Oilers vs. Bears post game

3,009 hockey fans packed the Clare Drake Arena at the University of Alberta to watch the 2016 edition of the University of Alberta Golden Bears versus the Edmonton Oiler rookies on Wednesday night. Last year a veteran laden Golden Bear squad evenly traded punches with Connor McDavid and the 2015 Edmonton Oiler Rookies at Rexall Place. In the 2015 contest, “They (the Bears) managed to out-shoot, and for the most part, match the play of some pretty big name prospects.” The 2015 game was much closer than the 6-3 score for the Oilers indicated. While the 2016 game again featured a big name prospect in Jesse Puljujarvi and saw the Oilers again win by a score of 6-3 this game was a much different tale.

The first period was without question a shaky one for the Golden Bears. The Bears jumped out to an early 2-1 lead despite being out-shot 25-5 overall in the opening frame. The home team looked nervous which was to be expected as this year’s edition of the Golden Bears has lost a great deal of its’ veteran presence and is looking for a group of new leaders to emerge. If it wasn’t for strong play from Bears’ veteran goaltender Luke Siemens the game could have got out of hand early. In the meantime Colin Shirley, Braden Christoffer, and Tomas Soustal managed to put the Oilers in front by the time first had ended.

The star-stuck Golden Bears managed to calm down in the second and third periods and the play evened out even as the advantage managed to grow for the Oilers on second period power-play goals from Patrick Russell and Drake Caggilua. Jesse Puljujarvi drew the primary assists on both second period goals for the Oilers as he worked the half-wall on the power-play. For the final two frames the shots were more even with the Oilers edging the Bears 26-20. The game was extremely physical with numerous big hits from both sides and numerous scrums.

Lucas Nickles gave the home side hope when he narrowed the gap to 5-3 with his early third period goal. That was as close as the Bears would get as Drake Caggiula iced it when he scored his second of the game into an empty net at 19:14 of the third period. The Oilers won 6-3 with a final shot tally of 50-26. With the win the Oilers have evened the all-time series with the Golden Bears at 13-13.

Game Notes

• I had a chance to chat with Golden Bears head coach Serge Lajoie prior to the game. We briefly spoke about how the preseason was unfolding. He mentioned that he was really happy with how the skilled new recruits were coming along though he cautioned, “success in the Western Hockey League doesn’t always translate into success at the CIS level. Our season is only 28 games long and each game is very intense.”
• I asked the coach about Graeme Craig and Todd Fiddler who are both players coming to the Bears after playing professionally. Craig is a huge defenseman (6.05, 202lbs) who actually played in the Edmonton Oilers organization after spending time with both Oklahoma and Bakersfield in 2014-15. Fiddler was a fairly prolific scorer in the WHL scoring 48 goals in 52 games for the Prince George Cougars 2013-14. He has been playing in the East Coast Hockey League since 2014. What I learned from the coach is that when a player comes to university from a professional league he has to wait a full 365 days from his last professional game to be eligible to play in the CIS. Craig actually red-shirted and practiced with the Bears all of last season. Fiddler’s last professional game was in November of 2015 so Bears fans will have to wait just over a month to see him in the green and gold.
• Jesse Puljujarvi is as advertised. Huge frame, moves well, and great hands. Even though he is just 18 years old there was one sequence in the Bears end where 23 year old (and former minor leaguer) 6.05 Graeme Craig struggled to contain the young Finn. Pretty exciting player for fans of the Oilers.
• I thought both Caleb Jones and Drake Caggiula appeared as advertised though they didn’t dominate.
• The boxscore from last night’s game is here.
• Rookie Kenny Cameron, who was undefeated at NAIT last season, came in to relieve Luke Siemens in the Golden Bears goal to start the third period. He turned away all 8 shots he faced and looked good.

Next Up

The Golden Bears play two games at home this weekend. Friday at 7pm they face the defending Canada West Champion Saskatchewan Huskies. Saturday night is also a solid test as Mount Royal Cougars visit the Clare Drake at 6pm. The Cougars managed to make their way into the national rankings last season.