Some people may disagree with me, but last weekend there was no better place to be than Wabasca on a February afternoon. The sky was blue, there was no wind and it was hovering around the freezing point when the Jasper PeeWee Bears faced off against the Wabasca Mustangs for their first playoff encounter.
These two teams have locked horns twice in the regular season, both close and exciting matches, but both ended with entries in the loss column for the Bears. The Jasper kids were loose, but last Sunday afternoon there was a lot on the line under the northern Alberta sky.
The Bears started quickly with forward Owen Kearnan almost converting a minute into the game. But it was Wabasca who would get on the scoresheet first at the three-minute mark when their talented defenseman, Colby Alook-Noskiye, eluded the Jasper defense and picked the top corner for the game鈥檚 first goal.
Jasper鈥檚 Sebastian Golla would equalize with five minutes to play in the first period, picking up a perfect pass from Dylan Dekker and scoring along the ice for the Bears. Alook-Noskiye would strike again moments later, again finding a seam through Jasper鈥檚 defense and placing an unstoppable shot just under the bar.
After 20 minutes the score was 2鈥�1 for Wabasca.
The end-to-end action continued in the second period, and the physical play picked up. Wabasca plays a physical game in a league where contact is officially verboten. In the early going of the second period, this physical play put Jasper on the powerplay, but the Bears were unable to capitalize despite withering pressure.
The line of Dana Angebrandt, Baden Koss and Kearnan was particularly effective. It would take 12 minutes, however, before Golla would strike for the second time and equalize the game, taking the puck all the way down the ice and burying a low wrister just under the Mustang goaltender鈥檚 outstretched glove.
At his end of the ice, Polard was solid, pouncing on every loose puck and stabbing hot shots out of the air. He was aided by his defense, led by Josh Howes and with solid support from Justin McIsaac, Aiden Deagle and Jacob Bartziokas. But with under a minute to play, Wabasca鈥檚 Alook-Noskiye caught everyone off-guard with a slapper from the top of the circle that eluded Polard and gave the Mustangs their third lead of the game. That lead would be very short lived, however. Sixteen seconds later Dekker and Golla would combine again for Jasper鈥檚 third goal as Dekker, falling and under pressure completed a pass out front for a tap-in goal for Golla鈥攖hree each after 40 minutes.
In the third period, the game opened up and the goals came in bunches. Kearnan struck pay-dirt for the Bears less than a minute into the final frame with a sweet backhander. Down a goal for the first time in the game, Wabasca would strike four times in rapid succession to take a dramatic 7鈥�4 lead.
Then Koss, who was threatening for the Bears all afternoon, would set out from the corner and slide the puck under the Mustangs鈥� netminder to draw Jasper to within two. Matteo Tassoni pulled Jasper to within one with six minutes to play, burying an Angebrandt rebound, and then an unfortunate goal by a Wabasca defender on his own net would draw the Bears even at seven.
But the indefatigable Mustangs would strike one last time with three minutes left to play, giving Wabasca a lead they would not relinquish.
The final score, in case you鈥檝e lost track, was Wabasca 8, Jasper 7. This is a two-game, total-goals series, so the Mustangs will travel to our neck of the woods on March 6 for a rematch.
It should be an absolute barn burner that you won鈥檛 want to miss. In the meantime, the Bears host their home tournament this weekend with 10 games on tap.
There will be no end to Jasper鈥檚 entertaining hockey, so don鈥檛 miss out. See you in the stands.
John Wilmshurst Special to the 51暗网
