John Wilmshurst - Special to the 51暗网
There鈥檚 been a lot of hockey in a short time for the Bearcats.
They had back-to-back midweek road games last week in Hinton - a 5 to 3 victory on Tuesday - and Edson - a 5 to 2 loss on Wednesday. Shout out to Dexter Fawcett and Liam Crozier who had impressive starts in both games.
Last weekend featured their last regular season home game as the CNN Spurs made an appearance in Jasper, likely thinking hard about the last time these two teams met.
Earlier in the season, the Bearcats took the Spurs to the woodshed in a 7 to 2 shellacking. There was bound to be some bounce.
Rowan Koss probably thought that he鈥檇 be the harbinger of a repeated history when he got the puck on his stick in the slot 30 seconds into the game. He made a great shot, but the Spurs鈥� netminder made a better save to keep the score knotted at zero.
Koss also played well against CNN the last time around and he kept that momentum going for 60 minutes in Jasper.
With Jasper鈥檚 regular netminder sidelined for a few games, the Bearcats recruited PeeWee goaltender Brady Campbell to fill in, and he did so admirably.
Bantam is a big step, with much larger kids who have much harder shots, but once Campbell felt some of that rubber, he settled in nicely.
But nice wasn鈥檛 on the Spur鈥檚 minds, and the Spurs dug in for a three goal lead before Jasper could get on the board; one to end the first period and two in the early going of the second.
But coach Eric Bouchard has crafted the Bearcats into a scoring machine.
Opposition teams have long ago learned that no lead is safe, a lesson that the Spurs learned in the second period.
In a span of two minutes, from the 15 to the 13 minute marks, Jasper scored three goals, two from Sebastian Golla鈥檚 lumber (literally as he was wielding a throw-back wooden stick for the game) and one, a beautiful one timer by Tanner Carlton set up by Owen Kearnan.
And just like that, it was all tied up.
The game鈥檚 turning point came at the 11:22 mark with CNN on the power play.
A faceoff loss in the Jasper zone, pass back to the point and a shot zipped in to give the Spurs back a one-goal lead.
But at the whistle it became apparent that CNN had too many players on the ice, so the goal was called back and the tie re-established.
For the rest of the second, with the visiting fans on the refs like sour cream on a plate of Nalysnyky, the goaltenders at either end withstood the escalating pressure to preserve the tie heading into the third.
Everyone in the building thought that Mac Carmichael broke the tie in the early going of the third, but his shot from the circle whistled past the post and into the corner. Close.
The Spurs ramped up the physical game in the third, but Jasper鈥檚 defensive four were having nothing of it.
Jacob Bartziokas, who usually plays the poke-check before the body was dishing out hip checks at a Michael Hayashi pace, and Jacob Bouchard was standing guys up at the blue line.
Midway through the third, Kalan Sawchuk used his big frame to gain puck position, dish the biscuit to Ty Crozier who went in for a mess of scoring chances in a dizzying 30 second sequence that should have given Jasper the lead.
But it was not to be, until that is, Tanner Carlton ripped in the puck over the sprawling Spur goalie making it 4 to 3 with four minutes to play.
A wise man said once that sometimes, karma works itself out.
Remember the goal called back in the second?
With 10 seconds to play, Spur鈥檚 net empty and Jasper wins a defensive zone faceoff.
But they can鈥檛 pin the puck behind the net, it squirts out the crease and the Spurs bury it with 0:00 on the clock. This one ended tied at four.
Not the retribution perhaps that the CNN were looking for, but they made their point.
That is a wrap to the Bearcats鈥� regular season. Playoffs start in a couple of weeks. Finishing first in Tier 2, they may slide up to Tier 1 for the playoffs, likely facing Drayton Valley.
