The Jasper Local March 1, 2016 by The Jasper Local

a lt e r n at i v e +

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thejasperlocal.com

LOCAL + independent

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tuesday, march 1, 2016 // ISSUE 68

Local survives close call with avalanche One of Jasper’s most experienced mountaineers is in hospital in edmonton after getting caught in a size three avalanche on February 28.

SNOWBOARDER VIT SARSE 50-50S THE HAND RAIL AT THE MALIGNE LAKE BOATHOUSE ON A STUNNER OF A DAY IN MID-FEBRUARY. // LADA BULHAROWITCH

Dana Ruddy was evacuated by helicopter from the Portal Creek area in Jasper’s Tonquin Valley after he triggered, and was subsequently buried in, a large avalanche, The Jasper Local has learned. Ruddy, a born-andraised Jasperite, was dug out of the avalanche debris by his friend and skiing partner, Sean Elliott, who then skied out for help. Suffering extensive

injuries to his leg and chest area, Ruddy was air-lifted to an awaiting ambulance via Parks Canada rescue officials. He was then transported to Edmonton. A STARS helicopter could not fly due to poor weather, The Jasper Local has learned. On February 28, Jasper National Park public safety officials reported that avalanche conditions were considerable above treeline, with a risk of persistent weak layers causing potential slab avalanches. The size three avalanche triggered by Ruddy had a 1.5 metre crown, observers said. b covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

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editorial //

page A2 // the jasper local // issue 68 // tuesday, march 1, 2016

Local Vocal Like the arctic, alpine regions provide humans with a picture of global warming that cannot be mistaken.

Whether it’s falling glaciers, increased numbers of pine beetle or a drier, shallower snowpack, climate change phenomena are highly visible in Jasper National Park. What’s not always visible is the danger that lurks beneath the surface of our wild landscapes. This was brought home recently as one of Jasper’s most-respected skiers and mountain travellers was caught in a large, potentially-deadly avalanche. This close call should make our local outdoor community take pause and remember that while the mountains give us so much, they can just as quickly take it all away. In discussing the incident with a local snow expert, we reflected on the fact that the Tonquin Valley only recently opened to skiing, and therefore avalanche safety experts and local shredders alike have only lately been able to assess the terrain there. An entire season’s worth a path that Ontario blazed. In Not long ago, the provincial of snowpack problems lie under the surface, but Ontario, every coal plant has been government announced that it because of delayed access closures for caribou closed, including facilities that will close the province’s coal-fired conservation, snow studiers haven’t been able to electrical plants, even the Keephills had recently been equipped with poke around and get a feel for the area’s inherent facility at Wabamun. Opened in 2011, advanced anti-pollution technology. dangers. Keephills was quickly tagged as one To facilitate its initiative, Ontario This is not to dilute or pass off the responsibilities signed contracts with renewable of the cleanest and most advanced backcountry skiers must always be mindful of, energy companies to generate facilities of its kind in the world. rather a reminder that micro data for all other electricity from sources like The irony is that even as Alberta delayed access zones is, similarly, incomplete. wind and solar at rates that were was announcing the closure of our For the short term, at least, experts won’t have far above market prices. At the coal plants, more than 2,400 new much to go on when it comes to making in-depth same time, a tax called a global coal-fired facilities were being built analyses on popular touring areas such as the or planned worldwide. Due to clean adjustment was tacked onto Bald Hills and Jeffreys’ Creek. coal technologies, these new plants electrical bills so consumers would This puts more responsibility in the hands of the emit as much as 90 per cent fewer pay for the extra costs. user—a tricky balance when it comes to managing pollutants than plants from the 1970s. Ontario’s Auditor General says insurance policies, but a better bet for you and I Alberta is now headed down over an eight-year period, electrical if we can accept that the buck stops at our own boots. The Jasper Local // Jasper’s independent alternative newspaper Just like you are responsible for your own 780.852.9474 • thejasperlocal.com • po box 2046, jasper ab, t0e 1e0 footwear while taking a DIY exploration of an ice-filled canyon, you are likewise on your own Published on the 1st and 15th of each month when it comes to strapping on skis and skins Editor / Publisher and making those Maligne Valley turns you’ve Bob Covey..........................................................................................bob@thejasperlocal.com been dreaming about since November 1. There Art Director Nicole Gaboury........................................................................nicole@thejasperlocal.com is information available, yes, but it is up to you Advertising + sales how you choose to weigh it and apply it to your Rachel Bailey..............................................................................rachel@thejasperlocal.com decision making. cartoonist Let’s not have any more near misses this winter, deke......................................................................................................deke@thejasperlocal.com Jasper. That last one was too close for comfort.

Anti-coal initiative will cost us

bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

facebook.com/thejasperlocal

@thejasperlocal

Local safety //

tuesday, march 1, 2016 // issue 68 // the jasper local// page A3

Canyon fall highlights hazards leading into the canyon. He struck his head and landed face down in a pool of water. “He was half submerged, he was in shock,” she said. While Turnbull and Waller On Saturday, February 27, attended to the fallen man, hiking and interpretive getting help from two of guide Alicia Waller was their clients who were leading a group of ice trained emergency medical walkers through Maligne Canyon when she heard her technicians, a third Sun Dog Tours guide, Chuck Cantlie, fellow guide, Ted Turnbull, scrambled up the canyon alerting members of his own group to an emergency. to call local emergency services personnel. When “I came around the corner Parks Canada public and saw Ted was helping safety members arrived, someone on the ground,” the assembled guides and Waller said. “The man was volunteers assisted to put the unconscious and had a injured man on a stretcher head injury. He was pretty and lift him out of the banged up.” canyon. The man, who was not part “We all kind of caterpillared of a guided tour, had fallen 20 metres down an icy ramp this guy across the log bridge where you normally access A 25-year-old was sent to hospital after falling down an icy slope in Maligne Canyon.

letter cont. //

consumers in that province overpaid for electricity by $37 billion. The same report says they’ll overpay by an additional $130 billion over the next 16 years. Ontario now has the highest industrial electrical rates in North America. It’s forcing key manufacturers (heavy electrical users) to move elsewhere, costing jobs and investment. Alberta’s Notley government doesn’t yet know how much its electrical policy is going to cost us. No one knows. We only know it

the canyon,” Waller said. The man was taken to awaiting paramedics and driven to hospital by ambulance. Waller, who has been guiding tours in Maligne Canyon for 10 years, said she sees people exploring the canyon without the proper gear on a daily basis. Parks Canada signage alerts people to the dangers of descending the icy slopes without proper ice cleats on their feet, but people either don’t notice the warnings or choose to ignore them, she said. “Right now the trails are so slick,” Waller said. “People take it for granted, they think there’s all those tourists in there that it must be safe.” bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

won’t be cheap. These past few years, many of us have watched the transmission charges on our electrical bills climb. Some of us fidget over these charges. Now that the new Notley electrical policy has been announced, rather than be alarmed about these increases, maybe we should instead see them as installments, giving us a mere taste of the massive increases that are yet to come. Stuart Taylor, Hinton SISTERS MEG AND LIZ MARKULIN WERE TWO OF APPROXIMATELY 80 JASPERITES TO EXPERIENCE THE MYANMAR GALA AT THE JASPER LEGION ON FEBRUARY 18. THE EVENT RAISED MORE THAN $6,000 FOR SCHOOLS IN MYANMAR. A GOURMET DINNER, SUPER SILENT AUCTION, LIVE MUSIC AND MULTI-MEDIA PRESENTATION HIGHLIGHTED THE NIGHT.//B COVEY

Local adventure //

page B1 // the jasper local // issue 68 // tuesday, march 1, 2016

Warm winter, terrible trail building Unusually warm winter weather has been convenient for get ting around Jasper, but it’s created the opposite scenario for outfit ters trying to access the backcountry of Jasper National Park.

Wall and a group

Wall said.

of volunteers use

Snowmobile access

snowmobiles to

to Wall’s backcoun-

pack a trail for

try lodge is via the

skiers and for

Astoria River. In

resupply trips.

a typical year, by

Typically, the

February, enough

mission takes no

snow has fallen

more than a few

that there are snow

hours. This year,

bridges over the two

Whether you call it climate change or El

it took 13.

climate change makes for Tough sledding // supplied

dozen or so river

Nino, Gilbert Wall and his crew of trail pack-

“We were dealing

ers were calling it much worse than that as

with conditions we

they creeped, crawled, swam and slogged

normally have during the first part of April,”

snow bridges; Wall and his team had to build

through solar-affected snow in the Tonquin

Wall said. “There were sections where we

Valley February 16.

were literally walking side by side for a hun-

“That was a tough one, it was the hardest trip

dred metres, shovelling the trail.”

I can remember,” Wall said a few days later.

Baked rotten by warm temperatures, the

Wall owns and operates one of two back-

snow was faceted and isothermal. Instead

their own from wood. “I was as pooped as I can be,” he laughed. While the warm winter weather in 2016 could likely shorten the outfitting season, climate change is affecting the Tonquin Valley in other ways, too. The ice loss on the face of the Ramparts has been exponential over the past few years, Wall has observed, and alpine meadows that were once open vistas are being overrun with spruce trees. “There are huge growth shoots on the spruce trees which are more like valley growth,” Wall said. “People who’ve been coming into the Tonquin for years can’t believe how little of the views they can see compared to be-

there were no such

country lodges un-

of gliding on top of

derneath the iconic

the snow, the sleds

Rampart Mountains, 19

plunged down into

km into the renowned

it, causing the team

alpine mecca, the Ton-

innumerable stops

quin Valley. Typically,

and starts as they

as soon as the tape lifts

tunnelled their way

on the delayed access

into the Tonquin.

zones in Jasper National Park (implemented for caribou conservation),

spruce trees in the Tonquin are coming up quicker than ever, observers say.// Bob Covey

crossings. This year,

“As soon as you stopped, you sunk,”

fore.” bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

Local community //

tuesday, march 1, 2016 // issue 68 //the jasper local// page B2

Cora Henderson was practicing her Lutzes on the ice shelves of the Athabasca River Feb 20// Bob Covey

Month long pyjama panorama Submit your PJ photo and win The Jasper Local and Find The Common Thread are teaming up to create a photo contest for Jasperites. Pyjama Day brings supporters of those with Auto Immune Disease together for a day of raising awareness, money and hope for a better quality of life for millions of people living with AI disease. This year, for the month of March, The Jasper Local wants supporters to submit their photos of pyjama-clad Jasperites in action. Pyjama Day has turned into an annual celebration of overcoming

debilitating diseases and bringing out hundreds of Jasperites to show their support for those affected by AI disease. The brainchild of Jasperite Marta Rode, who was diagnosed with Wegener’s granulomatosis, on the last day of February participants wear their PJs to work and school to show support for those who often are in too much pain to leave the house. “One in five people are affected by auto immune diseases,” Rode said. “We need to unite as a group and show the world who it’s actually hitting.”

Four years ago, Rode started Find the Common Thread to bring AI sufferers under the same banner. Today, she continues to united hundreds of sufferers and supporters. To enter the photo contest, email a high-quality (1MB or larger) photo to editor@ thejasperlocal.com with the subject: PJ Contest. Points will be awarded for creativity and composition. Winners will be announced in the April 1 edition of The Jasper Local. Deadline is March 25.

Arts ambassadors in search of local poets Calling all poets, bards, wordsmiths and lyricists. Together with the Habitat for the Arts, Jasper’s mayor is seeking a local laureate of sorts, a troubadour to participate in the annual Mayor’s Poetry Challenge. “It’s an opportunity to make people aware of another side of artistry that sometimes lies hidden in the community,” Mayor Dick Ireland said. It’s also an opportunity to step up to Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi’s challenge; for the second year in a row, Nenshi is throwing down the poetry gauntlet to mayors across Canada. “The creative industries in Canada are an important part of what makes our country a great place to live,” said Nenshi in a press release. Mayor Ireland has been known to occasionally wax poetic himself. He’s regaled audiences at the town Christmas party and recited sonnets at the annual Fireman’s Ball. “I’m more of a Robert Service type,” he laughed. On March 2, Jasper’s Habitat for the Arts is asking versifiers and rhymesters

of all types to join together at an open mic night at the SnowDome Coffee Bar. A panel will select a poet to represent the community at a future council meeting. “We’re looking for a Jasper writer to bring prose, poems, thoughts, journals or songs,” said the Habitat’s Marianne Garrah. “There’s no specific theme or subject matter. It’s wide open.” Besides the delight of reading their poem at council and taking home a small honorarium, the winner will have the opportunity to show their art to a very unique audience, Garrah said. “It’s a way to link national recognition for their art form and to express themselves in an uncommon venue.” Ireland, who as a lawyer and a speechmaker surely appreciates a condensed verse, said poetry is a fine form of articulation. “It forces people to get creative and succinct at the same time,” he said. Poets interested in the Poetry Challenge should attend the openmic at the SnowDome Coffee Bar, March 2 at 7 p.m. bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

// N Gaboury

page b3+B4 // the jasper local // issue 68 // tuesday, march 1, 2016

LOCAL FEATURE // STORY BY CORY WALLACE

PHOTOS BY JASON BE

JASPERITE CORY WALLA HAVE THE RACE OF HI WIN THE 24 HOUR WO CYCLING CHAMPION Going into the 24 Hour World Solo Championships in New Zealand I knew it would take the race of my life to defeat six time World Champion Jason English from Australia. I had that race and I am still shocked at what went down in Rotorua during those 24 hours.

pit stop and try to gap Jason there. It w second gap on English heading out of part of the course which contained the bit bigger but somehow my friend fou back by the end of the lap. I couldn’t b the effort and I knew it was going to b

For the next eight hours we would tak usually just after the pits and myself o seem to matter what either of us did, h grit his teeth a little harder and close t ing were shocking and I was concerne Having finished eight previous 24 hours races, all containing some sort of to hit. I could envision me falling into massive meltdown, I had always dreamt of having a race in which the body in need of rescue by the medics. Surpr fired properly for the whole 24 hours. I told myself I would keep racing with four hours to go I noticed Jason w 24 hours events until I had that ride. On February 20-21, that ride finally another big effort on the fire road and came. My support team of Tarren Sohier, Jason Beacham and Justin Price came together the day of the race and the four of us melted into a welloiled machine, keeping the average pit stops around 15 seconds. English pitted a bit faster, but he is a mongrel. THIS KICKED Feeling fresh on the first lap I pushed the pace a bit to test out the field. I felt strong but the course was pretty simple and had nothing selective in it physically or technically to split the field apart and eight or 10 of us rolled through the start/finish together. At this point I knew it was going to be a long race of patience and consistency on the flowing trails so I backed off the throttle to settle into diesel mode for a while. For the next 10 hours I rolled around the course between fourth and sixth position with Adrian Retief from New Zealand as the keeners went off the front at a pretty mental pace. It was a cruisy ride as the course wound its way through some thick green New Zealand foliage with massive silver ferns lining the course. The setting reminded me of Jurassic Park and I kept expecting a velociraptor to jump out of the forest at some point. Just after midnight the time splits were starting to near 15 minutes to the lead duo of Jason English and Swedish rider Tobias Lestrell. This set off an alarm; if it grew much bigger the race would slip away. Normally 1 to 4 a.m. is meltdown time as the body starts to tire after 13 hours of racing and the mind starts to wander into a sleep-deprived daze. Knowing it was going to be rough no matter what, I decided to crank the throttle wide open in an attempt to get back up to the leaders and try to build some momentum to carry through the night. The lighting system from Radical Lights allowed me to put down the fastest night laps of the race and by 4 a.m. I had worked my way up to Jason English in the lead. Tobias had been riding strong but unfortunately suffered a crash, losing time and energy. The other guys in the top five seemed to be slipping a bit, feeling the effects of their early efforts. It was a welcome sight, then, to finally see English’s Australian jersey in front of me. Not wanting to stir the resting giant, I opted to hide my existence by stopping for a pee, refuelling the body and then trying to attack him at the base of the only climb on the course, a three minute little burner. Blowing by English at the base of the climb, I managed to gain a small gap but he would slowly close it on the endless flowing single track which followed and soon we were back together. This kicked off the next 10 hours of what was the hardest battle of my life. The 17.3 km laps contained 15.5 km of singletrack and 1.8 km of fireroad. It became clear pretty early I was riding stronger on the fireroad sections, and English maybe a bit more consistently on the rest of the course (and also pitting slightly faster). Unable to drop him out on course, as I approached the pit late in the night I told Tarren that next lap I was going to roll the

OFF THE NEXT 10 HOURS OF WHAT WAS THE HARDEST BATTLE OF MY LIFE.

ing I figured I had to be gaining on hi body was exhausted but feeling good, and not quite firing at 100 per cent an someone closing in. At one point I loo ing up, smashing his pedals just off m guy close that gap, he hasn’t ridden th in he’s finding another gear? I looked another counter attack his way. We we

For the next lap we cruised together, b

feature //

EACHAM

ACE HAD TO IS LIFE TO ORLD SOLO NSHIPS

worked brilliantly as we gained a 10 f the pits. Burying myself on the first e fireroad sections, the gap grew a und another gear and clawed his way believe the guy could come back from be a race to the end at this point.

ke turns attacking each other, Jason on the climbs and fire roads. It didn’t however, as the other guy would just the gap. The speeds we were reached a massive meltdown was going o the thick foliage, twitching out and risingly, that never happened and was looking a bit shaky. I put down d gapped him good, maybe just over

had another problem growing too, as my bladder was ready to explode. I asked Jason if he wanted a neutral pee stop. He was fine and said no but offered to ride slowly and wait while I did my business. It was a piss that would have made a camel proud, but Jason stuck to his word and pretty soon I was back to within five to seven seconds of his wheel as we both hit a long rolling descent. As we we were refuelling, we approached a small drop off. Hitting it slower then usual, my front wheel snagged a root and I found myself being launched 10 feet down a steep sidehill into an entanglement of ferns and plants. It would’ve hurt like hell but the thick foliage broke my fall. Unfortunately, it also made it hard to get out of the mess. I probably lost close to minute getting back up to the trail. I had some work to do and chased down Jason for the next half lap, finally catching him, but he would soon put in a small effort to separate himself as he could likely sense I was a bit tired from the chase. He extended the gap by a few more seconds in the pits and all of a sudden he was just out of sight.

Now it was go time but unfortunately the body was battling a low point. I dropped a few minutes this lap and had 3.5 minutes to make up heading into the final lap. Yelling and dumping water down my back, I tried everything to find any ounce of adrenaline or energy left in the body and pretty soon found myself cruising really well and getting momentum back. I’ve had laps like this before in past 24 hours and had caught whoever I was chasing and figured that unless Jason was riding out of his mind I would surely be gaining ground. There was also another race on the line: if I could come in before noon there would be an overtime lap to decide the title. Everything was being sent on this lap to get in before the cut-off. I’m not sure what would’ve happened on the next lap if I actually made it as my body “The thick foliage reminded me of Jurassic park. I kept expecting a velociraptor to jump out of the forest at some point.” was in a surreal state. Too bad for me, Jason is a monster and he was also having an adrenaline-fuelled lap. He put down one of his fastest laps of the a minute. I thought that if I whole race and even extended his lead by 30 seconds. Fighting the clock laid every ounce of energy now, I came in 40 seconds past the noon cut-off time and thus ended my into the pedals to increase bid for my first World Title. the gap I would give Jason his first 24 hour loss in seven It’s been an emotional roller coaster the past few days, being so close to years. The speed I was goone of my major cycling goals yet coming up short, but also having the im. It was a crazy sensation as the satisfaction of riding the best 24 hour race of my life and having reached , although the legs were pretty numb farther and deeper than ever before. I’m content with the effort and nymore. I kept getting glimpses of the race which occurred and keep reminding myself that Jason oked back and saw the beast standmy wheel. WTF? How the hell did that specializes in 24 hour racing and is the best the sport has ever seen, while I try to wing one once a year around my normal racing schedhat strong all race but now 20 hours ule. There was a lot learned during this battle and the limits my mind for another gear myself and fired used to set on my body have been stretched. That being said there is ere both riding in a crazy state. a gutted feeling right now and some unfinished business which I look both screwed but trying to hide it. I forward to taking care of in the future. CW

Guided Splitboard Festival March 4 - 6, 2016 • • • • •

2 days of guided splitboard touring with ACMG guides. Demos and rental splitboards are available. Beginner, intermediate and advanced group levels. At your pace with one on one opportunities with your guide. Friday kickoff + Saturday night fundraising social.

page B5 // the jasper local // issue 68 // tuesday, march 1, 2016

Local housing //

fat tire biking on MEdicine Lake. // Erin Reade

Jasper living space: the final frontier Transitioning to smaller units may help with vacancy rate, but only if seniors want to move Fifty years ago, Jasper’s Bob Dowling wanted to build a co-operative housing unit. He didn’t call it that at the time, but the idea was to build an owner-occupied apartment style block. He and a group of his fellow residents, most of whom had young families, wanted to alleviate the housing crunch in Jasper. Ultimately, the proposal fell through; the young families couldn’t come up with the money. But the problem remains. “Accommodation has been an issue forever,” said Dowling, who’s 92 this year.

If Dowling has experience thinking creatively to house staff, he’s also somewhat of an expert on the limited accommodation choices Jasper seniors have when they retire. Bob and his wife Olga still live in their four-bedroom Geikie Street bungalow, but if they had an option to downsize to something smaller, they would, he said.

“It would be ideal accommodations for somebody who wanted it for staff, it’s too big for a B&B,” he said.

“We’d be in there tomorrow,” he said.

Having said that, Dowling knows that there are hundreds of potential rooms out there—they’re in the family-sized bungalows, like his, which are occupied by seniors who don’t have an option to downsize‚ or, in some cases, don’t want to.

Moreover, the Dowlings home is perfect for a business owner wanting to rent to their staff.

“There was nowhere else to live,” he laughed. “And when things were built, they were completely occupied, immediately.”

This past month, the Municipality of Jasper’s Housing Corporation has also been attempting to make inroads on the housing crunch. Focusing on staff accommodation and seniors housing, officials are gathering interested parties to define and design solutions to the shortfall.

One local senior told The Jasper Local that she’ll stay in her home until she’s no longer able. In her 80s, she entertains family and friends in her two storey home, but as a widow, lives alone. “I wouldn’t leave this place for all the tea in China,” she said. Dowling, who served as the Minister of Business Development and Tourism during his 10-year career in Alberta politics from 1969-79, knows that it’s going to take collaboration from all stakeholders to make progress on staff and seniors housing in Jasper. But he also knows that if there’s a will, there’s a way.

“The lack of housing for staff has an impact on business,” said Mark Fercho, CAO of the municipality. “It’s time to get something done.” Dowling agrees with that sentiment; he would have agreed five decades ago, too. The retired pharmacist remembers having to put staff up in a garage. “There was nowhere else to live,” he laughed. “And when things were built, they were completely occupied, immediately.”

Jasper’s housing market is unique: a finite number of parcels and seemingly infinite demand means space is at a premium. A peek at local real estate prices confirms as much.

// Bob and Olga Dowling in their Geikie Street home. The couple says they’d happily downsize if seniors housing was available in Jasper. // Bob Covey

“The Housing Committee have done a fabulous job of bringing this to the fore,” he said. “What stands out to me are the number of people waiting in line [for seniors housing], and the number of people coming up.” bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

Local hockey //

tuesday, march 1, 2016 // issue 68 // the jasper local// page B6

March madness: Your JHL Playoff Preview The JHL playoffs are upon us. it Seems like only yesterday that the 2015/16 season shot out of the gates, but as we cruise into March it is time once again to take a look at the playoff contenders and the pretenders; those with puck luck and those out-of-luck; the playmakers and the pylons…the...you get the idea.

BARLEY KINGS

It’s hard not to think the Barley Kings aren’t the favourites once again, but depending on who makes it to the rink down the stretch, they might not be as much of a lock as in previous years. They’ve still got a high-powered offence and grinders galore, but if Alex Derksen is stuck up in Fort McMurray for the playoffs, you’ll start to see some chinks in the armour. They’ll likely breeze into the A-side, but don’t be shocked if once there they see some competition. There’s a lot to be said for big game experience, however, and this team has more of it than any other.

BEAVERS

It’s been a frustrating season for the Beavers. Players who anchored the team’s incredible playoff run to the 2015 finals left town before the season started. New recruits haven’t been able to shirk their jobs on game nights and injuries have plagued many of those who remain. The long and short is that the Beavers are happy if they can get 10 guys out to the rink. Goalie Ryan Verge is the JHL’s busiest keeper but even he can’t stop 50 shots every outing. Look for a rebuild next year.

BONESTARS

With the addition of Troy Valcourt and CNer Adam Tomkow, the Bonestars are the team that should put the biggest scare in the current champs. They’ve got a solid blue line, sniping prowess, size, speed and grit. Plus their goalie, Cole Worsfold, is lights-out. Like the Barley Kings, the Bonestars’ core have been

playing hockey together for a generation; their individual talents are many, but when they play as a team, they’re almost impossible to stop. For the last two years they have watched the finals from the sidelines. They want very much to end that pattern this year.

BONGS

Last year it seemed like any team could smoke the Bongs. This season, however, they’re the ones toking…er, taking, it to their opponents. Improvements up front have added to their speed and their ability to put the puck in the net. On the point, young Jake Delorme is a powerful guy with a long reach and a heavy shot. The Bongs have always been a team that thrives on momentum; if they have it, they’re tough

if they can keep their head in the game and bury the biscuit, they might catch the veteran teams off-guard.

JETS

The Jets are a team who have a few players that can make you look silly, but who likely lack the depth to make a serious threat to the more established franchises. They’ve got good wheels, can score in bursts and they’re way better than they were last year, however, they don’t yet have the passing game that makes the Bonestars or Barley Kings, for example, so consistently deadly. That’s not to say that if the Jets get a few bounces they can’t find their way into the BFinal. They’re the definite underdogs, which in high pressure games, can work out for a team.

OUTLAWS

The Jasper Midget bearcats’ Bryn Malcolm crashes into the net Feb 27. The ‘cats won their first playoff game 5-3 but then lost on the road 5-2 in a shootout. Goal differential determines the series winner.//b covey

to play against. If they don’t, they can self-destruct. Few clubs are as diverse—three females grace the roster—or as passionate. Don’t count them out.

HAWKS

The revamped Hawks might not have the experience of other JHL teams but they’ve got plenty of drive. Aggressive on the puck and with explosive speed, their x-factor might be their newness. Most JHLers know what to expect from the teams who are long in the tooth; being a retooled squad, the Hawks could very easily take other clubs by surprise. More than a few of their players know how to get to the net and

Outlaw Victor Vassalo pretty much epitomizes his entire team: just when you think you’ll easily take the puck away from him, he dangles through your legs and roofs it over your goalie’s glove hand. The Outlaws come across as kind of rag-tag and half-hearted, but then they put together a big league sequence that makes you wonder, if they could get Adam Newton fired up, would he be the nastiest power forward in the JHL? Known less for their hands and more for their sticks, The Outlaws know as well as any team that the battles in the playoffs are won along the boards. They’re happy to meet you there.

ROYALS

The Royals have something like 140 players on their roster, including the only Mexican in the JHL, so it’s difficult to evaluate them on any given night and expect your analysis to hold up. That said, whichever team they put out there is typically rock solid; the problem is, with such a huge lineup, it’s often tough for guys to get enough ice time to get into the game. They’ve got power and toughness in spades, an athletic goalie in Cam Vos and a good mix of veterans and youth to challenge any opponents. However, unless the Royals start making cuts, they might have too many cooks in the kitchen to get into the A final. Psst—the Beavers need players! bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

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bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com