Less than two minutes into last Saturday’s game against the Edson Canadians, Jasper Atom Bears goaltender, Aiden Deagle had a moment he’d sooner forget. A thin puck shot from centre slid under his stick and dribbled into the net.
Such a goal can get into a netminder’s head and spell disaster for the game. And while Deagle was clearly upset by the play, like the team he backstops, he didn’t give in to adversity. He regrouped, recalled the lessons taught by his goalie coach, Ryan Verge, befriended the butterfly and played a heck of a game.
Edson scored one more in the first to go up 2–0 before Bears defenceman Josh Howes banked a shot off the Canadian’s centre and into the net. Two minutes later, Edson would regain it’s two-goal lead, but then Sebastian Golla intercepted a pass, split the Edson defence, and fired a wrister off the post to get Jasper back within one.
Dylan Dekker, who is gaining confidence with each game, equalized with three minutes to play in the first, again, burying a wrist shot top shelf. That’s how the period would end.
Jasper got into a bit of penalty trouble in the second and paid the price as Edson capitalized once on the power play and added another on a breakaway. But Jasper was equal to the task as Lucas Oeggerli scored his first goal of the season on an end-to-end rush and Dana Angebrandt hammered in a shot from the point. The second period ended five apiece.
The third period was shaping up to be a nail-biter.
The blueliners came out to play in the third. The defensive pairing of Owen Kearnan and Liam Crozier were stay-at-home standouts, completely shutting down the Edson forwards. The duo of Justin McIssac and Howes did its part by employing the principle of strong defence through aggressive offence. And the third defensive pair of Angebrandt and Jacob Bartziokas found a mid point between these tactics, moving the puck to the neutral zone and effectively dishing off to the forwards.
With Deagle standing on his head in net, including a last minute breakaway save, Edson stood no chance to add to their five goals garnered in the first two periods.
Jasper couldn’t capitalize in the third, either, despite some strong work along the boards by big Baden Koss and in front of the net by Camas D’Antonio.
The game ended in a 5–5 tie and again, for the third time this season, these two opponents go home with one point each.
Next weekend the Atom Bears play a Saturday road game against these same Canadians, and then a Sunday home game (1:30“ pm) against the Hinton Snipers.
See you at the rink.
John Wilmshurst
Special to the 51°µÍø
