Still stinging from a hard-fought 8–4 road loss against Hinton two weekends ago, the Jasper Atom Bears travelled to Edson last weekend hungry to try again against perennial rivals, the Canadians. Jasper and Edson tied during league tiering three weeks earlier, so this game was bound to be a thriller, and it did not disappoint.
Barely 10 seconds into last Saturday’s game, the tone was set when Edson’s top line grabbed the puck off the faceoff, rushed the Bears’ zone and lifted a hard shot at Bears goaltender Kelan Polard. Standing his ground, Polard made a spectacular glove save and hung on for the whistle.
Edson dominated play in the early going, but Polard was equal to the task, keeping the red light dim and his team in the game.
Indeed it was Jasper who, against the grain of play, struck first. With 11 minutes played, Dylan Dekker ripped one from the boards, evading the Edson netminder. One nothing Jasper.
But the Bears’ lead wouldn’t last long.
A little more than a minute later, Edson tied it up with a shot from the left circle.
And then with about two minutes left in the period, Edson took the lead for the first time when one of its forwards broke clear in the neutral zone, walked in alone and slipped the puck under Polard’s pads. The first period ended 2–1 in favour of the Canadians.
By the second period, Jasper had shaken off the cobwebs—likely built up from a wild night of trick-or-treating—and started to press.
The line of Lucas Oeggerli, Dana Angebrandt and Dekker, when combined with the defensive pairing of Sebastian Golla and Justin McIsaac, was potent, hemming the Canadians in their own end and forcing their goaltenders to come up big.
Despite this pressure, a couple of power play opportunities and more outstanding goaltending from Polard, the period ended as it began; 2–1 with Edson in the lead.
Gut check time in the third.
Lots of great back and forth action, but nobody wanted to make the mistake that would either tie the game or put it out of reach.
Bears forward Liam Crozier was pouring it on, and Dekker kept the play moving in the right direction with creative passing, but the Bears couldn’t capitalize.
Then, with less than a minute to go, the puck popped out of a pack of flailing legs and lumber onto the stick of Connor Wright. As the clock ticked ever closer to zero, Wright strode toward the net and blasted a long distance wrister. It evaded the grip of the Edson netminder and dropped into the net.
Wright was the hero, tying the game at two, and the Jasper fans erupted with bells clanging and wild cheers.
That’s how it would end. These two teams will face off again in Jasper on Nov. 16, so mark your calendars. You won’t want to miss the rematch. Next week though, the Bears continue their season in Fox Creek and Whitecourt, taking on the Bulldogs and Wolverines.
 John Wilmshurst
Special to the 51°µÍø
