I can barely remember being an 11 and 12 year-old, although I act like one according to my family. This is the age of your average PeeWee hockey player, and also an age where some kids are growing. Some more than others, and this creates a noted size difference among players, that can have an impact on some games.
Last weekend, the Whitecourt Wolverines rolled into town, and while they were playing with what鈥檚 called a 鈥渟hort bench鈥� there weren鈥檛 very many short kids on the bench. When that happens, the big kids on the Bears need to step up, and step up they did.
This was the first meeting between the Bears and the Wolverines this season, and the game got going right off the hop.
Matteo Tassoni got the Bears on the board 90 seconds into the tilt, beautifully burying a feed from Sebastian Golla who meandered his way deep in the Whitecourt zone. But Whitecourt charged right back, banging in a loose puck left laying in the blue paint a minute and a half later; they could have taken the lead shortly thereafter, were it not for the acrobatics of Bears netminder, Kelan Polard.
With the clock ticking down in the first, and a Wolverine in the sin bin, big Dylan Dekker lofted the puck over the butterflying Whitecourt goalie for Jasper鈥檚 second goal, giving the Bears a one goal lead going into the dressing room for the first intermission.
Its not clear whether it was coach Geno Tassoni鈥檚 pep talk during that first intermission, or the ABBA being played on the arena speakers, but in the second, Jasper took over.
Tassoni made no mistake on another Golla pass to open the period again, and then the big kids came out to play. Dana Angebrandt stepped up first, gathering up the puck at her own blueline, dancing through four Wolverines and powering Jasper鈥檚 fourth goal into the back of the net. Aidan Deagle, Jasper鈥檚 big blueliner, made a huge defensive play to prevent Whitecourt from getting back into it, and tall Camas D鈥橝ntonio, centering the ACDC line, activated with his linemates Adrian Torres and Liam Crozier to pin the Wolverines 200 feet from the Jasper net and out of danger.
There were no goals for this line, but their contribution was absolutely huge, in the best game they鈥檝e played all season.
With Jasper鈥檚 big kids keeping Whitecourt鈥檚 offense stifled, the little Bears kept the pressure on. Returning the favour, Tassoni fed Golla in the slot and Golla finished for his first of the game. Then linemate Lucas Oeggerli, getting dirty in front of the net, converted a Tassoni rebound for Jasper鈥檚 fourth goal of the period and sixth of the game, for a five goal lead that Jasper carried into the second period intermission.
With big Justin McIsaac prowling the back end, D鈥橝ntonio wheeling in the o-zone, and the Tassoni, Oeggerli, Golla line filling the net鈥擳assoni scored on a classic end-to-end and Golla finished a tic-tac-toe bar down from the slot鈥攖he third period was all Jasper.
Polard had some work between the pipes in the third, stopping four tough shots. But by backstopping for a scoreless 57 minutes of play, Jasper cruised to an 8鈥�1 victory.
This Saturday, the Bears play rivals Wabasca at 2 p.m. here in Jasper. Wabasca is the only team to beat the Bears this season, so this is bound to be a hum dinger of a game.
See you in the stands.
John Wilmshurst
Special to the 51暗网
