The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Old school stacked
[ by Than Acuff ]
While Kochevar’s has garnered some attention for their undefeated season and some ire as they appear to be stacked with young talent, YoGûy Acupuncture is strong like a rhinoceros and flying under the radar waiting to take the town league by storm in the post season with a roster of old school talent that knows just when to shine.
Reminds me of a joke Andy Bamberg told me once about a young bull and an old bull standing on a hill looking down at a herd of cows. Entirely inappropriate for print but if you don’t know the joke, ask around.
Monday night YoGûy gave a glimpse of what they are all about as they cruised to a 9-5 win over Clark’s Market. Which is notable because Clark’s Market is the defending town league champion so they don’t suck and they put up a worthy challenge through the first period.
YoGûy got off to a quick start when Robbie Holleran assisted Guy Cuilla’s goal in the first minute of the game. Shai Ovida made a couple odd man rushes on the YoGûy net but came up empty and YoGûy struck again when former Pig from the Pigs/Storm rivalry days Jeff Black fired a slapshot through traffic, that may or may not have been tipped by Holleran, from the point for a 2-0 YoGûy lead.
Side note, Black shares the defensive line with Matt Wark, former Storm player from the Pigs/Storm rivalry days. And when I say rivalry I mean it, as there was no love lost between the two teams back in the day. I will spare you the next five paragraphs that I could spend on the “good old days” of Pigs/Storm hockey but the fact that Wark and Black are now teammates speaks volumes to the bridge-building that town league hockey can provide.
YoGûy was clicking, saving their legs and letting the puck do the work with good positioning and quick passing but, again, Clark’s Market doesn’t suck and they came back to score 30 seconds later as Izzie Dethloff assisted Jack Seiver’s goal.
YoGûy answered right back 20 seconds later to go up 3-1 when Ryan Maddux scored, which provides another side note. Random Internet searching led me to an unsubstantiated fact (I mean it’s the Internet) that Maddux played for Battle Mountain High School. As I write this, the Crested Butte Titans hockey team is loading the bus to face Battle Mountain in the second round of the 4A state tournament. Not only does hockey build bridges between adversaries, it also has a “cycle of life” energy that cannot be denied.
Unless my Internet facts are flawed, but it’s all about what website you believe. Just ask the people suing the school.
Clark’s Market had the last say of the first period when Matt Whiting stripped the puck off a player and skated straight to net. Goalie Nicholas Mikeska made the initial stop but Ovida followed to punch in the rebound. Two minutes later Clark’s Market struck again as Alex Albers followed on a rebound to tie the game 3-3 and we had ourselves a game, until we didn’t.
Some defensive work by Mark Sawyer held off YoGûy’s first attack on net but YoGûy proceeded to rattle off six goals over the course of the second period. Cuilla started the onslaught off by lifting the puck top shelf with a backhand. Jack Weise then skated in from the wing to stuff his shot in. Seiver did offer some respite from the attack as he scored from the high slot but Holleran then netted two goals, Maddux one and John Baron finished it off with a slapshot just inside the post for a 9-4 YoGûy lead.
Stevie Kremer’s effort in neutral ice did eventually lead to one more goal for Clark’s Market as Albers barreled through three YoGûy players to score soon after her work and Clark’s pulled the goalie for one last miracle attempt, or four more miracle attempts but YoGûy remained on point to seal the 9-5 win.
