The Jasper Midget Bearcats’ main weapon is surprise. And fear. Their two main weapons are fear and surprise. And fanatical devotion to their coach. Their three weapons are fear, surprise, fanatical devotion to the coach. And nice red uniforms. Never mind. Last weekend, the wonderfully red-uniformed, but struggling, Bearcats hosted the high-flying Athabasca Hawks and nobody was expecting the outcome.
Game one on Saturday was all about the first period. After the requisite five minutes of warm-up, Bearcats’ Tegan Barker picked up a feed from Liam Fengler-Wood and buried stick side. Getting the first goal in a game is hockey’s Holy Grail, and despite claims to the contrary, they rarely get one. This game was the exception. Piling on, Rhys Malcolm scored at the 10-minute mark then Jack Hilworth took advantage of a puck misplayed by the Hawks’ goaltender to get Jasper’s third goal and then Elvis Gorontzky-Slack scored bar-down to cap off the first period scoring. At the end of 20 minutes it was the Bearcats up by four, despite being outshot 15 to 12. Kudos goes to Bearcat netminder Jake Melanson.
In the second period, Jasper discovered that the expensive, Norwegian blue parrot that they had purchased, was indeed, dead. Athabasca shook off their road-legs to charge back with four goals, leaving Jasper pining for the first period. But in the midst of Athabasca’s sudden success, Jasper was able to maintain their lead on a Hilworthian end-to-end marker. It was 5-4 for Jasper after two.
Four minutes into the third, Athabasca equalized on a screen shot that Melanson didn’t see. These games tend to take a bit of a silly-turn in the third, and this one was arguably no exception. There were lots of shenanigans and the penalties to show for it (nudge-nudge, wink-wink), but not a lot of scoring. Until, that is, when Brendan Auger hammered a point from the high slot on the power play with 5:45 to play to regain Jasper’s lead. Despite nobody in the building expecting a Jasper victory, using their main weapons, they had overcome the league’s elite, Athabasca Hawks 6-5.
The following day, there was even more unexpected in store. Jasper was down a defenseman from the day before after Ty Bangle went down on a hard hit. Then Malcolm took a thundering check three minutes in and left the ice and went straight to the dressing-room. The Bearcats were reduced to two forward lines and three defense against a standing-room only Athabasca bench. And with a 2-0 lead after the first 20 minutes, Athabasca looked to have this game well in hand.
But again, Melanson and the seemingly indefatigable skaters in front of him had something else in mind. No they didn’t. Yes they did, for in the second period only one goal was scored, and this one again off the stick of Barker who finished a red-line in dangle with a shelfie to draw the Bearcats to within one. No argument. Despite being completely outmanned, Jasper was only a goal back and led the shot count 25-23 after 40 minutes.
Defying the odds, wild-haired lumberjack, Hunter Zenner scored the equalizer a minute into the third period, tipping a Barker shot past the befuddled Athabasca goalie. Then for 12 minutes the game swung back and forth like corks on an Australian’s outback hat, with both teams refusing to give an inch. But with Jasper’s leaden legs unable to pursue a bouncing biscuit and clear the zone, an Athabasca defender stepped into the loose puck at the top of the right circle. Melanson had no chance and the Hawks were up by a goal. The final five minutes were tense, and Jasper had their chances, but couldn’t equalize one last time. At the final buzzer it was Athabasca three, Jasper two, but our boys deserved better. They worked incredibly hard and should be proud of their tenacity and discipline. Don’t forget. Always look on the bright side of life.
The Bearcats hit the road this week for a two-game swing through Tofield and Barrhead. They will need their three (or more) weapons on this trip.
John Wilmshurst special to the 51°µÍø
