Last weekend a fresh snowfall blanketed Jasper, covering up the gritty slush that had accumulated in the past few weeks and giving the whole town the feel of a fresh start. So it was for the Jasper PeeWee Bears. After getting the cold shoulder from Edson the week before, and some tough slogging through deep powder in practice, a fresh start was what the Bears needed. That same day, the Onoway Eagles skidded into town for what turned out to be some very entertaining hockey.
As with all teams that face each other for the first time, the opening minutes of the game are frosty. What became immediately apparent is that the Eagles play a team defensive style with an effective backcheck and kids collapsing on the slot, taking away time from their opponent鈥檚 shooters. So it took an unassisted blast from Baden Koss, with an Onoway skater in the box, for the game鈥檚 first goal. Koss had an outstanding game on Dec. 3, using his big body to shrug off opposition players along the boards and muscle the puck in the offensive zone. The Eagles tied it up four minutes after Koss鈥� marker and it looked like they were going to take the lead minutes later, but D-man Jacob Bouchard deftly broke up a two-on-one to keep it even. At the other end of the ice, centre Sebastian Golla tipped in a Koss shot from a long Bouchard feed to give the Bears a 2-1 lead going into the first break.
Onoway broke the ice first in the second period, scoring a goal early off of sustained offensive pressure and a bit of a scramble for the puck. The Eagles then took their first lead of the afternoon, sliding the puck past Fawcett and tucking it just inside the post. It was 3-2 Eagles, but enough had accumulated for the Jasper defense to get their shovels out and push back. Jacob Bartziokas led the defensive effort, keeping Onoway to the outside in the Bears鈥� zone, and Janelle Tank bore down at the blue line to stifle the Eagles rush. On the offensive side, Tanner Carlton sprung Apollo Hardman for a one-on-one and Hardman made no mistake to tie the game. Then Golla made a play in the corner to听 feed Lucas Oeggerli out front, and he buried. Jasper had regained their lead. To end the second, Oeggerli returned the favour, passing the puck across the goalmouth to Golla who had a tap-in, giving the Bears a 5-3 pillow heading into the third.
Again in the third, Onoway scored early, beating Fawcett on a partial break to pull to within one goal of the Bears. Then it was a period of exciting, fun to watch hockey. It was not really end-to-end, but two teams gaining the zone and passing it around until a scoring chance emerged. Credit more solid D from Owen Kearnan and Bouchard in keeping the Onoway shots low this period, and an amazing glove hand from Fawcett that we have begun to take for granted. Jasper got into a bit of penalty trouble, but Carlton and Nash Hilworth stepped up to kill the two-minute man-advantage for the Eagles.
With a minute to play and the Onoway net empty, the Eagles had time for one more rush. The Bears were unable to keep the puck deep in the offensive zone and then lost control of it in their own end. The Eagles buried, bar-down over a sprawling Fawcett tying it up at five. That鈥檚 how it would stand when the final buzzer sounded. Two teams as different as snowflakes, but identical on the scoresheet at the end of 60 minutes.
The PeeWees have some thawing out to do this week in practice and then face off against Wabamun on Dec. 10 at 1:45 p.m. and against Whitecourt on Dec. 11 at 11:30 a.m. Brush off your car and I鈥檒l see you in the stands.
John Wilmshurst Special to the 51暗网
