Northern Bears should let it loose and roll at Esso Cup

Prince Albert enters nationals with tonnes of pluses to lean on

The Prince Albert Northern Bears should play with no fear at Esso Cup.

    When the Prince Albert Northern Bears hit the ice at Esso Cup, they should skate like they have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

    The Bears open play at the female midget AAA national championship tournament on Morden, Man., on Sunday, when they take on the host Pembina Valley Hawks, who are also the Manitoba champs.

    Prince Albert has been in a holding pattern since sweeping a best-of-three Western regional playdown series at the Art Hauser Centre against the Hartney, Man., based Westman Wildcats on April 1. The Bears are heading to the national championship tournament for the first time in team history.

    Pembina Valley clinched the Manitoba title on March 19, and they since participated in a pair of exhibition games against a pair of junior women’s teams that are based out of Winnipeg. The last of those was held on April 14 in Morden, Man., where the Hawks thumped the Manitoba Blizzard 6-0.

    The Esso Cup contains a field of six teams from across Canada. They play each other in a round robin, and the top four teams advance to the playoff round. The semifinals are held on April 28, and the bronze and gold medal games are both slated for April 29.

Brooke Hobson is the Bears fearless leader.

    At last year’s Esso Cup in Weyburn, the Brantford Ice Cats romped over the Express du Richelieu 10-3 in the championship final.

    All the teams at Esso Cup are good, and the squads at this year’s event won’t know how they stack up against each other until they start playing each other.

    Last year, the field was even as all the teams that made the playoff round sported 3-2 records. Out of the 19 games played over seven days, nine were decided by one goal and six had two-goal spreads. In the preliminary round, the Express downed the Ice Cats 5-4 in a contest that required a tiebreaking shootout.

    When the Bears take the ice at this year’s Esso Cup in Morden, Man., they should just go out and rock and roll with no fear. Prince Albert built a 22-6 regular season record and a perfect 11-0 in the post-season by flying at opponents with four lines that all have speed. They also have a solid group of defenders and two goalies that can help transition play up ice or shut things down in the defensive zone.

    The Bears, who are riding a 15-game winning streak, have many huge positives that are on their side. The biggest intangible is their culture is really good.

    When you see the players interact with each other at practice, in games or away from the rink, the family feeling is strong. You can tell the players care for each other a lot, and that aspect alone will win you a lot of games.

    Head coach Jeff Willoughby and his staff done a tremendous job in creating an atmosphere that allows their players to succeed.

    The Bears players are all good and have all contributed to their team’s success. All have grown immensely over the 2016-17 season.

Abby Soyko topped the Bears in regular season scoring.

    In captain Brooke Hobson, you might not find a better leader anywhere. The 17-year-old defender, who was a member of Canada’s under-18 national team, has the maturity of an adult. When you talk to her, you don’t realize you are talking to someone who is 17.

    She also has the right type of confidence in herself and her team. On top of all that, Hobson, who had 11 goals and nine assists in 24 regular season games, is invested emotionally in the Bears program having played five full seasons with the team. The skilled rearguard will move on to play with the Northeastern University Huskies women’s team in Boston, Mass., in the fall.

    The forward line of Kate Ball, Camryn Amundson and Jasper Desmarais have a chemistry that is second to none. Ball finished second in team scoring with 15 goals and 15 assists in 28 regular season games, Amundson was third in team scoring with 13 goals and 14 assists in 27 regular season games, while Desmarais was fourth with nine goals and 15 assists in 26 regular season games.

    Prince Albert product Abby Soyko, who is a 15-year-old forward, topped the Bears in scoring with 18 goals and 13 assists.

Centre Kate Ball piled up the points on a high-scoring line.

    While opponents will focus on shutting down the Bears visible top scorers, you never know when anyone else on the roster could hurt you. The best example of that is underage 14-year-old forward Brooklyn Anderson. The Shellbrook product had four goals and nine assists in 27 regular season games, but she came through with points at key times in the post-season.

    In the Western regional series clinching game, Anderson tipped home a point shot from defender Jordan Ashe with two minutes to play to break a 6-6 tie and deliver the Bears to a 7-6 victory over the Wildcats. The Bears were down 6-3 in that contest in the third period before they rallied back for victory.

    The Bears also have a great double punch in goal with Brooklyn Elek and Ryan Fontaine, and both have rotated starts throughout the regular season and post-season. As teams that make the playoff round will play seven games in seven days at Esso Cup, it is huge asset to have to goalies that can carry the load and rotate starts through the event.

The Bears hope to celebrate a number of goals at Esso Cup.

    When the run ends, the Bears will graduate Hobson and Elek along with forwards Ireland South and Sierra Parenteau. A national championship win would create the ultimate high to leave on.

    With that said, you never know how strong the rest of the field could be.

    Still, the Bears have had a highlight filled season. Sweeping away the Saskatoon Stars in the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League championship series was one highlight, because the Stars had won the SFMAAAHL title the two previous seasons.

    The other highlights were playing in front of an estimated crowd of 1,000 in Prince Albert in their Game 1 win at the Western regional and an estimated crowd of 1,200 in their Game 2 win. Those attendance figures are almost unheard of for female midget AAA hockey.

    They bested the crowds of just under 800 that attended each of the three games of the 2014 Canada West women’s hockey final at the Rutherford Rink, when the University of Saskatchewan Huskies downed the U of Regina Cougars 2-1 in a best-of-three set.

    The Bears have already accomplished a lot, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if they did go all the way.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

Impressive epic comeback sends Bears to first Esso Cup

Prince Albert erases three-goal deficit in thrilling 7-6 victory

The Prince Albert Northern Bears celebrate their Western regional win.

    PRINCE ALBERT - In a comeback worthy of the Edmonton Oilers teams of the 1980s, the Prince Albert Northern Bears are bound for the Esso Cup for the first time in team history.

    On Saturday night at the Art Hauser Centre, the Bears trailed the Hartney, Man., based Westman Wildcats 6-3 with 13:24 to play in the third period in Game 2 of a female midget AAA Western regional playdown series. It appeared the Wildcats were going to force the best-of-three set to a series deciding Game 3, which would have been played on Sunday.

    Cue the comeback. The Bears rallied back with four straight goals to pull out a 7-6 victory and sweep the series 2-0 to capture The Lanchbery Family Trophy.

Brooklyn Anderson (#7) scored the series winning goal for the Bears.

    Forward Brooklyn Anderson tipped home a point shot from defender Jordan Ashe for the game and series winning tally with two minutes to play in the third.

    With the win, the Bears earned a berth to the Esso Cup female midget AAA national championship tournament, which runs April 23 to 29 in Morden, Man.

    “It feels amazing,” said Anderson. “I know the team was really excited to get there.

    “We weren’t losing this. We wanted to get there, and we got there, so that is awesome.

    “I saw Jordan (Ashe) had it on the point, and I knew that I just needed to get in front of the net. It is exactly what I did, and it just went off my stick and in.”

    Anderson’s goal concluded what was a wild shootout of a contest. The Wildcats scored on their first two shots of the game to go ahead 2-0, but the Bears stormed back to take a 3-2 edge early in the second.

Ashton Bell, right, scored twice for the Wildcats.

    The visitors proceed to score four straight to go ahead 6-3, but the host Bears never gave up.

    At the 7:38 mark of the third, Bears forward Miranda Heidt slipped a pass across the front of the Westman goal to Prince Albert captain Brooke Hobson. Hobson potted the first tally in the rally to cut the Wildcats edge to 6-4.

    With 7:54 to play in the third, Hobson blasted home a point shot for her second goal of the game to pull the Bears to within 6-5. The hosts tied the contest with a power-play goal from star forward Abby Soyko with 3:13 remaining in the third. That set the stage for Anderson’s winner.

    “I just can’t believe the determination of these girls,” said Bears head coach Jeff Willoughby. “That is all it comes down to is their determination and want. It is incredible.”

Kate Ball breaks into the offensive zone for the Bears.

    Kate Ball, Camryn Amundson and Story Navrot also had singles for the Bears, while Brooklyn Elek made 24 stops to pick up the win in goal.

    Josee Casavant and Ashton Bell, who was the captain of Canada’s under-18 national women’s team, each scored twice for the Wildcats, while Camryn Clyne and Haley Wickham had singles. Kaitlyn Slator turned away 19 shots to take the loss in goal for the Wildcats.

    The Bears took Game 1 of the series 6-4 on Friday at the Art Hauser Centre. Willoughby, whose favourite NHL team happens to be the Oilers, was amazed the Bears and Wildcats combined to score 23 goals in two games considering playoff games at the female midget AAA level are usually tight 3-2 or 2-1 contests.

    “Both teams kind of just let it loose,” said Willoughby. “It was kind of run and gun and fun to play in and fun to coach. I’m sure all the fans got more than their money’s worth here.

Captain Brooke Hobson sparked the Bears rally with a pair of goals.

    “It was incredible to coach in I will say that first of all. There was lots of intensity on the bench.

    “The girls didn’t get down too low, didn’t get up too high. It was very good.”

    Hobson, who was also a member of Canada’s under-18 national women’s team, was proud of how her Bears rose to the challenge to rally back in Saturday’s series clincher.
    The 17-year-old defender said she went hard on the celebration of her first goal that started the rally to get her side fired up, and she believed the tactic worked.

    Playing in her final season of midget eligibility, Hobson was elated she will finally get to go to the Esso Cup in her fifth and last trip through the midget AAA post-season.
    Going into Esso Cup, the Bears are a perfect 11-0 in the post-season, and they have won 15 straight including action in the regular season.

The Bears pose for a team picture after winning the Western regional series.

    “It is an unbelievable feeling here we have here tonight,” said Hobson. “We’re definitely going to be looking forward to this in the next couple of weeks.

    “I’ve been waiting for this my whole five years, so now it has finally come, and it is pretty awesome. We have to keep the momentum going, and I think everything should turn out very good.”

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

The dream is alive like in 2009 for Prince Albert Northern Bears

Stars face elimination in SFMAAAHL championship series

Abby Soyko pats Camryn Amundson on the head.

    PRINCE ALBERT - Often the difference in a championship series is who can come through in the clutch, and Prince Albert Northern Bears forward Camryn Amundson is proving to be a clutch player.

    With the Bears locked in a 1-1 tie with the visiting Saskatoon Stars just over seven minutes into the second period in Game 2 of the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League championship series, the 16-year-old product from Debden, Sask., came through with the key play that made the difference in the game. 

    While the Bears were killing a penalty, Amundson got in deep on the forecheck in the Saskatoon zone, caused a turnover, and wired home a short-handed goal that Stars netminder Arden Kliewer had no chance on.

    That goal gave the Bears a 2-1 victory a very vocal and appreciative crowd at the Art Hauser Centre. The Stars could never find the equalizer from that point despite their best efforts, which included a frantic scramble in front of the Prince Albert net with about a minute remaining in the third period.

    The victory also gave Prince Albert a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League championship series.

Camryn Amundson (#9) battle Willow Slobodzian  (#20) for the puck.

    The Stars, who have won the SFMAAAHL title in each of the last two years, will try to avoid elimination in Game 3 back at the Agriplace Arena in Saskatoon on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

    Prince Albert will be attempting to its second league championship. The Bears last championship win came back in 2009.

    Amundson, who was named the SFMAAAHL’s most sportsmanlike player this season, was also money in two critical moments during the Bears 5-1 victory in Game 1 of the league title series on Thursday in Saskatoon. In that contest, the speedy forward set up Story Navrot’s game-winning short-handed goal.

    Later in that same contest, Amundson fired home a knuckleball shot that gave her team a 4-1 lead and solid command of that contest leading to a 5-1 win.

    Sunday’s Game 2 clash in Prince Albert was fairly evenly played with a few momentum swings. At the 7:51 mark of the opening frame, the Bears opened the scoring when star centre Abby Soyko netted a power-play goal.

Stars centre Kianna Dietz (#12) puts a backhand shot on goal.

    The Stars answered back 93 seconds later with an even strength point-shot goal from Chace Sperling to force a 1-1 tie.

    Saskatoon had two huge chances to go ahead before the opening frame ended. First, centre Kianna Dietz had a close in backhand opportunity, but she was robbed by Bears netminder Brooklyn Elek.

    A short time later, Stars forward Anna Leschyshyn broke in alone on the Prince Albert goal, but Elek turned away her drive as well.

    Early in the second, Dietz rang a shot off the post of the Prince Albert goal. That set the stage for Amundson to net the winner minutes later.

Centre Abby Soyko brings the puck up ice for the Bears.

    Kliewer had a solid outing making 21 saves to take the loss in goal for the Stars. Elek turned away 18 shots to pick up the win in net for the Bears.

    If the Stars came back to rally for three straight wins to take the SFMAAAHL title, they would be only the second club in the 11-year history of the league to accomplish that feat.

    Prince Albert is the only team in the history of the SFMAAAHL to rally back down 2-0 in the best-of-five league final to take the series 3-2. The Bears pulled that off in 2009 against the Swift Current Diamond Energy Wildcats.

    The Stars have the players who have a history of making plays in the clutch to give them the ability to rally back. Saskatoon needs their standouts to come through, or the Bears will be bringing the Fedoruk Cup back to “Hockey Town North.”

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.