The Jasper Atom Bears participated in the annual Edmonton Northstars Extreme tournament, hosted here in Jasper, this past weekend, and did themselves proud against some tough teams from the city.
As I watched from the bench I noted that not all of the action is on the ice. There is much marvellous activity in the building that serves as a winter home-away-from-home.
It all starts with the ice itself. That fabulous ice that Peter Bridge pampers like a newborn, and has no Alberta equal. His, and his staff鈥檚, commitment to that surface is a source of community pride that is often stated, but not shouted loud enough.
Around the corner there is Shirley and her team, brewing the coffee that gets us going for those early morning games and the food that sustains us throughout the day. The kids love you, Shirley, but you know that already.
Heading to the stands with a breakfast burger, you鈥檒l first run into a clutch of parents at the glass behind the net. All the serious hockey people perch here, poised like goal judges, exchanging what hockey wisdom there is to be had. They stand with coffee in one hand, the other hand stuffed in a pocket, because the heaters are only on in the bleachers.
The bleachers is where all the other parents hang out, enjoying the heat from above and calling the game; from there you can freely offer guidance that the kids can鈥檛 really hear and really shouldn鈥檛 pay attention to.
I鈥檝e often thought that to qualify to instruct from behind the glass, you should have to play as well. Since I鈥檝e started playing old-timers again, I鈥檝e stopped advising players, coaches and refs from the stands. It鈥檚 tougher than it looks out there.
But there is no denying the parents鈥� commitment. This is no more evident than behind the raffle table and in the equipment room. Spot the team manager, almost always a mom, running around with a game sheet and schedule, balancing the demands from coaches and parents, and making sure that every kid gets a medal, a goodie bag and most importantly, a chance to play.
There is nobody on earth that deserves a glass of wine more on a Sunday night than a team manager. It鈥檚 also parents running the score-clock and rocking the tunes. The seasoned timekeepers can slurp a Shirley鈥檚 coffee, count shots and kibitz with their counterpart on the timesheet without missing a second of the action on the ice.
The newbies are wide-eyed and sweating despite the numbing cold, repeatedly consulting the instruction sheet, with a hand constantly on the control panel.
If you can put two penalties for one team on the score-clock at the same time, you鈥檝e arrived.
Calling those penalties is our corps of referees and linesmen led by head ref, Jacques Gauthier.
The stripes have a tough job, but they keep it fun. Watch closely and you can catch them playing rock-paper-scissors with frozen hands between periods to determine who gets the honour of the centre-ice puck drop. It shouldn鈥檛 be a thankless job, but it too often is, so thank-you!
Often the most intense hockey in the building is being played above the bleachers by the kids, who have brothers and sisters on the ice and are hyped up on Shirley鈥檚 candy. You can almost always catch a game up there; mini-sticks, boots for nets and a ball of dubious construction.
Walk through that game at your shins鈥� peril.
Beneath the bleachers at the other side of the rink let鈥檚 have a moment鈥檚 silence (please) for the librarians. They hear every whistle blast, every goal cheer and every hip-hop tune as they toil in the catacombs that serves as our temporary library. When the new library is finished, we should hang a banner from its rafters to commemorate these two years of dank confinement.
Dank confinement reminds me of the dressing rooms. Hats off again to the arena staff for servicing these digs. It can鈥檛 be a pleasant job.
Some of the most important social time your kids will spend outside of school and the playground will be spent here, so be thankful that it sees a daily mop.
For many Jasperites鈥攐r at least the lucky ones鈥攖he arena is our home-away-from-home. Those who make it so deserve our utmost respect.
John Wilmshurst
Special to the 51暗网
