Wolfpack takes third at Drop the Puck tournament in Gunnison

1-1-1 over the weekend

Traditionally, mornings are tough for the Crested Butte Wolfpack hockey team. And when the final schedule for the inaugural Drop the Puck tournament last weekend was sent out, the Wolfpack would open with a tough slot.
With the outdoor covered rink in Gunnison suffering at the hands of Mother Nature, tournament organizers were sent scrambling to make sure everyone got in their games on the indoor sheet of ice.
As a result, the Wolfpack started the weekend with a game on Saturday, December 11 against the Gunnison Blades at 6 a.m.
Word has it that the Blades practice everyday at 6 a.m. so while the time was old hat for them, it proved to be a bit of a shock to the system for Crested Butte, and it showed in the first period.
“The kids are definitely not the early-morning risers,” says Wolfpack head coach John Mortell.
Crested Butte hung on through the first period with the majority of play in front of their net.
They survived consecutive Gunnison power plays as well as a 5v3 situation as Wolfpack goalie Nicholas Mikeska made a couple great saves and the Wolfpack penalty kill proved solid.
But the Wolfpack’s continued failure to clear the puck ultimately resulted in a Blades goal, as Stefan Whiting wheeled around for a no-look backhand that slipped past Mikeska.
Crested Butte woke up for the opening five minutes of the second period, but a penalty left them a man down once again, and the Blades capitalized immediately as Kalae Miller netted Gunnison’s second goal.  
The back-breaker came in the final 10 seconds of the second period. Down 2-0, the Wolfpack were on a power play looking to close the period strong, and come into the third fired up for a comeback. Unfortunately, the exact opposite happened as Gunnison cleared the puck out of their zone on the Wolfpack net. Mikeska settled the puck in front of himself waiting for his defender to swoop through and turn it back up ice but a miscommunication left the puck alone in the slot.
Blades skater Mike Spallone jumped on the chance and skated directly to net to push the puck past Mikeska for the short-handed goal, giving the Blades a 3-0 lead heading into the third period.
Crested Butte maintained pressure on the Gunnison net in the third period, but Gunnison’s goalie Zach Smith was spot on, making several big saves in close.
The Blades closed the game breaking free on a counterattack as Spallone won the battle for a loose puck and scored his second goal of the game for the 4-0 Blades win.
Regardless of the final score, Mortell expects the two teams to be more evenly matched as the season progresses.
“I was really happy with what I saw,” says Mortell. “We should be able to play with these guys later in the season.”
The early morning doldrums carried into the opening minutes of the Wolfpack’s second game of the day against the Durango Steamers.
Crested Butte faced Durango twice two weeks ago and beat them both times, but sloppy play plagued the Wolfpack in the opening minutes of the game on Saturday.
By the seventh minute the Steamers were sitting on a 2-0 lead and Mortell feared the game would get away if something didn’t change quickly.
“There was definitely a little panic,” says Mortell.
He considered calling a timeout, but instead used a quick break during a penalty to pull the team together for a few choice words.
“They were definitely focused after that,” says Mortell.
Sam Evans put the Wolfpack on the scoreboard with an unassisted goal, and eight seconds later fed Ben Reaman for a strike to tie the game 2-2.
Durango responded one minute later to retake the lead but the Wolfpack closed with a power play goal by Dylan Curtiss to tie the game once again 3-3.
From then on the Wolfpack was back on track maintaining possession of the puck for most of the next two periods peppering the Steamers net with shots.
“Our kids were cycling the puck and choosing shots,” says Mortell. “Holding the puck in the zone for a minute at a time.”
Nevertheless, the Steamers goalie denied every attempt by the Wolfpack to break the tie and the two teams skated through two periods of scoreless hockey to finish with a 3-3 tie.
“Their goalie really stood on his head,” says Mortell.
The loss and tie on Saturday gave the Wolfpack the unenviable time slot of 6:30 a.m. on Sunday against the Kremmling Cattle Kings.
The team appeared psychologically in tact for their second early game in two days as Ben Frame opened the game scoring in the first 30 seconds.
But Kremmling recovered to score back-to-back goals taking a 2-1 lead midway through the first period.
The next three minutes the game could have easily gone one of two ways but thanks to the senior leadership of Jake Grogg and the scoring punch of the first line the Wolfpack rallied to take control.
“That was it and they were focused the rest of the game,” says Mortell.
Reaman tied the game in the tenth minute off an assist from Evans and then returned the favor a minute later feeding Evans for a goal for a 3-2 lead.
Evans struck again in the twelfth minute as Crested Butte closed the first period with a 4-2 lead.
Liam Mortell assisted Reaman on a power play goal in the final minute of the second period and then Troy Pike sealed the win with a shorthanded goal early in the third period for the 6-2 Wolfpack win and third place in the tournament.
“Their physical level has been great, they’re making the hit to get the puck not just to try and fire up the crowd,” says Mortell.
The Wolfpack are now stuck in limbo with Big Mine Ice Arena still suffering from warm temperatures and ice time in Gunnison limited to the indoor sheet as they prepare for league play after the holidays.
“I sure hope we can find ice time before we start league,” says Mortell. “I’m happy we’re staying at a good level but there are some improvements to make when we have ice.”