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With only 5 players returning from last year's team, Head Coach & General Manager Mark Grady and staff were prepared to be patient as the new Bears got their feet wet in the highly competitive CCHL. The schedule maker was not as kind as the Bears would face last year's finalists, the Carleton Place Canadians and Ottawa Jr Senators twice each in their first six games. The new Bears have done quite well as their 3-2 win Friday night gave them a 3-0-0-1 record over last year's finalists as they gained 7 of a possible 8 points.

The Bears started slowly as the Senators outshot the locals 10-5 in the opening period and carried much of the territorial play. There was no scoring in the 1st period and only one penalty called to Ottawa's Alexandre Way.

The 2nd period started slowly as well for Smiths Falls as they took 3 straight penalties. Ottawa opened the scoring as Bryce Biller's point shot beat a screened Brennan Kitchen to give the visitor's the lead. With the Bears killing another penalty, veteran Kingston native Cole Busschaert stole a puck at the Bears blue line and went in alone on a breakaway and beat Ryan Hale high to the blocker side to knot the game 1-1. The Bears seemed to gain momentum from the short handed marker & started to take over most of the puck possession. At 13:43 Brian Bygrave collected a memory he will not soon forget as the 16 year old from Stittsville scored his first ever CCHL point on his first ever CCHL goal. The Bears rookie drove the net and used his quick release to beat Hale after the Ottawa tender could not control the rebound off a Michael Larose shot. The Bears leading scorer & 2nd in CCHL scoring Tre Folkes garnered the 2nd assist on the goal. Ottawa outshot Smiths Falls 9-8 in the middle stanza.

At 9:12 in the 3rd period, Ashton resident Brett Garvey snapped a wrist shot from the left point which gave the Bears a 3-1 lead. Bygrave & Hunter Garlasco were credited with the helpers on the eventual game winner. When Ottawa took a penalty at 14:49 of the final 20 minutes of play, the lead looked comfortable but as Ottawa did in the first period the Bears gave up a short handed goal at 14:57 to Nicolas Samson as he fanned on his shot but that seemed to fool Kitchen and make the Bears faithful nervous for the final 5 minutes of play. The locals buckled down and held the visitors at bay to secure a 3-2 win and run their early season record to 4-1-0-1 for 9 points.

Bear Facts

Powerplays    Bears 0-4    Ottawa 1-4

Penalty Totals    Bears 10 minutes on 5 infractions    Ottawa 10 minutes on 5 infractions

Game Length    2:02

Attendance    430

3 Stars

1st Star     Brian Bygrave (Bears)

2nd Star     Bryce Biller (Ottawa)

3rd Star    Brett Garvey (Bears)

Next Game Tuesday night the Brockville Braves make their first trip to the Bears Den for a 7:30 puck drop.