Canada Day Classic : Bears 6 @ Ice 4

The Sydney Bears headed to Melbourne to play the two Melbourne teams on 27/28 June at the Icehouse. The first game was against the Melbourne Ice on Saturday afternoon in what has now been dubbed the Canada Day Classic and was also the Fox Sports Game Of The Week. In 2014, the Bears won the corresponding game and were keen to add to the home win against the Ice the previous week.

In good news for the Bears, Paddy Ward played his first game as a local player after being granted his Permanent Residency. This freed up an import spot which was handy because import Tomas Landa returned to the ice from injury after several weeks on the sideline.

In front of a large pro-Ice crowd, the first period was almost penalty-free but was also goal-free. The Ice had almost double the number of shots of the Bears but both goalies kept their nets clean. It was a very tight period with Bears players seemingly enjoying playing with the glass at the Icehouse. 

At the end of the period, teddy bears were raining onto the ice in support of Melbourne charity Very Special Kids. It was decided for the teddy bear toss to happen during the first intermission regardless of what happened on the scoreboard.

What the first period lacked in goals was more than made up for in the second period. Early in the period, Joe Harcharik added to his recent goal tally with an assist from a returning Tomas Landa and Richard Tesarik. The goal was controversial but was awarded by the referee instantly on the ice. The goal was confirmed after a quick officials huddle. The debate was in relation to possible goaltender interference against Ice goaltender Jaden Pine-Murphy. 

Depending on your point of view and your knowledge of the rules, the call was either goalie interference or a good goal because a Bears player was pushed by an Ice player into the Ice goalie. It would not be the last time that the home crowd would complain about the refereeing.

6 minutes later, the Bears scored again courtesy of Jan Becjek assisted by Ales Padelek and another assist to Tesarik. Padelek and Tesarik have been working well together in recent weeks in a good combination.

A cross checking penalty against Ice stalwart Matt Armstrong led to a Bears powerplay shortly after Becjek's goal. Thanks to Harcharik again, the Bears converted a powerplay into a goal. Padelek and Landa added another helper each. Bears score then Ice score - just like the previous weekend at Penrith Ice Palace which led to the Bears 3-1 lead at the second intermission.  

The start of the third period saw another Ice goal after 58 seconds - a replay of the previous weekend's game in Canberra, anyone? Suddenly, the game was back to a goal difference in favour of the Bears, 3-2.

Two Bears goals within a 90 second period elevated the score from 3-2 to 5-2 in favour of the Bears. Richard Tesarik added a goal to his two assists and then Joe Harcharik scored his second hat-trick goal in as many games against the Ice in as many weeks. Harcharik's third goal of the game coincided with Pine-Murphy heading to the bench for the last 15 minutes of the game. It was the second time out of the Ice's last 4 games where the usual frontline goalie was pulled and replaced by the backup.

Once again, Bears score then Ice score. An almost instant reply and a powerplay goal a few minutes later brought the Ice back to within a goal for the second time in 2 periods. The intensity increased in the third period as both teams were looking for the win.

For once, an empty net goal favoured the Bears with Ice backup goalie Nicholas Novysedlak being pulled for the extra skater. With the Bears preparing to celebrate, Tesarik added an empty net powerplay goal to make the score 6-4 in favour of the Bears with a second remaining. 

Interestingly, it was exactly the same score in favour of the Ice in 2 successive meetings in successive weeks. The hard earned Bears win also came despite being heavily out-shot by the Ice 48-26. A lot of credit needs to go to goaltender Kamil Jarina and his defencemen for a solid performance under a lot of pressure. 

Bears head coach Vlad Rubes was happy to leave the Icehouse with a win and the newly minted Canada Day Classic trophy. “We starting scoring in the second period and being two goals up after two periods, which is exciting for us but in a two-goal game, if they get one back it’s a one-goal game and you get a bit nervous,” Rubes explained. “It’s good to win but you get a little bit nervous.”

“Starting the second half of the season with the wins is exciting for us but we are just focusing on our game,” Rubes said. “The boys have got used to each other and our imports are playing well and we have strong goal tending and we have started scoring goals. It’s exciting.”

The Bears were due to play the Melbourne Mustangs the following day to hopefully complete a Melbourne clean sweep before returning home to play the Sydney Ice Dogs for the third Battle Of Sydney.

Story by Eric Brook
Additional reporting by Shannon Knaus
Photo by Mosquito Byte