Virtually to a man, the Lloydminster Bobcats were as happy as teddy bears Saturday night as they left the Hub.
They had just tucked two points under the pillow, defeating the first-place Whitecourt Wolverines 2-1 on the Bobcats’ first Teddy Bear Toss night at Lloydminster’s new arena.
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The script took shape early in the second period when hometown captain Kade Fendelet evened the score with a power-play goal that prompted the pouring of a Bobcat-record number of charitable teddy bears onto the ice.
“A goal is a goal, but I’m happy to get that one,” said the 20-year-old Fendelet, who stepped up after missing the previous three games with an injury. “It feels a little better than most goals, I’d say.
“The Teddy Bear Toss is fun and everything, but it means a whole lot more if you’re able to win the game. It’s been a huge week for our team.”
It was Lloyd’s third victory in as many Alberta Junior Hockey League games, all against teams accompanying the Bobcats in the upper echelon of the North Division. The run includes two road victories over the Fort McMurray
Oil Barons (12-8-5) in overtime and a shootout, respectively, on back-to-back weekday nights last week.
After winning the weekend battle of the heavyweights, the second-place Bobcats (15-7-1) moved to within three points of Whitecourt (17-6) in the North and overall standings.
Seven weeks earlier, Lloyd skated into Whitecourt and whacked the Wolverines 7-3 in the teams’ only other meeting this season.
At home Saturday, the Bobcats delighted most of the 909 fans, many of whom scattered teddy bears across the ice after Fendelet’s sixth goal of the season. Tucker Robertson potted the winning goal six minutes later, with his seventh tally this year.
The AJHL’s second-leading scorer, Jalen Bianchet, put Whitecourt up 1-0 in the first period with his 26th goal and 41st point after 23 games in this still relatively young season.
The Bobcats outshot their guests 30-17 and kept Wolverines netminder Elliott Pratt on his toes. The man with the AJHL’s best goaltending numbers kicked out a string of pucks with his left skate, especially in the late going.
“We played an awesome game,” said Robertson, a Bobcats’ rookie forward. “Our goaltender (Ty Matonovich) really held us in it and our defencemen were unbelievable today. They were moving the puck, getting pucks out of our zone. Just an all-around good game.”
John MacNeil – Meridian Source
After reaping the maximum six points from three divisional games last week, the Bobcats were trending hot just as the Border City was turning cold, with -20 C temperatures Saturday evening.
“We lost two here at home on our family weekend, so we just wanted to get some retribution and get those six points out of the past three games,” said Robertson, an 18-year-old West Kelowna, B.C., native.
“We were hungry. We wanted to win. Two comeback wins in Fort Mac, and now we beat Whitecourt here.”
One of the constants in all those games was Matonovich, the 20-year-old goalie who just joined the Bobcats three weeks ago. He not only came close to securing his first AJHL shutout, but he also attempted to score a goal in the final minute, with Whitecourt’s net empty. From back of the Lloyd goal, he flipped the puck down the middle, and it went the distance but slid wide.
“I took a look, and said why not, I might as well go for it and see what happens,” Matonovich said as teammates chanted his name. “It was a little wide, but it was closer than I thought it would be.
“It was close to hitting something, but thank God, it made it down there. I thought it would be pretty cool if I did score.”
After that dramatic moment, the Bobcats called a timeout with 43 seconds left and proceeded to withstand a final push from the Wolverines.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling, beating them,” said Matonovich, a Calgarian who previously played in the Saskatchewan league. “They’re ranked high in Canada and the No. 1 team in our league. It’s a confidence-booster for myself and the rest of the team here. We’ve got to carry this high over to next week and, hopefully, just keep rolling with it.
“Some guys stepped up today that we needed to. I give full credit to our D-men. We had (Jaxan) Hopko out. But they stuck to it, all six of them, and they played unbelievably.”
It marked the first time this season that Hopko, a 19-year-old defenceman from Lloydminster, wasn’t in the Bobcats’ lineup. He was nursing an injury after taking a knee-on-knee hit Wednesday in the second game at Fort Mac.
“Yeah, kind of got hit weird on the knee, and just battling a lower-body injury right now,” Hopko said after Saturday’s game. “But I should be good to go next week.
“This was my first time watching a game in the Hub. It definitely was different. It was nice to see up close how many fans we get and the atmosphere. It was pretty cool. It was nice to talk with some of the fans here.”
During the past week, Lloyd welcomed back defenceman Quinn Keeler, who had been out of the lineup since late October, recovering from injury.
For the next five games, the Bobcats will be without coach Eric Labrosse and three of their key players — defenceman Esteban Cinq-Mars and forwards Matthew Hikida and Raphael Messier — as they represent Team Canada West in the World Junior A Hockey Challenge at Trois-Rivieres, Que.
“They’re really good players and great guys, and we’re missing our coach, so it’ll be a tough couple of games (without them), but I think we’ll be fine,” Robertson said. “We’ll just have to keep playing our roles. More guys get more ice time, and we’ll just fill in where we can and get some more points out of it.”
This weekend, the Bobcats are on the road for games against the Drayton Valley Thunder (7-13-2) on Friday and the Olds Grizzlys (8-15-2) on Saturday.
The latest win over Whitecourt was a statement game for Lloyd, which essentially considered it a four-point contest.
“This is the top team in the league and, right now, we beat ’em,” Hopko said. “We believe we can beat anyone in this league.
“We’re just going to finish strong, going into the Christmas break, and see how she goes.”
The maturing process in the first half has been illustrated in the likes of Robertson, who joined the Bobcats this year after playing U18 prep hockey at Okanagan Hockey Academy.
In his past 11 games, Robertson has scored seven goals and 12 points, after earning one assist in his first six appearances as a Bobcat.
“I owe a lot to my linemates,” said Robertson, who plays alongside Kael Screpnek and team-leading scorer Jadon Iyogun. “They’ve really helped me not be so scared to play junior hockey. Just really helping me find my game and helping them find theirs as well.
“It’s been really nice for me to pop in a couple of goals. It’s also a pretty nice way to get into it.”
On his winning goal Saturday, Robertson picked a corner after receiving what he described as “a beautiful pass to the slot” from Screpnek.
That play came shortly after a would-be goal from Bobcats forward Jack Ferguson was nullified because of what was deemed as goaltender interference.
Just moments earlier, Fendelet’s goal caused teddy bears to rain at the Hub for the first time in history.
After his Teddy Bear Toss heroics, Fendelet recalled that special night from seasons past at the Bobcats’ previous home rink, the Centennial Civic Centre.
“Last year, Daniel Zhou scored it and, the year before, I’m pretty sure it was one of my really good friends, Ben Aucoin,” he said about those two former Bobcats.
Fendelet, who sat out a couple of weeks with a high-ankle sprain, almost scored a second goal Saturday as he ripped the puck into Whitecourt’s empty net just as the final buzzer sounded. That rankled Wolverines defenceman Quentin Bourne, but officials intervened, and the post-game hubbub soon dissipated.
“I’m super-excited to be back in the lineup and going to war with all my teammates,” said Fendelet, sporting a tuque post-game in keeping with the cold winter season. “It’s never fun watching from the stands.
“Still dealing with that high-ankle sprain a little bit, but it felt pretty good tonight, for the most part.”
On his Teddy Bear tally, Fendelet redirected a shot from Cinq-Mars, who assisted on both Lloyd goals Saturday to give the D-man four points during a five-game stretch.
“Nothing too pretty, at all,” said the Bobcats’ captain. “Just won a faceoff and went to the net. Esty (Esteban Cinq-Mars) had a pretty good shot, I got a stick on it, turned around and it was in the net.”
After their stops in Drayton Valley and Olds this coming weekend, the Bobcats continue their road swing Dec. 10-13 with three games in four days against the Grande Prairie Storm (12-10-1). Lloyd concludes its pre-Christmas schedule with home dates versus Whitecourt on Dec. 19 and Drayton Valley on Dec. 20.
BOBCATS SWEEP FORT MAC
Last Wednesday, the Bobcats won 5-4 and completed their Fort Mac sweep when Messier scored the lone goal of the six-round shootout, which ended with Matonovich’s stop on Griffin Gidney.
Quinn Smith, with two, Messier and Morgan Hackman netted Lloydminster’s regulation goals. Smith forced overtime when he scored with nine minutes left in the third period. He and Hackman each had two-point nights.
Evan Benoit, Dustin Good and St. Paul defenceman Ethan Makosis tallied for Fort Mac. Justin Dumais bagged three assists.
Makosis, with his first AJHL goal, recently joined the Oil Barons after opening this season in the WHL with the Everett Silvertips. During their prep days, Makosis and Lloydminster’s Robertson were OHA teammates.
The Bobcats fired 46 shots at Fort Mac goaltender Brendan Gee through overtime, while Matonovich faced 26 in Lloyd’s net.
On the previous night, defenceman Dylan Deets of Cold Lake scored a goal and an assist for his first two points of the season as the Bobcats won 4-3 in overtime. Deets’ three-point trip included an assist in Wednesday’s game.
Cinq-Mars, with a two-point night, netted the winning goal three minutes into the extra period Tuesday. Iyogun scored the other two Lloyd goals, giving him a team-high 12 on the season. Hikida and Messier each added two assists as the Bobcats outshot the Oil Barons 49-39. Gee and Matonovich also tended goal that night.
Benoit, Drew Freer and Ryan Arnold, with a power-play goal, scored for Fort McMurray.
The Oil Barons went on to lose 7-2 at home Friday against the Devon Xtreme (9-10-2).
On Saturday, Devon lost a 5-4 overtime decision to the host Bonnyville Pontiacs (13-10-1). D-man Maxim Shushkov ended the game with 35 seconds left in OT. League scoring leader Maxwell Pendy had a goal and two assists for the Pontiacs, while linemate Christophe Lussier tallied twice.
This Tuesday night, Fort McMurray snapped its three-game losing streak, posting a 6-3 victory at Bonnyville and moving into sole possession of third place in the North Division. Oil Barons’ sniper Dumais tallied twice, including a short-handed goal.
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