Last weekend the Jasper PeeWee Bears played a marathon three games in three days, including two on the road and one at home as they enter the final stretch of their regular season. Fasten your seatbelt folks, because I鈥檓 going to describe them all here in a gratuitous sputa of sporting linguistic excess that will make Mrs. Curry, the junior high English teacher, faint.
Game one was in Devon, home of the gardens after which their hockey rink is not named. Devon was clearly stronger than our Bears, but with Donovan Fawcett and his flashing glove fashioned apparently from the sticky tongues of many frogs, the Devon kids could only manage one goal after two periods of play. Jasper was their equal, scoring on a nifty wrap-around by Tanner Carlton. But in the third period, even Donovan鈥檚 heroics couldn鈥檛 hold down Devon鈥檚 relentless forwards. They hit pay dirt twice more, one better than Jasper鈥檚 marker from Lucas Oeggerli who buried a sweet backdoor feed from Sebastian Golla. At the end of three periods, it was Jasper two, and Devon three in a disappointing loss.
Game two was Saturday afternoon in Spruce Grove. In some games, your best players have to be your best players, but it is also important for the role-players, you know the kids for whom it鈥檚 enough to muscle the puck down the ice, to step onto the gamesheet. First up for the Bears was Henri LeClerc, getting the game鈥檚 first goal by stuffing in a rebound that squirted loose after a Golla shot.
LeClerc鈥檚 goal would be the only lamp lighter in the first 40 minutes. Spruce Grove would equalize quickly in the third, and then pull ahead with two more goals. But then it was Nash Hilworth鈥檚 turn to bend the twine for the Bears, wiring one top cheddar to regain Jasper鈥檚 lead. One goal back and again Fawcett was standing on his head to keep the Bears in it. But his efforts, plus the defensive wall put up by the Jacobs (Bartziokas and Bouchard), Owen Kearnan and Fawcett would not be enough. Spruce Grove got one more to ice it 4-2 at the buzzer.
A return trip to Jasper, and the Bears suited up Sunday afternoon to face off against the ambiguously named CR. Don鈥檛 ask me what it stands for, but it means trouble. And coming off of two games in two days, and power forward Oeggerli out with the flu, our Bears were going to have to dig deep to pull this one out. But two periods in, that digging hit bedrock as Jasper was trailing five goals to one and looked a bit lost out there. Jasper鈥檚 goal was tipped in by Carlton, laying his blade down to redirect a Baden Koss blast into the twine. It certainly didn鈥檛 help when a mid-ice collision sent Bears鈥� power forward, Dylan Dekker out of the game.
In the third, Jasper was able to get two of those goals back. The first from Golla who zipped in a rebound from a Koss howitzer and the second from Bartziokas who finished a rush by wiring a wrist shot from the high slot. But that would be all they could muster. CR would get five more on their side of the ledger and the Bears would fall 10-3. So much for algebra. Nevertheless, heroes for the Bears emerged with Bartziokas having another very strong outing and Donovan who saw 10 pucks go by him, but was giving 110 per cent until the final buzzer.
The Bears hit the road again next weekend, heading north to Slave Lake and then norther to Wabasca for a two-game swing. I鈥檒l be on that bus, and you can read about it here. 聽
The Jasper Hockey Improv challenge
Every week John Wilmshurst regales readers about the latest hockey scores using a variety of topics and ideas. From Monty Python to the presidential election south of us, he often gets inspiration from hockey players or parents, but this time wants to throw it open to readers and fans. Let improv improve John鈥檚 hockey coverage.
If you have an idea or topic you鈥檇 like to see John use in his next story email [email protected] or tweet John directly @JasperMse.
John Wilmshurst Special to the 51暗网
