Wolfpack hockey season ends in Frozen Four finals

Gunnison Blades take RMYHL title, head to states

Last year, the Wolfpack had one of their toughest—and by toughest I mean worst—seasons in the team’s history, finishing second to last place with just three wins.
This year, fueled by eight seniors and a coaching regime change, the Wolfpack rallied from the cellar to the Frozen Four championship game of the Rocky Mountain Youth Hockey League (RMYHL).
“We just wanted to make the playoffs and we made it two rounds deeper than that,” says coach John Mortell. “I’m so proud of those seniors.”
Four teams from the RMYHL battled in Gunnison on Saturday and Sunday, March 5-6 for the league title and a berth to the midget (high school-age) state tournament.
The Wolfpack opened the weekend Saturday morning against the Kremmling Cattle Kings. It had been two weeks since the Wolfpack’s last game and while it wasn’t their strongest effort, they did what needed to be done. After giving up a goal to Kremmling in the opening minute of the game, Dylan Curtiss scored midway through the first period to tie the game 1-1.
Ben Reaman, who won the league scoring title, gave the Wolfpack a 2-1 lead with a goal early in the second period. Reaman then sealed the deal with an empty net goal in the final minute of play for the 3-1 Wolfpack win
The win helped dust off some of the rust from the two-week break from competition and refocused the team for their next game against the Gunnison Blades Saturday night.
“The time off definitely showed,” says Mortell. “It took them about a period but it definitely brought them back.”
The Blades have been nearly unstoppable all season long, losing just one game at the hands of the Wolfpack. And while most teams used the time between the regular season and the playoffs for continued practices, the Blades maintained their competitive edge playing in a hockey tournament in Phoenix, Ariz.
The Blades came out from the opening drop of the puck flying. Taran Reinecke put the Blades on the scoreboard first in the seventh minute of the game but the Wolfpack responded 40 seconds later, when Dakota Wiggins shoved the puck through during a melee in the slot.
The Wolfpack matched the speed of the Blades for the entire first period and had a couple of chances early in the second period to take the lead. Defensemen Ben Frame and Ian Kelly were spot-on in shutting down Gunnison’s initial rush and the team got quality minutes from Max Molitor and Danny D’Aquila to offer up a glimpse of an upset win.
But Gunnison’s penalty kill was flawless and as the period wore on, the Blades opened up the ice with tape-to-tape passing and constant cycling.
Blades skaters Evan Ayers and Cory Whinnery scored 45 seconds apart to give Gunnison a 3-1 lead by the end of the second period and Mike Spallone and Kalae Miller finished the Wolfpack off with a goal each in the third period for the 5-1 Gunnison win.
“To be playing at that level was awesome,” says Mortell. “The first line was just flying and everyone was on that night. But it’s so hard to get back into the game against Gunnison after being down a couple of goals.”
The loss sent the Wolfpack down to the loser’s bracket to face the Moffat County Bulldogs Sunday morning. A win would send the Pack to the finals to face Gunnison again, whereas a loss would end the Wolfpack’s season.
The Bulldogs struck first in the eighth minute of the first period but Frame unleashed a “blue line special” three minutes later, acknowledging mom Molly Frame in the crowd after the goal, to tie the game 1-1.
Another blue line special from Frame in the closing minutes flew wide of the Moffat County net but Reaman followed the shot and fed Evans in the slot for a top-shelf stuff and a 2-1 Wolfpack lead.
But the Bulldogs refused to go away, tying the game in the second period. Frame put Crested Butte back on top 3-2 with another blast from the point but Moffat County tied it up to force overtime.
Mortell then gambled to open the overtime. With Moffat County’s first line taking the ice for the opening face-off, Mortell sent his second line out to match up against them.
“I decided to beat up on their first line a little bit first,” says Mortell.
The ploy nearly worked as Evans and Reaman took the ice with fresh legs and came close to winning the game three different times, but the two teams finished the overtime still locked in a 3-3 tie, forcing a shootout.
Jake Grogg and Dylan Curtiss netted their attempts but the other three missed and had it not been for the work of Montana Wiggins in net, the Wolfpack season would have ended there.
“His training and all the work he’s done at camps really showed at that point,” says Mortell.
Wiggins turned away three of the five Moffat shooters as well as their sixth shooter, leaving the game in the hands of Ian Kelly.
Kelly skated to net and picked the top shelf easily for the game-winning goal, sending the Wolfpack to the Frozen Four finals.
While the Wolfpack’s battle through three periods, overtime and a shootout with Moffat County drained them, they were pumped for a rematch with Gunnison.
“They were really easy to motivate for the game,” says Mortell.
Again, the Wolfpack hung with Gunnison through the opening period due, in large part, to the work of Nicholas Mikeska in net and the Wolfpack defense.
“I thought Nicholas had the best game of his life,” says Mortell.
Reinecke scored in the closing minutes of the first period and then added a second off a face-off play in the second period.
Roedder won the draw and slipped a puck through the neutral zone to Whinnery, who was sprinting up ice.
Whinnery scored and the Blades took a 2-0 lead into the third period.
The Wolfpack answered in the opening minutes of the third period when Reaman fed Evans in the slot for the first Crested Butte goal of the game.
Mikeska came up with two more big saves, but the Blades started to do what they always do—catch fire in the third period.
Back-to-back goals from Spallone and Stefan Whiting gave the Blades a 4-1 lead and forced Mortell to call a timeout.
The move stalled the Blades temporarily but they returned to form in the closing minutes of the game to net two more goals for the 6-1 win, another RMYHL title and another trip to the state tournament for the Gunnison Blades.