Golden Bears hockey makes a comeback in playoff preview weekend

On November 29 and the 30 the Golden Bears hockey team played the Mount Royal Cougars in their only regular season matchup. Each team led their respective divisions and had five of the top seven scorers in Canada West.

Heading into the weekend, Bears captain Josh Prokop was looking to get the team “back on track” after a couple rough games.

“They’re obviously huge games, so we need to be ready to go for them and end of the first half [of the season] right,” Prokop said.

That was a bit tough considering Sean Tschigerl was out with a concussion, putting a final nail into the coffin of the once powerful Prokop, Tschigerl, and Brett Hyland line. With Hyland and Tschigerl both out, the Bears were missing their top two goal scorers.

A disappointing first period led to a disproportionate first game

It was an immediate bad start to game one when Ty Nash got a five minute major and ejection for head contact and game misconduct. This added to a brutal ten minutes for the Bears which saw three goals against. Nash’s ejection ultimately led to a weekend suspension.

The team ended the first in a 3-0 deficit only to score within the first minute of the second period. What most wouldn’t give to know is what head coach Ian Herbers said in that locker room to light a fire under those players. But for the most part, it worked.

The Bears came into the second with an immediate improvement in terms of blocking shots, puck possession, and speed. This created two very evenly matched teams to end the game. Almost too evenly matched, as all players on both teams stepped up. The game ultimately ended in the same three goal margin it started in.

Throughout the game, the Bears continued to draw penalties at a disproportionate rate. The Bears drew four penalty minutes while taking nine, and are now considered one of the most penalized teams in the league.

The Bears came into game two with something to prove

It was a surprising start to the game when Herbers split up the star defensive lineup of Aidan de la Gorgendiere and Marc Lajoie. But hey, it worked.

“I think we were just looking for a spark, and we got that,” goalie Tyler Palmer said.

The Bears later scored on both special teams, creating a 3-0 lead for the Bears to end the first. An interesting parallel from the night before. Even stronger of a parallel was the goal scored by the Cougars in the first minute of the second period.

Heading into the third, the Cougars secured an early goal only to give up two in the next five minutes after another dominant power play by the Bears. Overall, both teams struggled to get ahead of each other, resulting in static five-on-five playing.

With a 5-2 score, the Bears ended the weekend in a constant three goal differential against the Cougars.

Playoff preview final thoughts

The Bears have finally gotten their special teams up to where they need to be. With a 24.2 per cent power play and a 71.8 per cent penalty kill, the Bears are in the top four for Canada West on the special teams.

In terms of drawing penalties, the teams did a complete flip. The Cougars took seven penalties compared to the Bears’ five for game two. Definitely an improvement from game one.

With such different outcomes for both games, it might be be difficult to determine how these teams will play during playoffs. But maybe not that much.

The Bears’ loss on Friday night was a result of a brutal ten minutes that let in three goals. But they played a good game after that, only giving the Cougars an empty net goal. Conversely, the Bears were able to score throughout the whole game on Saturday.

Assuming the Bears don’t give up anymore bad periods, they’re in pretty good shape to take the playoff win.

“Both teams have the potential to win on any given night and the skill level on both sides is very similar. In a playoff series, it will come down to whoever makes the least mistakes,” Hyland said.