Managers are awesome. I don’t mean your grumpy, ungrateful manager at the office, telling you to work harder and expect less pay. I mean hockey team managers—volunteers who put up with a lot. Mom’s usually, who coordinate with other managers in far-flung places, arrange ice-times, coordinate tournaments, get jerseys to the games, keep parents informed, players fed and coaches in line.
Last Sunday the Jasper Atom Bears had a home game scheduled, their only game in January. The kids were pumped. Then the Zamboni room caught fire Saturday night and their game was cancelled. Undaunted, early on Sunday morning, Bears’ manager Krista Rodger got on the blower and arranged with the Hinton manager to shift the game to H-town that afternoon. By lunch, everyone was informed, the jerseys were retrieved from the arena (thank you Karrie and John Polard), washed and the kids disappointment had been transformed to elation.
And, as if they were saying thank-you to Krista for all her hard work, the Bears played a heck of a game!
A barn burner? A team prone to slow starts, the Bears were true to form, getting behind by two goals less than two minutes into the contest. But then, with Dylan Dekker at the helm, Jasper clawed back to tie with markers from Dekker himself, and from Camas D’Antonio off a feed from Dekker.
D’Antonio has been picking up his game lately, showing a lot of jam along the boards, working pucks free for his teammates. But this time he was working the front of the net where Dekker found him through a crowd, and D’Antonio blasted in his first career goal. Atta’-go Camas.
With Kelan Polard playing possibly his best ever game in net, Hinton was unable to regain their lead until the second period when Jasper failed to clear a loose puck from the blue paint and Hinton slid it in the back of the net.
A few minutes later, a pass from the corner pin-balled past Polard to return Hinton its two goal lead. But just like our Jasper Arena, the Bears caught fire.
It started with Owen Kearnan, who also had a break-out game, finding Dekker in front of the net where he notched his second of the match.
Then Kearnan scored about a minute later, capping off a passing play from D’Antonio with a five-hole howitzer.
Not to be left out, Sebastian Golla wired a backhander from the right circle under the Hinton keeper’s pads and with 15 seconds to play in the second, Dekker finished off his hattrick, busting through two Hinton D-men and planting the puck top cheese. At the end of the second, Jasper was up 6-4 on the strength of four unanswered goals.
As if paying silent homage to what may be the Jasper Zamboni’s last days, the Hinton machine did not make an appearance during this game. So after 40 minutes of play, the ice was getting a little choppy, making puck-handling a challenge. And with the goaltenders at each end on-top of their games, goals were hard to come by in the final 20.
About five minutes in, Dekker, who wasn’t going to be slowed by a little snow, scored his fourth of the campaign, and that would be it.
Polard was unbeatable for the final 35 minutes and with the help of unyielding defence from the shifty Josh Howes, hard-working Lucas Prud’Homme, big Justin McIsaac and the thinking-man’s hockey player, Conner Wright, Hinton could not come back. The game ended 7–4, for Jasper’s first, but likely not last, victory of 2014.
Every team has a manager. Largely unheralded, rarely acknowledged, and unquestionably essential, no team can play without one. Without their labour of love, even practices would be impossible.
So the next time you stop by the rink to catch a game, scan the crowd for the mom with the scoresheet and the strained expression and give her a hug because she’s the team manager.
Thanks Krista (and Nancy, and Tamar, and Moira, and Roxanne, and Marcia).
John Wilmshurst
Special to the 51°µÍø
