Gunnison Blades and Crested Butte Wolfpack hockey talk merger, someday

West Elk Cutthroat?

The rivalry has been in place since high-school-age hockey started in the Gunnison Valley. For years, the Crested Butte Wolfpack and the Gunnison Blades have battled for valley supremacy. Some years the Blades dominated. Other years the Wolfpack had the advantage. Every year, it’s the highlight of the local hockey scene.
Eventually, either the Blades or the Wolfpack would advance to the state tournament, only to be shown the door in the first round by some Front Range powerhouse.
Last year, hockey organization committees—the Gunnison Valley Hockey Association (GVHA) and the Crested Butte Hockey Advisory Committee—officially opened the discussion of merging hockey programs from both ends of the valley into one, under the umbrella of the Gunnison Valley Hockey Association.
“On paper, if we were to combine talent, we could create a really strong program,” says Crested Butte Parks and Recreation director Jake Jones. “It kind of does make sense to pool talent.”
“It was really not about creating a powerhouse, it was about creating depth so we can compete,” adds GVHA board president John Solanik. “The smaller mountain towns are going to struggle with depth. We wanted to create a merger to create a bigger player pool.”
After conversations at several committee levels, the two groups decided to test the waters in the first year and consider combining teams just at the Bantam (ages 13-14) and Midget (ages 15-17) levels for the 2013-2014 season.
On the surface, the idea does have its advantages. For one, at the Bantam level, it offers an opportunity to roster two teams at two levels—one to play at a Bantam A and a second playing at a Bantam B. Jones saw that in action this past winter with two Crested Butte Bantam teams and believes it worked great for player development.
“Once the kids were playing at the right level, they developed way more,” says Jones.
At the Midget level, there were some initial concerns, since the difference between Midget levels is determined by age, not necessarily ability. Therefore, an older player who may have been playing Midget hockey the past two years could get bumped if a merger created a glut of talent.
“Kids could get selected out, and that’s a bummer,” says Jones.
Further concerns included sharing the burden of travel for practices and games and making sure that if the teams merged under the GVHA umbrella, would there be proper representation on the GVHA board for the entire valley. Further, a merger would involve amending current GVHA bylaws to ensure said representation, including the creation of a youth hockey subcommittee in the GVHA structure.
With three rinks to choose from, two in Gunnison and one in Crested Butte, both Gunnison and Crested Butte wanted to make sure the travel burden was shared as well, with equal time spent among the rinks.
Other concerns were raised throughout the committee meeting process, including the name of the teams, but both ends of the valley decided to continue moving forward on the issue. The next step came Tuesday, July 9 as Jones met with a contingent of concerned families from the Crested Butte area, while Solanik got together with the Gunnison families.
According to Solanik, concerns included travel and coaching staffs, but overall, Gunnison parents seemed on board for the merger.
“Gunnison was in unanimous support,” says Solanik.
Jones had a similar experience in Crested Butte, but with less enthusiasm about an immediate move.
“After two hours, I asked for a show of hands,” explains Jones. “When asked if this is ultimately a good deal, all hands went up. But when I asked if they wanted it for this year, three hands went up. There was no overwhelming sense of urgency because of the numbers.”
Jones reminded the room that at some point in the near future, if the two teams have not merged under the GVHA umbrella, Crested Butte youth hockey will likely move into a club format and will no longer be a Parks and Recreation program.
“It’s unusual for a Parks and Recreation Department to run a hockey club,” says Jones.
Solanik and Jones shared comments and concerns from both parent meetings and the two groups decided to table the idea for the 2013-2014 season.
“The ultimate goal is to improve the programming of youth hockey reasonably and responsibly,” says Solanik.
“There are some things that still need to be worked out,” says Jones. “I believe that if we can dig through those details and provide a draft of amended bylaws that alleviate any potential concerns, we can get this done for the 2014-2015 season.”