Wolfpack falls to Gunnison Blades in tournament finals

Blades continue to dog Pack

The Crested Butte Wolfpack hockey team strung together two wins over the weekend against league opponents but dropped two games to down valley rival the Gunnison Blades to take second place at the Drop the Puck Tournament.
The weekend opened on Saturday, December 10 against the Grand Valley Mavericks. The game was a crapshoot with the Wolfpack missing senior captains Ben Reaman and Collin Dill.
“I was a little nervous to see how those spots would be filled,” says coach John Mortell.
After a scoreless first period, the Wolfpack rattled off five goals in the second period to build a 5-1 lead.
Ian Dethloff struck in the opening minute of the second period, scoring off an assist from Jessie D’Aquila.
Grand Valley responded a minute later but the Wolfpack took it from there.
A string of penalties gave Crested Butte several power plays and they took advantage of the situation when Dylan Curtiss and Danny D’Aquila scored on consecutive man-up situations.
Curtiss and Dethloff struck again in the final minutes of the second period and Dethloff finished his hat trick in the third period thanks to a second assist from Jessie to cap the 6-1 Wolfpack win.
“We were throwing a couple plays at them to see if they would bite and it started working,” says Mortell.
The first real test for the Wolfpack would come that night as they took to the ice against the Gunnison Blades for the first time this season.
The two teams have traded off Gunnison Valley domination, with the Blades owning the past two years. Saturday night would offer the Wolfpack a chance to set the tone for the season in the valley.
When the two teams meet, the first period is always played at a faster pace than any other game.
Gunnison’s extensive ice time over the course of the past two months showed as they played solid position hockey, looking for seams in the Wolfpack zone.
Crested Butte goalie Montana Wiggins had a handful of big saves in the first period but the Blades broke the seal five minutes in to take a 1-0 lead.
The Wolfpack had several power play opportunities to close the first period but the Blades’ penalty kill was flawless, holding the Wolfpack at bay.
Curtiss found openings up the boards during the first period to push the puck up-ice. The effort paid off in the opening minute of the second period.
Curtiss skated the puck end-to-end and found Reaman open in the slot with a pass. Reaman tipped it to the far post to tie the game 1-1.
The Blades responded 15 seconds later when the Wolfpack struggled to clear the puck from in front of their net and the Blades capitalized on the defensive miscue.
The two teams played even hockey the rest of the period, with Danny D’Aquila coming up with several big back checks and the Wolfpack defense clamping down.
Gunnison continued to stymie the Wolfpack breakout and maintained pressure through the final period, capitalizing on two more Crested Butte mistakes to finish the Wolfpack off 4-1.
“We hung in there with those guys for 30 minutes and we were feeling it,” says Mortell. “Gunnison is meticulous about their offense, they have a plan. If you make a mistake, they’re going to take advantage of it.”
Crested Butte recovered the following morning against the Durango Steamers, though it took the better part of the first half of the game and a 2-0 deficit to do it.
Midway through the second period, the Wolfpack were down 2-0 before they rattled off three goals in a row, two during power plays.
Reaman scored on the first man advantage and then Dethloff followed with two more goals to take a 3-2 lead into the third period.
The Wolfpack defense and Wiggins, who finished the game with 27 saves, did the rest to hold on to the win and advance to the tournament finals to face Gunnison again.
“Once we pulled our mental game together, things changed,” says Mortell. “I watched the other team’s energy and their line changes in the third period and then decided to go to straight-up defensive hockey.”
Unfortunately, the Wolfpack lost Curtiss to injury at the end of the Durango game and were forced to play without him against the Blades, leaving Mortell no choice but to mix up lines.
“I had to take some of my offense and move them back to defense,” says Mortell.
Gunnison took control of the game early, building a 3-0 lead in the first period.
The early strikes took the wind out of the Wolfpack’s sails and the loss of Curtiss was felt all game long.
The Blades scored one more goal in the second and third periods to beat the Wolfpack 5-0 and take the Drop the Puck tournament title.
“We went down a few goals in the first period—it flattened us,” says Mortell. “I would still say it was a great weekend of hockey.”
Crested Butte heads to Craig December 17-18 for four league games and will be home for the grand opening of Big Mine Ice Arena on Wednesday, December 21.