The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Gaining speed with every game
It’s just a matter of ice time before the Crested Butte Wolfpack hockey team becomes a force to be reckoned with in the RMYHL.
The changes from last season are already evident as the team has made big strides toward better defensive positioning and overall team positioning up and down the ice.
The Wolfpack faced the Glenwood Springs Grizzlies this past weekend for two games at the Gunnison indoor ice facility on Saturday and Sunday, November 13-14.
The Wolfpack struggled through the opening six minutes of hockey losing the puck several times in the neutral zone. Fortunately, net minder Nichols Mikeska was spot on sprawling for a number of early saves.
After killing a penalty, the Wolfpack looked to turn the game around but Glenwood continued to pressure the puck, forcing another Crested Butte turnover and scoring to take a 1-0 lead.
Consecutive penalties by the Grizzlies gave the Wolfpack a two-man advantage and they capitalized on the situation when Dylan Curtiss followed on a shot from the point to stuff the puck top shelf and tie the game.
Thirty seconds later, the Wolfpack struck again. Working the puck around the Grizzlies net on a power play, Dakota Wiggins saw the chance to sneak in off the wing to take a pass and find a seam near post to give the Wolfpack a 2-1 lead heading into the second period.
Crested Butte carried the momentum from the first period flurry into the second period rattling off numerous shots in the opening minutes.
The Grizzlies held off the Wolfpack attack and looked to tie the game on a power play with two minutes left in the second period.
Sam Evans won a draw in the Wolfpack zone and kicked the puck out to Ben Reaman who caught the Grizzlies pinching in off the blue line.
Reaman blew past the first Grizzlies players with a pass off the boards to himself and skated straight to the net to stuff the short-handed goal and give the Wolfpack a 3-1 lead.
A minute into the third period the Wiggins struck again to slip a loose puck through the five-hole for a 4-1 lead, and Mikeska made a series of late-game saves to seal the 4-1 Wolfpack win.
The two teams met again early Sunday morning with a different result.
This time the Grizzlies came out gunning to build a 4-0 lead midway through the second period.
Evans finally put the Wolfpack on the board with two minutes left in the second period, but the Grizzlies struck back 30 seconds later to take a 5-1 lead by the third period.
Crested Butte connected for another shorthanded goal in the third period, when Reaman assisted Curtiss on his second goal of the weekend but the damage was done as Glenwood Springs skated to the 5-2 win.
The Wolfpack heads to Durango this weekend for some key ice time and will return to action in the Gunnison Valley December 11-12 in the Drop the Puck tournament at the Gunnison indoor facility.
