This past weekend, the Jasper Atom Bears hosted teams from Beaumont, Hinton, Whitecourt, Grande Cache and Grande Prairie in their annual Hockey in the Rockies tournament. Each team played three games, vying for one of three honours: A, B or C pool champs.
It was an amazing weekend of hockey and the Bears saved the best for last.
Jasper started early on Saturday against a tough group from Grande Prairie. Two things stood out in this game: Jasper spent most of the game defending in its own end, with goaltender Aidan Deagle facing 57 shots and making 48 saves in the game.
More strikingly, the Bears are starting to effectively pass the puck.
While developing a passing game against a strong opponent is not going to lead to immediate success, it is an important step and something coaches constantly train for. It is a maturation that is tough to execute at game speed and will make hockey more fun for these kids and for the folks in the stands.
Goals by Sebastian Golla and Lucas Oeggerli got Jasper on the board, but that was no match for the nine goals scored by Grande Prairie.
Game two for the Bears was a hybrid league/tournament tilt against Hinton. This was much more competitive, with even more passing and play-making from Jasper.
The Golla, Dana Angebrandt and Lucas Prud鈥檋omme line was an offensive force with two of Jasper鈥檚 goals in the game.
But it was the gritty play of Adrian Torres and Josh Lee that stood out. These two relative newcomers to the sport were unbelievable out there, pinning Hinton in their zone and battling hard for the puck along the boards.
Jasper ultimately fell 4鈥�3 at the final buzzer, but this was anyone鈥檚 game.
Game three for the Bears was the C-final on Sunday morning against their league rivals, the Whitecourt Wolverines. This was perhaps the most complete game Jasper has played this season. Coach John Polard changed the look of the team, moving Prud鈥檋omme, Angebrandt and Owen Kearnan back to the blueline and Jacob Bartziokas and Dylan Dekker forward with Camas D鈥橝ntonio, who is back in the lineup.
The Golla, Dekker and Kelan Polard line was firing on all cylinders, forcing the play, passing it around and creating chances.
But it was Oeggerli who got the first goal, thanks to hard work in front of the net by line mates Bartziokas and Baden Koss. Whitecourt tied it up one minute later, but then early in the second, Connor Wright put Jasper back on top, stuffing in a rebound in the blue paint.
An injury to Polard (the player, not the coach) meant more shuffling of players, but the Bears鈥� skaters adjusted and Deagle did his job, backstopping Jasper between the pipes.
Before the second period was over, though, the Wolverines would equalize and get two more. Jasper would pull within one before the end of the second, as Golla chugged down the ice, split the Whitecourt defense and fired a goal low stick side. He would then tie it in the third, taking a pass from Dekker and banking the puck off the post glove side.
It looked like the game was going to overtime, but Whitecourt had other ideas. With three minutes to play, the Wolverines went ahead with their fifth goal of the game, and Jasper, despite intense pressure, was unable to equalize in the time remaining.
Jasper lost all of their games in this tournament, but made huge leaps forward in their play-making and team effort.
During the tournament, Deagle, Lee and Oeggerli received Heart and Hustle honours, while Wright, Josh Howes and Golla skated off with MVP recognition.
In reality, any one of the 17 Bears could have walked off with these awards.
At the end of the weekend, the winner of the A pool was Grande Prairie.
The Atom Bears now take a holiday break, hitting the ice again the first weekend in January.
See you at the rink.
John Wilmshurst
Special to the 51暗网
