A couple of weeks ago a grizzly was reported on the Pyramid Bench, playing in the ice and snow. 

More recently, an entire team of the powerful animals—the U18 Jasper Grizzlies—emerged to host what might be their final tournament in Jasper together, 12 years after the cubs first got together.

On January 24-26, the Jasper U18 Grizzlies hosted teams from Sherwood Park, St. Albert, and Calgary. Friday afternoon’s game between Jasper and the Sherwood Park Fuzion had the sleepy pace and temperament of a bruin emerging from hibernation. Coach Pat McLeod, who has been behind the Grizzlies’ bench since Moby Dick was a minnow, was doing what he could to motivate his team, but it wasn’t until halfway through the second period when “end-to-end” Annika Oeggerli shelved one glove side to get Jasper on the scoresheet. 

The captain’s tally would be all Jasper could muster for the game, and not enough to overcome the four goals the Fuzion would get past goaltender Molly McGown. McGown, normally a left winger, otherwise had a standout game while filling in between the pipes. 

Saturday morning’s game against the St. Albert Saints was a much feistier affair, with the time-keeping parents working up nearly as much of a sweat filling in the scoresheet as the players on the ice filling the net. 

Again Jasper would go down a couple of goals before they found their game. This time it was Molleigh McGrath, an absolute tip-monster, pulling the Grizzlies within one, only to watch the Saints regain their two-goal lead with just seconds left in the first period. Jasper scored the lone goal of the second frame, a powerplay bomb from the point off the stick of Daisy McLeod, who anchors Jasper’s experienced and very solid D-line.  

Down by a goal, heading into the third, Jasper wasted no time drawing even. Three minutes in, the whole power play squad got in on the tying goal. It could have been McLeod, and it could have been the tenacious Ruby Olsen, dashing in from the left side, who poked it in. It didn’t matter to Jasper’s jubilant bench; everyone was grinning as the score clock ticked over to show a 3–3 tie.  

As the halfway mark of the third period approached, it was Oeggerli once again weaving end-to-end, then shovelling the puck in the net, to give the Grizzlies their first lead of the game. At the final buzzer, that marker would be enough; Jasper skated off with a 4–3 victory. Players of the game for this reporter were Maddy Radloff in net, and Morgan Staneland, a U15 call-up whose quiet confidence on the blue line had a significant impact on Jasper’s victory.  

The pundits pegged Calgary to be the team to beat in this four-team round robin, so the Grizzlies were amped up for Saturday night’s game against the Ignite. The match was fast, back and forth, but clean. The Grizzlies lit up Calgary for four goals that the Ignite could not match. Although the scoresheet will tell the story of an Annika Oeggerli show, (three goals and an assist on the third period marker from Danica Hills), this was a full-team effort. Katie Doyle’s strong stick along the right wing boards stifled more than one Calgary rush, and Mac McArthur’s aggressive play up the middle clearly intimidated the Ignite defenders. 

Molly McGown had a rebound performance in net, sealing the victory for the Grizzlies and propelling them into Sunday’s A-Final—a game that would have to be played without speedy winger Ruby Olson, who was injured in Saturday’s match. 

Sunday’s A-Final was a rematch of Saturday evening’s tilt between the Grizzlies and the Inferno. With the pundits no longer in the building, and the Inferno with something to prove, this was anyone’s game.  

There are three things to know about games like this. First, your best players have to be your best players. Second, your defense has to step up and lock it down. Third, the first five minutes are spent settling the nerves. 

True to form, it was about five minutes in when the first goal was scored, a hot shot from the point that eluded McGown—who was between the wickets again for the final. But Calgary’s lead wouldn’t last long as McGrath raced end to end, wiring a shot that deflected over the Inferno netminder to tie the game. Kayla Peacock, a talented Hinton import and constant net front presence, converted a hot pass from the corner to give Jasper the lead just before the first intermission.  

Calgary stormed back early in the first only to be denied by McGown in net. Then Jasper’s best players took over. Sahara Harvey, Jasper’s defensive grandmaster, was a standout in the neutral zone, dunking on every Inferno stretch pass. And Georgia Bell, also a Grizzly veteran (filling in for the injured Olson at left wing from her happy place on the blue line), laid on the forecheck. This disruption allowed Danica Hills and Molleigh McGrath to get down to work, giving Jasper a three-goal lead before the second buzzer sounded.   

Calgary made it interesting early in the third to pull to within two goals at 4–2, before Maddy Radloff slammed the door shut halfway through the period with a goal that restored Jasper’s three-goal lead. 

This lead would hold through to the final buzzer, signalling the first Jasper victory in their home tournament in the dozen years the event has been held. A jubilant Grizzly squad, complete with long-time coaches Pat McLeod and Dave Yakielashek, poured onto the ice to celebrate. 

Congratulations to the entire Grizzlies team, coaches, manager Pam Bell, and parents for an incredible 12-year journey. 

Just like Jasper’s other grizzlies in the face of a changing climate, we look forward to seeing these beasts again soon. 

John Wilmshurst // info@thejasperlocal.com