or the second year in a row, the Banff Hockey Academy Bears prep team is in the playoffs.
The Bears clinched a spot in the Heritage Junior Hockey League big show with a 7-3 win over Stettler on Saturday (Jan. 31), and followed it up with an impressive come from behind win on Sunday.
Down 4-1 with 16 minutes left in the third period, the Bears launched a remarkable comeback Sunday, scoring six unanswered goals to defeat the Strathmore Wheatland Kings 7-4 at Fenlands Arena.
The Bears’ Zach Goberis picked up a hat trick and one assist to lead the attack, while Ryan Barrow had a goal and two assists as the local squad played its third game in three days.
The Kings began the game ready to run the Bears out of their own building, bombarding goaltender Joel Lepper with 25 shots through 20 minutes. Lepper stood tall and only surrendered one power play goal to the attacking Kings.
Goberis tied it up early in the second period with a marksman-quality shot, and the game began to get physical. The Kings did their best to intimidate the Bears, and piled up the penalty minutes. It helped their cause on the score sheet, as they potted two more goals in the second, but the Bears saw an opportunity in the Kings’ short tempers.
After the Kings potted their fourth goal, the Bears got to work. Barrow started the comeback with an assist from Kobe Eagletail. Eagletail was ejected after a nasty spear, and the Kings decided to start openly mugging Bears forwards.
The Bears didn’t get drawn into the Kings’ style of play, letting their opponents hand them powerplay after powerplay. As the Bears capitalized with three more powerplay goals, two by Goberis and one from Logan Milliken, the Kings went ballistic, arguing calls, throwing questionable hits and generally losing their cool.
Christos Zinis and Terrance McLean put the final two nails in the Kings’ coffin, as the team’s offence has caught fire right before the playoffs.
Head coach Bill Doherty was thrilled with the play of his team. Playing their third game in three nights, the day after clinching a playoff berth, they had every reason to take a night off – but instead they emerged with a character win. Between periods, he asked them to stand up to Strathmore, but stay disciplined, and the strategy worked.
“When you become intimidated, you lose your skill. We asked our guys to be more gritty, to execute, be disciplined and tough,” Doherty said. “Certainly being undisciplined contributed to (the Kings) downfall, but we executed on our power play.”
The Bears went 4-17 on the power play, struggling with a new formation early in the game. In the third, they went back to a traditional set-up, which earned them three powerplay markers.
“Our power play has been struggling. We’ve been trying new things on it, and the guys haven’t got the new details down yet, but we went back to basics, and it clicked,” Doherty said.
The Bears will play either the 23-10-3 Cochrane Generals or 22-12-2 Okotoks Oilers in the playoffs, which will be determined next week. After their traditional slow start, the team is on a small roll at the right time of year.
“We’ve gotten better and better all year. This is a really good step. It means we want to keep getting better,” Doherty said.
The Bears play Okotoks at the Fenlands on Saturday (Feb. 7).
