Banff Hockey Academy Bears hockey players are the ultimate iron men.
Playing in two leagues at the same time, they have to be good to go against junior B and other hockey academies on any given weekend – often with depleted lineups.
This weekend was no different, as the Bears were only able to dress seven forwards and five defenceman for three games in two days at Fenlands Arena on Oct. 18 and 19.
They dropped a 7-3 loss to the Delta District Hockey Academy on Saturday (Oct. 18) in a penalty filled affair. Banff goaltender Joel Lepper stopped 29 shots in the first period, but the Bears ran out of gas with only 13 players dressed.
They did manage to rebound Saturday afternoon against the Pacific Coast Hockey Academy, winning 6-2. Mitchell Wainmen had a pair of goals in the win.
“The boys had a small bench and realized they had to play it simple,” said assistant coach Colton Wildman. “Right off the bat, we were down 1-0, but we came back with four unanswered goals. Lepper played really well for us.”
They played a strong game against Yale on Sunday (Oct. 19), but fell 8-4. Yale scored two empty net goals, as Wildman said the score was not indicative of the game.
The team managed to rustle up more players for their Heritage Junior Hockey League game on Tuesday (Oct. 21), but they still lost 6-5 to the Strathmore Wheat Kings.
“We scored with two minutes to go, but they scored on the powerplay in overtime,” Wildman said.
The team hosts Medicine Hat in Banff on Friday (Oct. 31).
