The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
League record remains perfect at 10-0
With a couple of players back from injury and a new rink to skate in, the Crested Butte Wolfpack is firing on all pistons and dominating the Rocky Mountain Youth Hockey League.
The Wolfpack got its first chance to host league games this past weekend under the new roof at Big Mine Ice Arena, facing Grand Valley and Durango/Telluride.
They opened the weekend against a struggling Grand Valley team on Saturday afternoon, January 7 shelling them for a 10-0 shutout.
Sam Reaman led the team with two goals and two assists; Ben Reaman, Dylan Curtiss and Ian Dethloff all netted two goals apiece and Isaac Evans and Collin Dill added one each.
The premier game of the home stand came Saturday night, though, as the Wolfpack faced their new league rival, Durango/Telluride. Fans for both sides lined the glass and filled the new bleachers, erupting with each hit and every shot.
It was obvious from the opening shift against Durango/Telluride that Ben Reaman, who leads the league in scoring, had a target on his back. Each time he touched the puck, he would draw the attention of two, sometimes three opponents.
But line mate Troy Pike had Ben’s back, dropping two Durango/Telluride players with hits midway through the first period.
His second hit garnered Pike a two-minute penalty and Durango/Telluride scored eight seconds into their power play for a 1-0 lead.
Durango/Telluride built a 2-0 lead early in the second period, at which point the Wolfpack woke up and started rolling.
The line of Christo Church, Danny D’Aquila and Isaac Evans then put together a solid shift, pinning Durango in their own zone for their entire run. With the Durango team collapsed, Wolfpack defenseman Dylan Curtiss skated the puck in off the point, slipped past two Durango players and scored.
The Wolfpack capitalized on a power play one minute later as Dill took the puck off a draw in the Durango/Telluride zone and scored to tie the game 2-2.
The Wolfpack struck again on a power play situation when Dill dropped to the point to blast a low shot through traffic and Dethloff tipped the puck past the goalie for a 3-2 Wolfpack lead heading into the third period.
The game started falling apart for the Wolfpack at the start of the third period. Opening with a power play situation, the Wolfpack looked to build on their lead but the man advantage back-fired. Durango/Telluride won the puck in the Wolfpack’s zone and blasted a shot wide of the net. Durango/Telluride crashed on the loose puck as the Wolfpack players stood there, tying the game 3-3 with a devastating short-handed goal.
But Ben finally found some room between successive beat-downs from the Durango/Telluride defense and after drawing two players, dropped the puck to Pike at the point for a low blast near post and a 4-3 Wolfpack lead.
A succession of penalties then handcuffed the Wolfpack for the next five minutes as they found themselves one man, and sometimes two men, down on the ice.
Durango/Telluride connected during a 5 v. 3 situation to tie the game once again 4-4 but the Wolfpack penalty kill clamped down to survive another short-handed situation.
The Wolfpack ramped up the intensity for the final two minutes as Mortell went to a “power line” to close the game of Ben, Dill and Pike.
The three worked feverishly in the Durango/Telluride zone and when Dill skated in off the boards, he dropped the puck to Ben in the high slot. Ben’s first shot was blocked but he followed on the rebound for a second chance and slipped a backhand shot past the goalie, icing the 5-4 Wolfpack win.
The Wolfpack finished the weekend with another rout over Grand Valley on Sunday winning 9-0. Ben led the team with two goals; seven other players including Emerson Wohlers, Peter Bright and Church scored one goal each.
The Wolfpack will host down-valley rival the Gunnison Blades at Big Mine Ice Arena on Wednesday, January 18. The puck drops at 7 p.m.
