Wolfpack notches two league wins

Back on track

After a tough road trip to the Front Range 10 days ago, the Wolfpack returned to the Gunnison Valley to rattle off two league wins last week against the Gunnison Blades and the San Juan Wild.

They opened the two-game stretch on Wednesday, January 8 heading to Gunnison to face the Gunnison Blades. Not only do the two teams have an extended history of hard-fought hockey trading off valley domination; coach John Mortell was looking for his team to get back to what they know.
“We needed to get back to the way we play,” says Mortell, “get our confidence back, run our systems and return to our physical play.”
They met earlier this season in a non-league contest, with the Wolfpack skating to the win. Crested Butte maintained the upper hand on their down-valley rival, with an 8-3 win on Wednesday.
The game opened in the usual fashion with both teams flying up and down the ice and doling out hits. The Wolfpack opened the scoring 45 seconds into the game as Sam Reaman found Ian Dethloff breaking free with a pass, and Dethloff scored.
The Blades regrouped to take control of the game, shutting off the Wolfpack’s passing lanes and picking off passes in neutral ice.
The Wolfpack held on and kept pushing the pace though to regain the advantage. The efforts of Danny D’Aquila and Gage Meredith put the Wolfpack up 2-0.
D’Aquila won the puck in the corner and fed Meredith with a pass in the slot. Meredith’s first shot was turned away but he followed to bury the rebound.
The Blades never let up though, and with standout player Quinn Travis drawing the attention of the Wolfpack defense, other players were left open to do some damage. The Blades broke the seal on the Wolfpack net 10 minutes into the first period as Travis drew three Wolfpack players and slipped the puck to Payson Whinnery for Gunnison’s first goal.
The Blades tied the game two minutes later when Brandon Melby tipped a shot from the blue line past Wolfpack goalie Cameron Curtiss.
Crested Butte recovered to finish the first period on a high note as Reaman scored to close the period, putting the Wolfpack back on top.
The two teams traded rushes in the second period with Emerson Wohlers anchoring the Wolfpack defense and holding off numerous Blades attacks.
The Blades tied the game back up 3-3, scoring on a powerplay 10 minutes into the second period but that would be the last from them as the Wolfpack elevated their play to take control of the game for good.
“I’ve worked five different lines in five games so far to try to find the best combination and I think everyone realized they just needed to dig deep,” says Mortell.
Goals from Gus Hensley and Reaman gave Crested Butte a 5-3 lead heading into the third period. Reaman struck again in the third period and Dethloff netted a couple more to seal the 8-3 win for the Wolfpack.
“It was a huge win,” says Mortell. “It got us out of our skid and it’s always a big win against Gunnison.”
The Wolfpack returned to the ice to host the San Juan Wild on Saturday, January 11 for their first home game of the season at Big Mine Ice Arena.
Despite the excitement of their opening home game, the Wolfpack started out slow. The Wild put heavy pressure on Crested Butte early in the game, frustrating the Wolfpack’s passing attack.
But the one problem with heavy pressure and forechecking is that you open yourself up to breakaways. That’s just what the Wolfpack did as Dethloff broke loose and beat the lone defender to score for a 1-0 Wolfpack lead.
Still, the Wolfpack wasn’t quite clicking and the Wild continued to pressure, resulting in a goal one minute later to tie it up.
“They were slower than I thought they would be and we seemed to play at the level of the teams we are playing, so we were slow as well,” says Mortell.
Melnick gave the lead back to the Wolfpack later in the first period, chasing down a pass to the corner from Ashton Mabry and spinning on the defenseman to stuff his shot near post for a 2-1 Wolfpack lead.
Montana Wiggins came up with a handful of key saves in the second period to hold off the Wild and allow his team to figure things out on the ice.
Once the Wolfpack figured out the Wild’s pressure, they started breaking the puck out of their zone, resulting in a finish from Reaman as he skated behind the net and stuffed a backhand behind the goalie for a 3-1 advantage.
Melnick added a fourth goal and then Mortell let his defense do the rest in the third period to seal the 4-2 win.
“I was happy with the goals we had and just went into preservation mode and let the defense take the game over,” says Mortell.
The Wolfpack will return to the road the next two weekends for three games in Craig and then two in Telluride.
“I’m looking for us to get five wins and bring our record up to 6-4 before we head into some tougher games against Front Range teams,” says Mortell.