Last Saturday the playoffs ended for the Jasper Atom Bears. The number one Fox Creek Bulldogs rolled into town with a six-point advantage in the two game, total goals, home and away series.
The Bulldogs are a confident team that relies on a dominant, mobile defense to win games. The Bears are a young squad, with more brains than brawn on the ice and are still developing their team hockey skills.
I don鈥檛 think it is unfair to say that the Bears were going into this game to achieve small victories.
With this end in mind, the first period was an unequivocal success for the Bears. Goaltender Kelan Polard had another standout game, facing 10 tough shots and he made good on nine of them.
The defense, led this week by Aidan Deagle, Dana Angebrandt and Justin McIsaac, were solid, keeping the puck to the outside and clearing the front of the net for Polard.
It was on an impressive back-and-forth passing play with Connor Wright that Adrian Torres got Jasper鈥檚 goal in the frame. Both moved up the right side but were squeezed into the corner by the Bulldogs鈥� defense. Critically, they kept control of the puck and Wright was able to squib to Torres who had muscled himself in front, where he made no mistake once sliding it under the sprawling Fox Creek netminder.
The period ended knotted at one.
In virtually every game this season the Bears have struggled in one period, particularly against tough opponents. While this has most often been the opening frame, in this game Fox Creek had the Bears back on their heels in the second. The shots were coming in so fast on Polard that the timekeepers were struggling to keep up, and the Bulldogs managed to score three times, including a shorthanded marker.
Jasper only managed one shot in the period and entered the dressing-room for the second intermission with a three-goal deficit.
In the third, Jasper got its offence going again but were unable to entirely shut the Bulldogs down. Blueliner Dylan Dekker channeled his inner Bobby Orr rushing from his own blueline, splitting the Fox Creek defense and burying top shelf. He slammed into the boards in the aftermath of this effort and came off the ice hobbled. Nonetheless, he was able to finish the game.
Not to be outshone by the back end, forwards Owen Kearnan and Jacob Bartziokas were working well together, moving the puck slickly through the neutral zone. But it was hard-working centre Lucas Oeggerli, taking a heads-up pass from winger Torres, who was able to get Jasper鈥檚 third goal of the game, potting a quick wrister over the outstretched glove of the Bulldog鈥檚 goalie.
When the final buzzer sounded, Fox Creek had won 7鈥�3 to advance to the playoff finals.
While Jasper鈥檚 playoff run is over, they went out with a strong team performance for which they should be justly proud.
The Atom Bears will keep practicing through March in preparation for the NorthStar Extreme Tournament here in Jasper.
During this elite event, it will serve Jasper well to reflect back on the lessons learned from a strong season. The team鈥檚 never-give-up attitude and attention to team play will have to make an appearance if it is going to be successful.
We鈥檒l see you at the rink March 22 and 23 for that tournament.
John Wilmshurst
Special to the 51暗网
