Saturday saw the Bearcats take on a team from St. Albert in a game they won 13–2. This is the kind of score Jasper is usually on the receiving end of in league play. The second game on Saturday was Jasper versus 100 Mile House, and was a much closer game with Jasper coming out on the winning end 5–2. The day was not yet over as Jasper had a third game to play against Prince George and the Bearcats again came out on top 9–2.
With three wins, the Bearcats were on to the A finals on Sunday. This game would be a repeat of the final in the Bearcats’ own tournament in December as our players met the united team of Valemount and McBride. Sunday dawned a beautiful clear skied day. At noon the Bearcats and Grizzlies met at centre ice and battled back and forth for 60 minutes. The Bearcats opened the scoring with an unassisted goal by Ben Keays. The Grizzlies evened it up with eight minutes left in the first period, then Jack Hilworth put in a go ahead goal with a great pass from Bentley Fawcett. The second period started with Fawcett and Cooper Hilworth teaming up to score two more goals. The Grizzlies tried to even things up with two goals of their own, keeping the game close and the crowd on the edge of their seats. Both goalies were earning their keep being peppered with shots. The score at the end of the second was 4–3 in Jasper’s favour.
Keays again started the third period off with another goal after receiving a beautiful pass from Erik Paukstat. Jasper was now up by two. The Grizzlies would not quit though, and put in a goal on the power play to pull within one. With time running out, the Grizzlies pulled their goalie and with six attackers tried to force the game into overtime. With Jake Melanson working hard in net and the rest of the team helping out, the Bearcats held them off, posting a 5–4 win.
After having a hard fought season, winning more games than losing, experiencing a successful weekend of games should be a great confidence booster for the Bearcats. They are scheduled to meet Athabasca for two games at home on Saturday, Feb. 16 at 4:45 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 17 at 12:30 p.m.
