The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Strong returning core to lead team
Despite losing one of the top scorers and the top goalie in the league to graduation, Wolfpack hockey coach Rob Bramwell looks forward to a strong season.
The list of returning players includes seniors Connor McGuire and Jake Sunter as well as juniors Ben Frame, Jake Grogg, and scoring ninja Sam Evans. Throw in a solid group of skaters making the transition from the bantam level, and Bramwell is looking at 16 players to choose from.
“I think we’re going to be a lot deeper this year,” says Bramwell. “Instead of one line we’ll be able to rely on three solid lines.”
In an effort to get the players’ feet underneath them, Bramwell and the team have been running two sessions of dry-land training a week, and managed to squeeze in some ice time at the indoor rink in Gunnison one night a week.
Furthermore, it’s Bramwell’s second season at the helm with Chris Wederitch as his assistant, allowing the team to pick up where they left off last year rather than starting over.
“This year they already know the systems so we can just jump right into it,” says Bramwell. “And with our depth we’ll instill some better systems.”
As with any hockey program, a lot of the team’s success lies with the goaltender. After watching Zach VanDyke in goal the past two years, junior Nicholas Mikeska is ready to stand in net and anchor the team this season.
“He’s our go-to guy this year,” says Bramwell. “If he comes up big, we’ll have a good chance at going further this year in the playoffs.”
As for the offense, Bramwell is expecting big things.
“I think purely just based on skating and how many strong kids we have this year, our offense will be two to three times better than last year,” says Bramwell.
Bramwell and the team will get its first test this weekend as they head to Gunnison to participate in a series of pre-season scrimmages against the two Gunnison Blades teams.
“It’s always good to get some extra ice time and get some games in before the regular season,” says Bramwell. “I just want to see if the lines we have right now are working together or not.”
They open regular season play on Thursday, December 3 against the Blades A team at 8 p.m. in Gunnison. Their first home game will be Sunday, January 3 against Kremmling at the Big Mine Ice Arena.
