The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
First home game of the season Friday night in Gunnison
by Than Acuff
With the loss of so much scoring punch to graduation, West Elk Wolverines head coach Joe Otsuka knew he had to change things up significantly for the team this season. Last year the Wolverines were able to push the pace offensively and then switch gears to puck possession when needed.
This year, Otsuka has been focusing on the latter with the team and went right to work coaching their new game plan as they started out with their preseason workouts.
“This year we’re going to have to rely more on a puck-possession game and we were able to install a couple of new things the past two weeks and bring some system changes in with this new group,” says Otsuka. “The players bought into it early and it was looking good in practice.”
The Wolverines got the first test of their new hockey paradigm this past weekend when they headed to Telluride for two games on Saturday, December 12. All systems seem to be well in place as the Wolverines came away with back-to-back wins.
The Wolverines opened the scoring three minutes into the first game when Lucas Solanik found the back of the net. The Wolverines continued to run their systems the remainder of the game, finding numerous opportunities on net but Telluride’s goalie proved to be lights out.
“We had 80 percent of the puck possession and credit goes out to their goalie,” says Otsuka. “He did everything for them.”
After a scoreless second period, the Wolverines added to their one-goal lead 44 seconds into the third period as Ethan Shaw scored off an assist from Colby Archuleta. Telluride cut into the lead five minutes later and a slight sense of panic started to spread among the Wolverines.
“We went right back to business but we were also back to being frustrated with not scoring,” says Otsuka.
Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed and they continued to dominate puck possession and seal the 2-1 win. In the end the Wolverines outshot Telluride 31-11 and Cam Curtiss recorded his first win as a Wolverine goalie.
“The first game I was really happy to see things in place and working,” says Otsuka.
The Wolverines picked right up where they left off in the second game against Telluride. They continued to dominate puck possession and outshot Telluride 41-12, eventually coming away with a 2-0 win on goals from Gage Meredith and Shaw. Clayton Freed stood between the pipes in the second game to record the shutout.
“Cam and Clayton both played really well and it was a really good showing by our squad for the first two games,” says Otsuka.
While Otsuka points out that frustration can take over if a team is dominating but not scoring, his team kept their heads and look to use these first two games as an example later in the season.
“We’ll be tapping on these first couple of games later in the season and reminding them instead of going for the home run to focus on the little things,” says Otsuka.
The Wolverines will host their first home games of the season this weekend as they face Ranch Hockey Club. They will play Friday, December 18 in Gunnison at 8 p.m. and then again on Sunday, December 20 at 11:30 a.m. in Gunnison.
“For us it’ll be a good weekend if we can stay within ourselves, reinforce what we’ve been working on and not get caught up in the home town crowd,” says Otsuka.
