When the scorekeeper needs two sheets to record the action, you can be sure that everyone on the team has had a chance to get their name recorded. And with a few key goal scorers not in the lineup on Saturday, it was up to the Bear’s journeymen to rise to the occasion. For sure the Bears’ usual suspects were prominent on Saturday. Noah Kwasny had five goals and at least nine points on the day. Smooth skating Rhys Malcolm got four goals and Hyunki Kim was also not denied his automatic one goal. Tegan Barker didn’t get a goal, but set up a handful of others with his artful playmaking and timely passes. Inn addition to these guys was Adrian Nayak exploding with a hat trick after bouncing back from a hard check that sent him to the ice early in the second period. Nayak had a strong two-way game on Saturday; a real presence in front of his own net clearing pucks and jumping up in the offensive play all game long. Hunter Zenner potted a crucial short-handed goal in the dying minutes of the first period, stepping up from his accustomed role as that guy digging the puck free from the corner and along the boards. And Matthew Park got Jasper’s 10th goal of the game in the second, banging in a rebound off of Magnus Stenlund’s point shot. With a bit more space on the ice against Hinton, players like Park who look for the pass before the shot can carry that puck a bit longer and make that big play.
Stenlund, normally a stay-at-home defenseman, was given his chance to improve his offensive numbers with an assignment at centre late in the game. He contributed, but more memorably he got a goal for which he will not get credit. Stenlund’s clean face-off win in the defensive circle got past the Bears’ blue-liners, surprised netminder Isaah Kwasny and found the back of the net. Hinton scored two more in the game, another that pinballed off a few Bears before getting passed Kwasny and a hard low shot from the slot that eluded the Bears’ backstop just minutes after he replaced Severin Golla halfway through the game.
In the end, Jasper went home 16–3 winners. If you’re keeping score, you’ll know that I’ve missed a goal, but I’ve been saving this for last. This one came off the stick of Elvis Gorontzy-Slack, who, along with Stenlund and Nayak, was a real star out on the ice Saturday. Gorontzy-Slack’s goal had him picking up the puck at centre, weaving through the Hinton blue-line traffic and burying a wrister from the right faceoff circle. But with and without the puck, Gorontzy-Slack was a real force for Jasper, playing a smart game at defense by keeping Hinton out of the danger areas, moving the puck quickly up the ice and jumping into the play when he saw the chance. He’s one of the youngest players on the team, and one of the most mature.
That’s it for the Bears’ regular season. There will be a banner hanging in the Jasper Arena with their league first place credentials soon. Their home tournament is in two weeks and playoffs start after that. Come see these young upstarts for yourself.
