On Sunday afternoon, after the final whistle had blown in the excellent Atom Grizzlies tournament, the Bears took to home ice in a continuation of a series that has been pretty lopsided so far. Given Edson’s poor reaction to Jasper’s dominating play the previous weekend, fans on Sunday were prepared for anything.
The referee set the tone early putting Noah Kwasny, the Bears’ big physical defenseman, in the box for an errant elbow. While this was not the game’s only infraction, this early message had the intended effect. Jasper was also down three skaters as coaches Chuck Barker and Steve Malcolm sent their own message to the team. That of the value of being prepared for the game on time.
Thus, in the early going, Hinton dictated the play and struck first as first-half goaltender Severin Golla failed to track down a high wrist shot from the slot. This was the only lead that Hinton has held on Jasper all season, but it was as short-lived as it was noteworthy. The Bears tied it up about 30 seconds later as Kwasny, now out of the sin bin, hammered in a slapper from the left circle. Then Matthew Park, who was a standout all game, poked in a loose puck from in front of the net to put Jasper up by one. The rest of the period was back and forth. Golla made a pretty poke check on a Hinton break, but couldn’t hang on to his gear. With a yard sale around the Bears’ net, the only thing keeping Hinton from scoring was Magnus Stenlund’s smart clearance off the boards that was picked up by Kwasny who promptly buried his second of the game. A minute later, Elvis Gorontzy-Slack scored from behind the net for Jasper’s fourth goal. A strange play in itself but it got stranger. In the head-bump congratulations from Brenden Auger, their face masks locked and the two had to exit the ice Siamese-twin style. Coach Barker was able to surgically separate the two, but I doubt they’ll try that again soon.
Hinton came roaring back though, getting two more on Golla before the close of the first period on an odd-man rush and a power play marker. The score was 4-3 Jasper at the end of one.
In the second, back to full strength, Jasper took control. Auger, Tegan Barker and Cooper Hilworth combined for a beautiful three-way passing play that ended with a tap in for Hilworth and his first of the game. Rhys Malcolm buried a wrister five-hole two minutes later, followed by two from Auger, his first, a howitzer high blocker side, and second, a stuff-job in the blue paint from a Hilworth feed. After two periods, the Bears were up 8–3 and outshooting Hinton 32 to 14.
If you recall last week, the Bears were laying a similar licking on Edson in Edson by the third period, and the hometown fans, coaches and players handled it poorly. So it was with no small amount of trepidation that the Bears coaches and players took to the ice for this final frame. But to Hinton’s great credit, and despite continued pressure from Jasper, their players, coaches and supporters showed a lot of class. Indeed, far from melting down, the Hinton skaters continued to work hard on the ice in the face of seven more Jasper goals, managing to get one back and force second-half Bears’ goaltender Isaah Kwasny to make some tough stops.
But ultimately Jasper was too strong. Auger got two more, including a blast from the point that went top shelf. Barker and Hilworth each got short-handed markers, Malcolm buried another loose puck in the slot, and Kwasny completed his hat-trick by walking in from the blue line. Hunter Zenner, who is always fighting hard for the puck, also got rewarded with a goal off some nice work around the crease. The game ended 15–4 in favour of the Bears.
They hit the road next week for a two-game swing through Mayerthorpe. The Mustangs are Jasper’s closest rivals, so it should be an interesting weekend. Stay tuned.
