It’s been a whole season since Jasper had Midget level hockey, and this years’ team is back with four wins and one tie so far.
The team has travelled to Athabasca, Whitecourt and Hinton and hosted Edson and Hinton at home.
The Bearcats put a few games under their belt and were looking strong when the team’s only goalie, Chase Thompson, met a goal post that wasn’t as forgiving as the players. Unfortunately he is out for the season and will be cheering the team on from the sidelines.
With one goalie that means the team was looking for someone to step up and put on the pads. That position was taken on by Jack Hilworth; this young man is a first-year midget and has never played goal outside of a few fun practice games.
Last Saturday’s game versus Slave Lake was his first game in net, and nerves and excitement were evident when he took the ice.
Slave Lake took advantage of the nerves and scored two quick goals. Although things settled down a bit after that, the first period ended with a score of 4–2 for Slave Lake.
Coming into the second period, Hilworth must have said a few words in the dressing room as defencemen Noah Bangle, Jordan Overacker and Nathan Poirier all picked up their socks and hunkered down in front of the net.
Alex Chorneyko and J.J. Keogan both scored and pulled the team within one. Both teams had put a few players in the penalty box and had figured out that this wasn’t helping either of their games. This trend slowed to a trickle. The second period ended 5–4 Slave Lake.
Scoring in the third period went in favour of the home team, with Connor Malcolm scoring a pair, Keogan completing a hat trick and Marley Pollock helping out with a goal and an assist.
The team is made up of 12 midget players and four bantam age players. The bantam players, Ty Bangle, Erik Paukstat, Brandon Henderson and Liam Fengler-Wood aren’t letting the size and age of the older players intimidate them. They played the game with speed and tenacity that belied their youth.
Next weekend the team will be travelling to Slave Lake and Athabasca. The Bearcats are hosting a tournament Nov. 29 to Dec. 1 against five teams from Grande Cache, Calmar, Edmonton, Tofield and Wabamum.
The fans have been great this season and it is wonderful to see so many of the seats filled. Come down for the hockey and check out the raffle table. Go Bearcats!
Tamar Couture
Special to the 51°µÍø
