Roses are red, violets are green, the Hitmen lose, in the return of Jake Bean.
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Cupid took a backseat to Jake Bean Wednesday night as one of the greatest Calgary Hitmen blue liners made his return to the Scotiabank Saddledome for the first time following his teary-eyed goodbye three days before the Jan. 10 trade deadline.
After 60 minutes of flashbacks and back-and-forth action, the Tri-City Americans skated to a 4-3 victory.
“I’ve had so many good memories here. This one was different from all the other ones,” said Bean. “I’ve had a lot of fun games here and this one was fun, too.”
The Hitmen were failing to gain ground in the poor Central Division when the trade deadline came crawling along. Looking to cash in with his best trade chip, new General Manger Jeff Chynoweth dealt Bean to the Americans for a package of five assets.
Bean last played for the Hitmen Dec. 10, during the annual Teddy Bear Toss Game. The next day he left the Hitmen to join Team Canada at the World Junior Championship pre-tournament camp and eventually won Canada’s 17th gold medal. It was the country’s first gold since 2015.
Days upon returning from the tournament, Bean learnt that he was traded to the Americans and forced to leave the city he grew up in and the program that turned him from an undrafted player through the WHL Bantam Draft into a first-round pick by the Carolina Hurricanes.
Bean Night started with a brief pregame ceremony where Chynoweth presented Jackson van de Leest, Vladislav Yeryomenko and Bean with a framed photo of their time this season spent representing their respected countries on the international stage.
After the American anthem rang around the arena for the final time for the next two years, it didn’t take the Calgary kid long to make an impact.
Like he did so many times before — including 24 times in 2015-16 when he set the single-season record for goals by a defencemen — Bean sent a snapshot on net that navigated its way through a maze past his old teammate Nick Schneider for his ninth goal and fourth with the Americans at the 16:59 mark of the first.
“It was good to get one,” said Bean, who played 187 games in a Hitmen uniform, totaling 175 points. “(Maxwell) James had good net-front prescene so I threw it in there. He is a big body, so I don’t think Schneids saw it.”
Since the trade, Bean has tallied four goals and six assists in 16 games, as his new team sits 7-6-2-1.
“It’s been a great transition. It was easy right away. We started to get some guys back so I had to get used to having some other guys around and I’m starting to find my game. Everything is great there; everything outside the rink is all taken care of so it makes it easier to focus on the ice,” said Bean.
As may sometimes be the case with pregame ceremonies or the return of a significant player, one team can come out flat or mail in a performance.
This was not the case in the Hitmen’s 10th final home game of the season.
The Hitmen popped in the first goal of the game when Americans backup netminder Beck Warm lost the puck in his skates.
Eight minutes after puck drop, Mark Kastelic bombed down the left wing. Sending the puck in front, Warm had the puck tangled up in his feet. He thought he had the play under control, but when he went to sit on the puck to freeze it, it squirted out. Luke Coleman was at the right spot at the right time to tap in his 13th of the season, tying his career high.
“I’m just trying to play my game; get pucks down low, put pucks on net, get into the dirty areas, not get too fancy and I’ve been working with my linemates really well,” said Coleman, about his most productive season.
It appeared as if the teams were going to head into the break knotted at one, but the Americans (29-19-7-1) struck like lightning on the power play.
Jake Kryski was in the box for hooking with 12 seconds left on the clock. Kastelic won the defensive faceoff but the clearing attempt was blocked by Vegas Golden Knights prospect Dylan Coghlan and sent on net. Americans captain Michael Rasmussen corralled it by the side of the net and chipped in the puck six seconds into the minor and six seconds before the period expired to grab a 2-1 lead.
“I thought we brought it as much as they did. They capitalized on special teams and we weren’t able to with a couple good looks at the end. Both teams brought good effort, we just fell short in the end,” said the former American defenceman Dakota Krebs.
The 6-foot-4, 18-year-old Krebs was one of the key pieces that came the other way in the Bean trade.
Wearing Bean’s old No. 2, it was fitting for Krebs to pop in his third goal of the campaign in the second when his shot from the point glanced off an American stick and in.
“It’s an honour to wear his number and it was cool to play against him while he was wearing No. 2 as well. He has done a lot of great things here. Being able to battle against him in the same game was fun,” said Krebs, who now has three goals this season, all coming post-trade.
As the replay of the Krebs marker was finishing up on the video screen, Coghlan flew down the left wing and then spotted Jordan Topping at the right post for a tap in, as the Americans answered seven seconds after getting burned by their former blue liner to take a 3-2 lead. Coghlan is now one apple away from 100 in his career.
At the 13-minute mark of the second, Egor Zamula gagged up the puck in an attempt to leave his own end. The gift landed right on the tape of Parker AuCoin, who strolled in and lasered one past the glove hand of Schneider to give him 15 snipes on the year.
There was little love lost between two teams that rarely faceoff against one another. Players going up against their former team created some sparks in the third.
After Kastelic and former-American Carson Focht took a couple extra whacks at Warm smothering a rebound opportunity, emotions boiled over.
Krebs got into a shoving match with AuCoin, Kastelic picked up a roughing minor and Focht exchanged pleasantries with James.
“It was a little nerve-racking at the start, playing against your buddies from before,” said Krebs, who quickly changed his answer to, “former buddies.”
Bean and Krebs weren’t the only ones inflicting damage on their former team. In the third, Focht got jammed up against the Americans bench by Anthony Bishop, but was able to one-hand a pass out to Tristen Nielsen, who was sent in on a break.
Showing off his slick hands, Nielsen added to his career year by undressing warm for his 12th of the season to bring the Hitmen (17-32-5-2) within one.
Nielsen had a crack at tying it. He ripped into the zone, hollering for the puck from Zamlua, but rang it off the crossbar.
That was as close as the Hitmen made it, as they got swept in the season series to the stacked U.S. Division. For the Americans, it stretched their winning streak to 10-consecutive decisions over the Central Division dating back to Feb. 12 of the 2015-16 season, when they fell 5-3 at the hands of the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
For Bean and the Americans, it was another stepping-stone in trying to lock up a playoff spot. For the Hitmen, it was their 10th loss of the season when they outshot their opponent, but the 5,213 in attendance enjoyed seeing their former star one final time.
“It felt a little bit different just being on the other side of the arena when we got in last night, but that just goes to show how much a place means to me,” said Bean. “I had a lot of good years here.”
The Hitmen will continue their seven-game home stand Sunday afternoon when they host the Saskatoon Blades (29-26-2-1) at 2 p.m.
