Lesleigh Campbell | Special to the Fitzhugh
Playoffs began this past weekend with two road games for the U15 Jasper Bearcats. The first game was on Saturday against the Thorsby Thunder, and the second game was on Sunday against the Drayton Valley Thunder Stars.
The last time Jasper played against Thorsby, it was on home ice, and the Bearcats defeated the Thunder. Hoping for the same outcome, Jasper faced off against Thorsby in their barn this time.
The first period was intense, as both teams came out strong and defensive. But it was Jasper’s Drew Kovacs who got the Bearcats on the board first, with eight minutes left in the period. Morgan Thomas and Jackson Irwin with the assists. Goaltender Brady “Soupy” Campbell kept the door shut, and Jasper went into the first intermission up 1-0.
The second period started out the same as the first, with Carson Campbell getting the second goal for Jasper. Kovacs and Thomas getting the assists this time. The only difference was that Thorsby’s sniper then managed to get back-to-back goals, ending this period with the teams tied 2-2.
The Thunder stormed into the third period, getting the tie breaking goal in the first two minutes. However, Kovacs fought the storm and tied it right back up with some help from Irwin and Carson Miller. It was starting to look like this game might go into overtime, until Thorsby’s star player got his hat-trick goal with five minutes remaining in the game. Down 4-3, the Bearcats didn’t give up. They knew they still had time to get one more, and they did just that. Kovacs shot the puck and it bounced off the goalie’s chest right onto Campbell’s stick and he flung it into the back of the net. However, at some point during the play, the referee lost sight of the puck and blew the whistle as the goal was being scored, resulting in no goal. Soupy gave it his all to keep Jasper’s hopes alive, saving 44 of the 48 pucks sent his way, but it was disappointment for the Bearcats as the buzzer sounded, and they ran out of time.
But you know what they say... There's nothing better to take your mind off of a tough loss, than a hotel with a wicked waterslide. The team had some fun before turning in for the night in anticipation of their game the next day against Drayton Valley.
Now, I’m not going to lie. I’m pretty sure by this point in the weekend I had already grown a few more grey hairs. Little did I know, it was about to get worse.
The first period got started in Drayton Valley, and not even a minute into the game, the Thunder Stars had already scored. Not exactly the way the Bearcats wanted to start this game off. But they shook it off, and a few minutes later Kovacs evened things up. Not long after that, Irwin got a short-handed goal, followed by another beauty goal by Irwin, assisted by Miller. Heading into the first intermission up 3-1, things were looking good for Jasper.
The second period got started with a goal by Campbell within the first minute, almost immediately answered by Drayton Valley with a goal of their own. This is when the tension on the ice got thick. The teams battled back and forth for the rest of the period, and I mean battled. One of our top scorers was ejected, about half-way through the game on a controversial call made by the referees, leaving the Bearcats with an even shorter bench than they started with. But nevertheless, Jasper was still up 4-2 after 40 minutes.
The third period got started, and the battle resumed. With about 12 minutes left in the game, Irwin skated from end to end and scored another beauty goal, which only seemed to thicken the tension between the teams on the ice. It was shortly after that when another one of our top scorers was ejected from the game, on another controversial call, (and I’m really never one to complain about officials). For the last two minutes of the game, Jasper had two players in the box (convenient), and Drayton Valley had pulled their goalie. So, wonder of wonders, they were able to get one more goal before the end of the game. Regardless, the Jasper Bearcats came out on top, winning 5-3.
The Bearcats’ last game in this round of the playoffs will be at home this Saturday, March 5 at 1 p.m. against Westlock. Be sure to come on down and cheer them on.
