Wolfpack earns post-season bid to state tournament

Dominate Frozen Four

It’s time for the Wolfpack to shift gears once again. All season long they’ve been ramping up their play. Earlier in the year they had a bit of a struggle with league rival Durango/Telluride edging out a couple of close wins. But, as the season wore on, the Wolfpack gained strength, handing their closest opponent sound drubbings in their final two meetings.
The Wolfpack took the regular season title, posting a perfect 16-0 record to earn the number one seed in the league’s post-season tournament, and to join Grand Valley, Moffat County and Telluride/Durango at the Frozen Four March 3-4 in Craig.
While the Wolfpack won every game during the regular season over their Frozen Four opponents, assistant coach Sean Kelly admits there were some pre-tournament expectations.
“There was some pressure,” says Kelly. “We wanted to finish what we started. It would have been a big disappointment if we didn’t win.”
The Wolfpack opened the weekend against Grand Valley and destroyed them 10-0.
Ben Reaman led the scoring with four goals, Peter Bright and Collin Dill added in two apiece and Dakota Wiggins and Sam Reaman each tallied one strike. Dylan Curtiss finished the game with three assists.
The Wolfpack moved on to face Durango/Telluride Saturday night. Again, while the Wolfpack was flawless against Durango/Telluride all season, Kelly and the team did not want to fall short in their quest for a bid to the state tournament.
“We knew we had to play well to win,” says Kelly.
Kelly believes nerves got the better part of the Wolfpack the first few minutes of the game as Crested Butte fell behind 1-0 after two minutes of play.
But a couple of big saves from goalie Montana Wiggins and back-to-back power play goals from Ben put the Wolfpack on top 2-1 and in control.
“Montana kept us in it with some big saves that kept them from gaining any momentum,” says Kelly. “His goaltending was huge and then Reaman put us on his back.”
Ben scored his third goal of the game late in the second period off an assist from Troy Pike and defenseman Ian Kelly slipped forward to score off an assist from Sam for a 4-1 Wolfpack lead heading into the third period.
Collin Dill scored a power play goal midway through the third period to put the game away as the Wolfpack skated to the 5-2 win, advancing to the Frozen Four finals on Sunday.
“I thought our guys showed a lot of character and poise in that game,” says Kelly.
Durango/Telluride won their next game to reach the finals as well and the two teams met for the eighth time this season with a spot in the state tournament on the line.
This time the Wolfpack stepped up their game, playing three solid periods of hockey to hand Durango/Telluride a 5-0 shutout. Ben scored three goals and Curtiss and Dill each netted one.
“Our goal was to take care of business,” says Kelly. “I thought we played a lot better on Sunday.”
The Wolfpack will join the Gunnison Blades, Arapahoe and Littleton at the state tournament and open with a game against Arapahoe on Saturday, March 10. If they reach the state finals, the Wolfpack will get a chance to play on Sunday in the Pepsi Center.
“We’re playing our best hockey right now and I expect we’re going to play well up there,” says Kelly. “Coach Mortell has done a really good job of keeping the team motivated. If we bring our A game, we’ve got as good a chance as anybody.”