work to do, but this team holds a ton of promise.
The Bantams, with Coach Geno Tassoni at the helm, are on the right track with three 鈥榃s鈥� in their games against Hinton, Wabasca and Whitecourt, picking up right from where this talented Bantam team left off last year. Veterans Jax Kading and Eric MacMahon, rookies Aidan Deagle and Matteo Tassoni, and recent import Kolby Read will be the go-to goal-getters on this team backstopped by the steady Duncan McLeod and Kelan Polard.
The Midgets this year have coach Chuck Barker working the chalkboard and managed four pre-season games over a three-weekend span in October. Midget is a big step up from Bantam, as it is populated by skaters with three seasons of eligibility (as opposed to two years in every other level) so the shots are harder, the skaters faster, the hits harder and the goalies quicker. Jasper cruised against Whitecourt, Edson, Hinton and Wabasca, winning all four games, outscoring these opponents 39 to 8, and all with their two top snipers out of the lineup with injuries. Should be a record year for these boys-who-would-be-men and look to captain Erik Paukstat to lead this team to some big wins backstopped by Jake Melanson and Severin Golla with point production from Elvis Gorontzky-Slack and Brendan Auger.
This season, I鈥檒l be following the PeeWees and Midgets, and singing my raspy, hopeful tunes for you here each week. Just like my favourite chorus from my brother鈥檚 broken record, I鈥檓 all revved up, but with no place (else) to go (sorry Mr. Loaf). There are no games scheduled for this weekend, but when the regular season starts, I鈥檒l see you in the stands.
John Wilmshurst special to the 51暗网
