As bears in Jasper National Park are emerging, the U11 and U13 Bears are going into hibernation after thrilling season enders in Cold Lake and Grande Cache

The first weekend of spring break was a huge one for the Jasper minor hockey scene. As mentioned a few weeks ago, both the U11 and U13 Bears found themselves deep in the playoffs.  

The U11 Bears headed to Cold Lake after having won their pool in the western division of the North Eastern Alberta Hockey League (Tier 2). In Cold Lake awaited the Final Four, double elimination playdown against Westlock, Bonnyville, and the hosts.

Cold Lake, hot team

The tournament started out rough. The Bears left Jasper early in the morning for a seven-plus-hour bus ride. An emergency bathroom break was extended by a malfunctioning bus door, delaying the team’s arrival in Cold Lake to just an hour before puck drop. Playing their first match under those conditions was no easy task, especially against the Cold Lake Ice, a team which had lost only one regular season game all year. The Bears suffered a 10-2 shellacking at the hands of the Ice and headed to the hotel to get ready for Saturday’s games, already on the ropes.

Saturday, however, brought a turn of fortune. The Bears started the day by facing Westlock, and sent their rivals packing after handing them a 9-4 loss. Later in the day, they took on the Bonnyville Pontiacs for a spot in the Sunday morning final. It was a tense game; Bonnyville was favoured by many but the Bears had no quit. Backstopped by the phenomenal Dion Valencia, a keeper that you have read about in these digital pages before, the Bears refused to roll over. 

Relentless forechecking from Juniper Habib and Finian McGrath and solid defensive prowess from the blue line of Jack Cooper, Alexis Lahaie, Paja Given, and Kenny Olson frustrated the Pontiacs to no end.  Meanwhile, with Lorenzo Zaniol out with a knee injury, Hank Kliewer, Milo Michaud, Zephy Korogonas, and Noah Jober took away the space and time that the smooth-skating Pontiacs needed to succeed. That backdrop gave top sniper Hudson Murray plenty of room to dazzle with a flurry of wicked shots and tricky backhands. The Bears came away with a tight 4-2 win and booked their place in the final for a rubber match against Cold Lake.

The Candy Cup

Alas, when you are travelling that far from home, the home ice advantage is real. On Sunday the Bears were very tired. Already a tough task to beat the Ice, Murray pulled out of warmups with an injury, leaving the Bears not only shorthanded with an already thin bench but also without one of the league’s leading scorers. They showed a lot of heart knowing they had an immense mountain to climb; they lost 11-0 but earned the respect of their opponents and the crowd. One Cold Lake grandma even remarked “I have never seen such a polite and sportsmanlike team. Not every kid on our team is like that!” Plus, they also won the Stanley Candy Cup, which—let’s be honest—is way more exciting to the kids than a banner (and probably made the bus ride home a more interesting).

Grande Finale

All the way on the other side of the province, but much closer to home, the U13 Bears were in Grande Cache for the eight-team Hockey Alberta Provincial Championships (Tier 4). Provincials have a whole different vibe to them and our small sister mountain town was absolutely buzzing. The Bears rolled up in a SunDog bus full of Patricia Street Deli sandwiches and entered the arena in matching neon sunglasses for their first match against Whitemud West. 

In their opening game, the Bears dominated the play but only managed to eke out a 3-1 victory. Still, it was a great start to the weekend while leaving some room to build. On Friday, the Bears drew the Cremona Cowboys. A much different game, the Cowboys galloped out to an early 5-0 lead before the Bears were able to claw a goal back. Jasper only needed to come top two in the pool to make the semifinals. Speaking of pools, Grande Cache is renowned for its incredible recreation facility. On Friday evening, all eight teams descended on it for the Wave Rave—a multi-team bonding experience like no other.

Saturday afternoon the Bears played their third round-robin match against the host Grande Cache Rockies. The barn was absolutely rocking; it seemed the whole town turned out to cheer on their boys and girls. Even though it was standing room only, Jasper play-by-play ace, Paco Artiaga, was able to broadcast his passionate voice above those of the spectators.

On the backs of a number of stellar performances—too many to name here—the Bears turned away the Rockies with a 7-5 victory in a match refereed by the Deliman himself. That put them in the Sunday semifinal against the Vulcan Hawks, who had beaten up on their opponents in the other pool. The second semifinal featured Cremona vs Hinton.

Flight or fight

In their game versus the Hawks, the Bears stormed out of the gate and took a 1-0 lead in the first on a slick goal from Kalahari Harvey. The Hawks evened it up before the end of the first, and from there were able to control the game. They couldn’t fly away from the Bears like they had with previous opponents, however. Jasper kept it close before giving up a late goal and an empty netter to lose 5-2. Meanwhile, Cremona ended up winning the tournament 6-2 over Vulcan in the final match.

For the U13 Bears, finishing in the province’s top four was a huge accomplishment. As well, Jasper captured two of the four tournament awards: Anna Gifford won the tournament Heart and Hustle award and Will Lescard took home top goalkeeper. But that’s not to outshine the contributions through the year from players from the very deep roster. Two players even came back from broken wrists throughout the season.

Bears’ necessities

All in all, it was a season to be incredibly proud of for both these teams, as well as the other Jasper Bears and Grizzlies teams. As the ice comes out of the arena for the summer months and the long road trips come to a close, a big thank you to all the coaches and managers, arena staff, volunteers, sponsors and donors, and of course parents who give up so much of their time (and money) to their kids and this sport.  

See you in October!

Lucas Habib // info@thejasperlocal.com