CB Wolfpack finishes season third in state tournament

“It was way more than I expected”

Crested Butte Wolfpack hopes were high heading into the Midget Major A state tournament last weekend.
They rattled off three wins in the final four games of the regular season and entered the postseason the third seed to face the number two seed Littleton in the opening round Friday evening.
“Everyone was feeling great and we really felt like we could beat Littleton since we played them close at the beginning of the season,” says Wolfpack head coach John Mortell.
Unfortunately, it was a tough start for the Wolfpack the minute they left Crested Butte bound for the state tournament on Friday, March 7. With a serious storm front moving across the northern part of the state, travel was slow to the show, leaving the team just 30 minutes to hit the locker room, get dressed and take to the ice to warm up.
“There wasn’t much time for the guys to warm up which was a little challenging,” says Mortell. “We were chasing them around a little at the beginning of the game. Luckily Montana was on fire immediately in net.”
Littleton capitalized on a powerplay nine minutes into the game and added a second goal a minute later to build a 2-0 lead heading into the second period.
In addition to the long drive and short warm-up, the Wolfpack had another issue to overcome in their game against Littleton, as they suffered numerous penalties throughout the game, forcing them into numerous penalty kill situations.
“We played a majority of the game in the penalty kill,” says Mortell. “We were the least penalized team all season and we picked up 10 penalties in that game alone.”
Warmed up after one period of play, the Wolfpack started playing their style of hockey and things were in place for the Pack to mount a comeback. Yet, Littleton’s goalie stood on his head in net, turning away many Crested Butte opportunities. Littleton added one more goal in the third period to take Crested Butte down 3-0.
“We forced them into playing our game and they started chasing us,” says Mortell. “We did everything we wanted to do in that game except put the puck in the back of the net.”
The opening round loss dropped the Wolfpack into the losers bracket for their second game of the weekend but due to the double-elimination format, there was still hope for a shot at the state title.
The Wolfpack made the most of their next game with all systems firing as they handed Glenwood Springs a 5-2 drubbing. Josh Melnick put the Pack on the board, scoring an unassisted goal two minutes into the game. Ian Dethloff then finished off an assist from Sam Reaman and Crested Butte was in control at the end of one period.
They maintained their pace through the next two periods of play with Reaman scoring in the second period off an assist from Danny Stoneberg, and Dethloff and Melnick adding a second goal each in the third period. Meanwhile, the Wolfpack defense of Liam Mortell, Ashton Mabry, Stoneberg and Emerson Wohlers did the rest to seal the 5-2 win.
“We took it to them,” says Mortell. “The boys never let down and they couldn’t keep up with Ian and Sam.”
The win kept the Wolfpack’s hopes alive for a state title bid but it was going to tough. They needed to beat Arapahoe first and then face Littleton again and beat them two more times.
“We needed to win the three hardest games of the season in a row,” says Mortell.
Arapahoe, who ultimately won the state title, proved too much for the Wolfpack, as Crested Butte lost 5-0.
“They have a great goalie, were playing on their home rink and were just a little quicker than we were,” says Mortell.
The Wolfpack closed out the tournament in third place, exceeding the expectations of Mortell and bringing Crested Butte hockey to another level.
“It was way more than I expected,” says Mortell. “I just wanted to make the playoffs and to make it to the third round was great. We let everyone know Crested Butte hockey is here. This year’s team took Wolfpack hockey to a level it’s never been at. The coaches really want to thank the families, friends and fans too.”