The Bears celebrate clinching a berth to the Esso Cup in 2017. |
After capturing their second Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA
Hockey League title in team history in March of 2017, the Bears hosted the
Hartney, Man., based Westman Wildcats in a best-of-three female midget AAA
Western regional playdown.
The Bears
took Game 1 of the series 6-4 on March 31, 2017 at the Art Hauser Centre.
In Game 2
of the series on April 1, 2017, the Bears found themselves down 6-3 with 13:24
remaining in the third period. At that point in time, it appeared the two sides
would play in a series deciding Game 3 the next night.Brooklyn Anderson (#7) had the late third period winner.
All of a
sudden, the Bears made a frantic comeback. With exactly two minutes to play in
the third, rookie forward Brooklyn Anderson tipped home a point shot from tough
as nails defender Jordan Ashe to give the Bears a 7-6 lead.
Prince
Albert held on from there to ensure that score would be the final result in
order to capture the Lanchbery Family Trophy. The Bears swept the series 2-0 to
qualify for the Esso Cup – the female under-18 AAA championship tournament –
for the first time in team history.
“It feels
amazing,” said Anderson after the game. “I know the team was really excited to
get there.The Bears celebrate Brooklyn Anderson’s late third period winner.
“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.”
The Bears
in 2016-17 were the carbon copies of the romantic image of their WHL cousins
the Prince Albert Raiders, when the Raiders are at their best.
If you
wanted to play run and gun, the Bears could run and gun. If you wanted to get
down in the trenches, the Bear would get down in the trenches.
While
fighting is technically banned in the female game of hockey, the Bears had the
toughness to take care of things in a flat out brawl, if their opponents chose
to play that way. The Bears had a team that was built for any type of game.Captain Brooke Hobson was the Bears best player.
Overall,
head coach Jeff Willoughby liked the high tempo offensive games the best being
a fan of the 1980s NHL’s Edmonton Oilers. It seemed fitting the Bears most
memorable home game turned out to be a 7-6 shootout that saw a championship
trophy and banner handed out at the end of the contest.
The Bears
finished second overall in the SFU18AAAHL with what was at the time the best record
in team history at 22-6.
When they
got to the best-of-five SFU18AAAHL championship series, the Bears swept away
their archrivals the Saskatoon Stars 3-0. The Stars had topped the league
standings with a 25-2-1 mark.
The Bears
had a well-rounded roster, but their best player was captain and ultra-talented
offensive-defender Brooke Hobson. Hobson was a member of Canada’s under-18 national
women’s team and turned heads with a shot that seemed to be gifted to her from
a Higher Power.Camryn Amundson (#9) jets up ice for the Bears.
Veteran
forward Camryn Amundson skated through an inspired season in 2016-17. She
played in 27 regular season games setting career highs in goals (13), assists
(14) and points (27).
Her older
sister Shaye had passed away tragically in a single-vehicle accident in June of
2016. On the ice, it seemed like Shaye was still there helping her younger
sister play.
The Bears
roster had some classic Prince Albert hockey elements.Abby Soyko had the equalizer for the Bears.
They had the great power forward in Abby
Soyko. At age 15 that season, Soyko topped the Bears in scoring with 18 goals
and 13 assists for 31 points in 27 regular season games.
The Bears
had players that could put up points with a finesse offensive game like Kate
Ball, who had 15 goals and 15 assists appearing in all of the Bears 28 regular
season games.
They had
gritty checkers like centre Ireland South, who also showed some offensive touch
netting 11 goals and 10 assists in 26 regular season games.
Finesse
defender Hannah Koroll was solid and made the game look easy to play at both
ends of the ice.
Of course,
the Bears had Ashe on the back end, and she was the Bears version of Raiders
legend Dave Manson on defence.
In goal,
the Bears had the reliable duo of Ryan Fontaine and Brooklyn Elek, and the team
couldn’t go wrong playing either in big games.Kate Ball had a big offensive season for the Bears in 2016-17.
Overall,
the Bears had their own unique collective personality, where it seemed it was
always a good day to go to the rink. Ultimately, everyone on the roster stepped
up with big performances and moments at different points in the campaign to
make it a special one.
When the
Bears showed up for Game 2 of their series with the Wildcats, they had an
estimated 1,200 supporters waiting for them at the Art Hauser Centre.
A sweep in
the short set wasn’t guaranteed as the Wildcats had some star players like
forward Ashton Bell, who was the captain of Canada’s under-18 national women’s
team.
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 lead early in the second period.Hannah Koroll made playing the game look easy.
The
visitors proceeded to score four straight goals to go ahead 6-3 with 13:24
remaining in the third.
Josee
Casavant and Bell had each scored twice for the Wildcats, while Camryn Clyne
and Haley Wickham had singles.
Ball,
Amundson and Story Navrot replied with singles for the Bears up to that point
in time.
With 12:22
remaining in the third, the Bears got traction when forward Miranda Heidt
slipped a pass across the front of the Westman goal to Hobson. The Bears
captain potted a tally to cut the Wildcats edge to 6-4.
Hobson
struck again with 7:54 remaining in the third, when she blew home a point shot
to further trim the Wildcats lead to 6-5.
Soyko
proceeded to even things up at 6-6 with a power-play goal with 3:13 remaining
in the frame. That set the stage for dramatics on Anderson’s winner.Jordan Ashe brought grit and toughness to the Bears.
Elek made
24 stops to pick up the win in goal. Kaitlyn Slator turned away 19 shots to
take the setback in goal for the Wildcats.
“Both teams
kind of just let it loose,” said Willoughby after the game. “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. 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.”
The win
marked the first time the Bears accepted a championship trophy and banner on
home ice. The Bears raise the Lanchbery Family Trophy.
The two times they clinched the SFU18AAAHL title were both on the
road.
The Bears on
ice celebration with their parents and fans seemed to last a good two hours
after their series clinching win ended.
Later that
same month, the Bears finished fifth overall in the round robin standings at the
Esso Cup tournament, which was held in Morden, Man. They just missed out making
the playoff round with a 2-3 record.
Looking
back now, the excitement Prince Albert that season had for the Bears in 2016-17
seemed to be a prelude in “Hockey Town North” for the huge excitement that
followed for the Raiders in their special 2018-19 campaign.The Bears are all smiles after their epic comeback win.
Of course
in 2018-19, the Raiders topped the WHL standings with a 54-10-2-2 record and
went on to win the WHL title thanks to Dante Hannoun’s overtime winner of Game
7 of the league championship series at the Art Hauser Centre.
In 2016-17,
it was Anderson’s late third period goal and the Bears that took centre stage
at the Art Hauser Centre. Prince Albert rallied around the Bears as they
collected championship trophies and banners.
The Bears
crafted a story in 2016-17 which will be passed down through generations in
P.A. Camryn Amundson enjoys her moment with the trophy.
That season,
the Bears truly embodied the romantic image of “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.
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