Palmer steals a shutout despite defensemen deficit

From only drawing two penalties, to outshooting the Regina Cougars, and finally, a Tyler Palmer shutout — you couldn’t have asked for a more boring game from the Golden Bears hockey team on January 17.

The Bears’ 4-0 win — Palmer’s second shutout of the season — was exactly what the team needed to stay conference leaders while battling the domino of injuries faced these past few months.

But when you play a bottom of the pack team just 15 minutes after a late scratch from your last defensemen standing, you have to appreciate the timing. Joel Sexsmith’s abrupt absence meant a five-man defensive lineup for a team already a blue-liner short, against the lowest ranked team in Canada West.

“It gave [Marc Lajoie and Elias Carmichael, two left-side defensemen] a chance to get a little bit more ice time than normal, and they were good. They were effective. They led our offence. They contributed to our goals. They were strong on pucks. They made good decisions. When those two are playing well, we’re a difficult team to play against,” head coach Ian Herbers said.

An open blue line? No big deal

There’s a running theme in Herbers’ words — the Bears, well offensive leaders, have secured the back end.

Palmer earned his fifth straight win and now leads Canada West with a 1.84 goals against average. As a rookie goaltender, and the Bears’ de facto starter, his playoff-practice is starting to lead the team.

“He’s making some big saves at key times. He’s comfortable back there and he’s poised. And plays with confidence that just rubs off on the rest of the team,” Herbers said.

That “confidence” saw an over-worked Aidan de la Gorgendiere take a goal and assist in Friday night’s win. Now leading the Bears with 29 points in 21 games as a defensemen, de la Gorgendiere made it look like the team was at full capacity.

Bears learn some discipline and capitalize on the special teams

Thanks to one less penalty minute, the Bears fell from the number one penalized team in Canada West to a slightly better second slot. For a season long issue — they’ll take it.

With so much practice, the Bears’ penalty kill — an otherwise offensive unit led by Brett Hyland and Sean Tschigerl — has secured the team short-handed. But it’s nice to see them reel it in a bit.

“There’s been way too many penalties and way too many guys penalty killing. We want to make sure we clean that up. But on the other side of it, I thought our penalty kill was very good the other weekend against Calgary, and was a game changer for us for scoring those two shorties on Saturday. So our penalty kill has to be good, but we can’t be overusing it,” according to Herbers.

He has a point.

Instead, the Bears need to focus on drawing more penalties and capitalizing on the man-advantage. Something like Ty Nash’s power play goal perhaps?

Bears’ offence shows growth in off the radar areas

Aside from the power play, Nash also stole 50 per cent of Friday night’s goals. Not bad for a fourth line forward, now at 14 points in 20 games. On any other team, we’d probably talk about this more.

But did he steal Adam Hall’s thunder in his first game back? Perhaps.

“For the most part, Hall kept it simple and moved his feet. When he does that, he’s effective. He tried to take pucks to the net. Played as a big body, and that’s where he needs to play,” Herbers said.

Hall now joins his brother, Justin Hall and Sam Popowich on a second line looking to find some chemistry heading into game two against the Cougars on January 18.