The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“That was the game we’ve been looking for all year”
The only team standing between the Crested Butte Wolfpack and a perfect league record was Durango/Telluride. They also had to play Grand Valley over the weekend in Telluride but Grand Valley spent the entire season as the doormat to the league.
Durango/Telluride, on the other hand, did have a chance to disrupt the Wolfpack, having given them a challenge earlier in the season.
But the Wolfpack would not be denied its chance at league immortality.
The Reaman brothers of Ben and Sam led the team in scoring in the opening game against Grand Valley on Saturday, February 11. Ben netted three goals and Sam scored one and had two assists as the Wolfpack cruised to a 10-1 crushing.
The team then geared up for its only test of the weekend Saturday night against Durango/Telluride.
The Wolfpack got the all-important first goal of the game against Durango/Telluride as Peter Bright scored in the first two minutes of the game, but Durango/Telluride tied it up two minutes later to put the Wolfpack to an early test.
Durango/Telluride continued with their physical game plan hoping to pull the Wolfpack out of their game but the Wolfpack remained focused and let their power play do the talking. A flurry of penalties at the end of the first period gave the Wolfpack back-to-back power plays, and they converted on both.
Ben did the damage during the first one with Collin Dill getting the assist, and then struck again in the final minute on the second power play with the assist coming from Dylan Curtiss.
“It was a pretty charged game,” says coach Sean Kelly. “They were fired up and our guys responded.”
Durango/Telluride’s penalty woes carried over into the first minutes of the second period and the Wolfpack converted again as Curtiss netted the Wolfpack’s third power play goal in a row.
“We created the penalty situations,” says Kelly. “We were playing fast and they took some bad penalties, getting caught flat-footed.”
Ben completed his second hat trick of the weekend in the second period and Bright scored his second goal of the game as the Wolfpack carried a cozy 6-1 lead into the third period.
Ian Dethloff capped the drubbing of Durango/Telluride with a power play goal in the third period as the Wolfpack skated to a 7-1 win.
“I was really proud of the kids,” says Kelly. “I thought we dominated those guys in all aspects of the game. That was the game we’ve been looking for all year. Play three full periods against a good team.”
Weather forced Grand Valley to forfeit their game against the Wolfpack on Sunday, making it official. The Crested Butte Wolfpack would finish the 2012 season of the Rocky Mountain Youth Hockey League (RMYHL) with a perfect 16-0 record.
Ben led all scorers in the league with 31 goals and 15 assists followed by Sam who was second on the scoring list with 10 goals and 16 assists. Wolfpack goalie Montana Wiggins finished league play with four shutouts, a .980 goals against average and a save percentage of .935.
The Wolfpack will prep for the post season with one last game against the Gunnison Blades on Friday, February 24 at 7 p.m.
“That game will keep us focused for this week and next week,” says Kelly.
The Wolfpack heads to the RMYHL Frozen Four playoff tournament March 3-4. If they win that, they will advance to the state tournament March 10-11 where they will face their toughest challenge all year.
