Golden Bears crack the code in Battle of Alberta

“Start the bus, start the bus, start the bus!” was the only thing you could hear as the Golden Bears hockey team secured the weekend sweep over the Calgary Dinos on January 10 and 11 in their only Battle of Alberta of the regular season.

Excitement was high as the Bears clinched a Canada West play-off spot, in an atmosphere so loud you’d think it was the post-season. And frankly, what a weekend. The Bears finally started to embody the team they were early in the season, and then some.

“I thought our guys had a great weekend,” head coach Ian Herbers said.

Third line scoring turns into a whole team effort

After the power presence that came from Brett Hyland, Sean Tschigerl, and Captain Josh Prokop one month into the season, it seemed like third line scoring would lead the Bears. The same tone echoed on Friday night when Hyland, Tschigerl, and Connor McClennon combined for four goals and eight points in a 7-3 victory.

But Saturday’s 5-1 win came from at least one goal on every forward line but the starting, and an assist to every defensive pairing.

“A lot of guys contributed. It just wasn’t one line, one person. Different people stepped up. So really good on all lines,” Herbers said.

It seems Herbers has cracked the code, and we’re starting to see just how dominant all the Bears can be — not just a select few. Barring any injuries, this looks to be a preview of potential play-off lines.

“Guys maybe get a little cold or hot, or whatever the case is. So sure, there’ll be a shuffle or two left, but for the most part, we got a good mix and good pairings.”

Palmer feels the love in extra game

In the name of injuries, goaltender Ethan Kruger is out day-to-day, opening the door for Tyler Palmer to double his ice-time over the next few games. As the best goaltender in Canada West, it’s not necessarily a bad thing.

“It’s not something I’ve done in a while but definitely not my first time. I played quite a few back-to-backs in [major] juniors and even a few three in threes. I did enjoy playing both games though, and the team played great this weekend and made my job a lot easier,” Palmer said.

Maybe hearing “Paalllllmmmeeerrr” throughout the second and third, chanted at Dinos goalie, Carl Tetachuk, helped a little too.

“It’s definitely much easier to feel energized when the crowd is engaged like that.”

But the best way to get a crowd going? Fighting.

Golden Bears seem undisciplined, but it worked

To really understand how just physical this weekend series was, imagine two referees and an opposing player pulling Marc Lajoie out of a fight. Now that was something to watch.

The Bears totalled 51 penalty minutes over the weekend, and while we’d typically remark on how undisciplined the team played, in this case, it wasn’t such a bad thing.

“We were a little undisciplined. On the bright side, our penalty kill was very good and we were able to turn our kills into momentum,” Lajoie, with his own 10-minute misconduct, said.

In a power play that sucked the life out of Calgary, Herbers thought the same thing.

“When we had our penalty kill, it looked like it was five-on-five, or sometimes even our power play. So that’s the way I want our guys to lead. Playing assertive. On their toes.”

He’s not wrong. With two wins and a shorthanded goal by Tschigerl, it was a pretty perfect weekend — almost.

Prokop’s point streak ends

The only stain in an otherwise perfect weekend was the end to Prokop’s eight game point-streak on January 11.

In what would have been his ninth-straight game, Prokop, and the rest of his leadership line, stayed off the score card, while forcing twice as many shots on goal over the Dinos.

But the Bears’ second line of Justin Hall, Alex Thacker, and Tyler Preziuso got all three stars of the game, totalling three goals and two assists — another example of how much other lines stepped up.