Jasper’s youth were all over the ice and the slopes last weekend (March 1-2), putting pucks in nets and picking up cowbells.
Let’s start with the Jasper Junior Olympics. The annual race at Marmot Basin is one of the largest youth ski races in North America, featuring 350 athletes from 5 to 11-years-old. Despite our alpine environment, Jasper racers are often at a disadvantage to some of the city teams who can take advantage of less-than-ideal snow conditions to ski gates over and over again under night lights. But let’s see them slay Tres Hombres!
The Jasper Ski Team performed well, picking up many ribbons and having tonnes of fun on the warm, sunny slopes—a nice change from the frigid temperatures that often greet this race. A special shoutout to the two top five finishers from the JST: Leo Boutilier who picked up a bronze cowbell, and Theodore LeBlanc who finished fifth, both in the 9-year-old male category.
Next up, the U7 Initiation Bears hosted a home tournament to raise funds and help bring people back to Jasper. The organizers did a great job throwing this together, pulling eight teams of tiny puckhounds to Jasper from across the region. All the players had a fantastic time – the team wanted to send a special thanks to Glenda and the arena staff. Two teams from Grande Prairie capped the emotional tournament by donating $500 each to the Initiation Bears. Thanks GP!
The U11 Bears continued their successful season with a 35-save shutout performance from goalie Jack Cooper vs. Barrhead that catapulted them into the Tier 5 west division championships this upcoming weekend in Thorhild. Win or lose, they’ll be hosting and participating in the Tier 5 league championships at the Jasper Arena March 14-15.
The U13 Bears also continued their trek through the Tier 5 playoffs. Last weekend, they were matched up against the Edson Sabres who they had yet to beat this season. On the backs of a stellar outing from goaltender Jackson Hughes and a brace from Hana Callihoo, they defeated the Sabres 4-3 in their away leg on Saturday, putting them in position to move on to the league finals with a win or tie at home on Sunday. Unfortunately, Edson jumped out to an early 4-0 lead on Sunday.
The Bears clawed their way back with two goals early in the third to make Edson nervous, but it wasn’t meant to be—the Bears lost by one goal on the combined score and saw their season come to an end. They still have a sure-to-be legendary team party coming up in the near future. Congrats to all the players and volunteers on a wonderful season; the large number of new players and stars coming over from the temporarily-defunct girl’s team gives us a bright future for hockey at this age group.
Finally, the U15 Bearcats closed out the weekend at the Jasper Arena.
The team finished third in the regular season standings; after dramatically finishing off Edson last week they moved to the final three in the west with games against Barrhead and Pembina. On the road against Barrhead—the regular season champs whom Jasper had yet to beat this year—the ‘Cats gutted out a tight 2-1 victory, putting them in pole position for the home tilt against Pembina on Sunday. The Bearcats seemed to be tired of the nailbiters and dusted off the Pirates 6-1, avenging captain Matthew Derksen who was injured the last time these two teams played, and crowning Jasper the West division Tier 1 Non-Checking/Body Contact Only champions.
Next weekend, they travel all the way out of the province to Lloydminster, SK, to face the Beasts of the East. Although they would love nothing more than to bring home a new banner to hang in the arena, the Bearcats have already booked their tickets to the Hockey Alberta Provincials, being hosted here in Jasper from March 20-24.
Be sure to come out to catch some of the festivities, check out the raffle table, and of course support the home team!
