The battle of the 33s: Bears triumph in nail-biting overtime victory against Hawkesbury Hawks

BY CHRIS UHLIG

The den felt pretty quiet since the last home game on January 19th with a stunning 5:2 win over the Nepean Raiders. But that doesn’t mean that the Bears went into a hibernation snooze. Far from it, the team has a busy exciting week behind it. A 6:1 win over the Carleton Place Canadians January 21st and another 5:3 win over the Brockville Braves January 26th were just the start. Bears staff as well as players Julien Wasmer, Owen Watson, Matthew Dimaline and Dawson Labre attended the January 23rd CCHL Allstar game on team Robinson (although only seeing a 1:5 loss). Dawson Labre also committed to NCAA Ohio State University for the upcoming season in a statement by the Bears. Good news followed the team with the search for a home for one of their players. Said Joan Culliton: “We had a wonderful outpouring of support from the community . Tanner Turness had been staying in a hotel for two weeks as we looked for a billet host for him. A family friend of the Turness ‘s posted on Facebook and word got around. 23 Families in the area offered to provide a home and support to Tanner as he continues his quest to receive a NCAA scholarship. A WOW of community support. Deb Kirkby and Mike Murphy ( pictured ) welcomed Tanner into their home as a billet yesterday.”

But now back to the regular programming and a deep look into last Sunday’s home game, when the Bears faced the Hawkesbury Hawks, in a game turning into “The battle of the 33s”, keeping visitors on the edge of their seats in a nail biting blockbuster of almost Hollywood proportions. Drama, lost opportunities, new chances, and suspense until the very last second, this game truly had it all. This season saw the two teams meet three times before with mixed results, two losses and one win for the Bears.

Goalie Maverick Welk guarded the net for the Bears, and his counterpart Dimitri Pelekos for the Hawks, both wearing the number 33 on their jersey.

**The battle of the 33s:** Smiths Falls Bears’ goalie Maverick Welk and Hawkesbury Hawks’ goalie Dimitri Pelekos. Photo credits: Chris Uhlig.

Shaymus Stevenson helped the Bears to an initial lead at 8:13, assisted by Trevor Faucher. An unlucky penalty allowed the Hawks to swoop in for a quick power play goal at 15:54.

The Hawks turned up the heat with a score by Garrison Schultz, at 3:33 in the second period, but the Bears managed to erase that lead with Shaymus Stevenson navigating the puck past Hawks goalie Dimitri Pelekos at the 10:52 mark. Assists are credited to Lucas Culhane and Finnegan Kilmurray.

Tysan Parker, assisted by both Matthew Dimaline and Finnegan Killmurray, followed with another score for the Bears 6:30 into the third period to establish a thin lead once more. But could the team hold that lead and carry it over to a win? For large portions of the period it did indeed look like it, but the Hawks surprised everyone with a last minute goal by Jacob Skoczylas at 19:13.

Overtime had to bring about a resolution, who of the two goalies would blink first. Alec Hamedy almost got the puck past Pelekos, but almost is never good enough, as Hamedy, visibly disappointed, had to learn. Shaymus Stevenson however had a luckier hand and established his third goal of the game at 2:40, with Trevor Faucher receiving the assisting credit for the game winning score.

The Bears took the overtime 4:3 win over the Hawkesbury Hawks.

First Star went to Shaymus Stevenson for no fewer than three goals, Second Star went to Hawks goalie Dimiti Pelekos for holding 38 of 42 shots on net, and Finnegan Kilmurray earned Third Star for two assists.

The Bears without a doubt were the more aggressive team this afternoon, sending a barrage of 42 shots at the net, compared to only 19 for the Hawks. The team now sits at the top of the Robinson Division with 51 points at 39 games. Runner up Renfrew can only muster 49 points with 40 games played. In the overall standings, the Bears occupy third spot.