It is no small irony that speed skater Gilmore Junio showed us what team play is when he gave up his spot on Team Canada to Denny Morrison.
Speed skating is not what we think of as a team sport, but Junio鈥檚 selfless act was the epitome of what we expect from players on a team.
This past weekend, the Jasper Atom Bears travelled to Slave Lake to play the Thunder in the first playoff round. And while Jasper was taught a lesson on the ice, losing badly to a well oiled Slave Lake squad, there were golden sparks of teamsmanship that were dripping in Olympic spirit.
On Saturday, the Bears went down 8鈥�4 in a game where there was evident rust from two weeks of no games or practices. Even after Troy Jackson tied the score at one for Jasper eight minutes into the first, the Bears really could not find their game.
Passes were absent, errant, intercepted or bouncing off of sticks. The puck was tied up in skates, pinballing in the crease and taking wild bounces off the boards. Call it bad puck-luck, when Jasper could get the puck into the offensive zone, they struggled to get a shot on net.
At the other end, Jasper鈥檚 unflappable goaltender Duncan McLeod faced 36 shots in the contest, and while on a few of those he looked the part of a backstop who hasn鈥檛 seen a lot of ice-time lately, he was unbeatable down low and made some key stops at key times to give his team a jump.
With so much offensive pressure from the Thunder, there was a lot resting on the defensive corps led by second-year player Drew Tank and his fellow blue-liners, Eric MacMahon and Tyler Carlton. MacMahon and Carlton were outstanding, logging a ton of ice time, never giving up on the rushing forwards, and showing outstanding tenacity with loose pucks. They are not scoring goals, but they are complete team players, giving their all with every shift.
The format of PeeWee playoff hockey is two games, total goals. So, on Sunday, Jasper had to win by five to advance to the next round. That was a mountain too steep to climb, as it turned out.
Again, Jasper got badly outshot (36 to 23) against a skilled Slave Lake side that was moving the puck up the ice with the ease of a team that has been playing a lot lately. The final score was 12鈥�5 for Slave Lake.
Despite the losses, what is enlightening is the spirit of these players. Coaches Steve Malcolm, Geno Tassoni and Gary Hilworth have built the offence around three forward lines of which one is scoring the lion鈥檚 share of the goals. The line centred by Jax Kading, with Jackson and Nathan Howe at the wing, not only worked together to get a goal this weekend, but was a strong offensive threat throughout.
The line centred by Trenton Rea with Severin Golla and Olivia Fonger on the wings demonstrated real team leadership. Often thrown onto the ice with their team in a defensive bind, they stuck to the task of keeping the Thunder scorers to the outside, getting the puck deep and changing. They were effective enough to rack up a respectable plus-minus despite playing a lot of minutes in the defensive end.
Tank also rallied from a disappointing game on Saturday, to show some mental toughness and lead the Bears on Sunday with a very strong defensive and offensive performance.
The Bears are now out of the playoffs, and so league play is over.
They鈥檙e not done yet, though. Their home tournament is this Saturday and Sunday with a lot of hockey at the freshly painted Jasper Arena.
I expect to see plenty of support in the stands for these kids this weekend. They have spent a long season personifying an indefatigable team spirit, that same generosity displayed by Olympian Gilmore Junio, demonstrating yet again that you don鈥檛 have to come home with the hardware to be champions.
John Wilmshurst
Special to the 51暗网
