Titans hockey takes two from Santa Fe

Exhibition games prove fruitful

By Than Acuff 

With a big break from hockey games during the holidays, the Crested Butte Titans looked elsewhere to keep the senses sharp hosting a team out of Santa Fe, New Mexico for two games over the weekend.

The two-game stretch was notable for several reasons. For starters, the Titans broke out the West Elk Hockey Association Wolverines uniforms for the games since they were exhibition games and not official high school games. Secondly, the games were played at Big Mine Ice Arena in Crested Butte. State high school hockey requires all high school games be played at indoor rinks, so the local high school players haven’t been able to play a game at Big Mine since the 2016-2017 season. Thirdly, among the four officials working the game was former coach John Mortell. And last but certainly not least, Bob Piccaro, who stepped away as an assistant coach for the high school team last season, was back on the bench for the two games.

All of that said, it was not the strongest showing for the Titans in the first game Friday, December 29. Perhaps it was the holidays, or holidaze, but the team that took the ice in the first showdown was not the same team that battled both Cheyenne Mountain and Colorado Academy in their last two games before the break.

Nonetheless, Santa Fe was not nearly as strong as those teams and provided an opportunity for several of the younger Titans to get shifts and the team to continue working on systems in game situations.

The Titans scored early in the first period when Vojta Jirka carried the puck through the neutral zone and past the Santa Fe defensemen to score. That effort led to additional disjointed play from the Titans and while they were dominating play, they struggled to add to their lead finishing the first period with a slim 1-0 lead.

“There was too much of the one-man show going on,” says interim coach Bob Piccaro. “I told them they’re playing these games to work on everything their coaches Joey and Shane have been coaching.”

Play improved for the Titans in the second period and they spent a good portion of the first seven minutes in Santa Fe’s zone but the Santa Fe netminder shut down numerous shots in close. Crested Butte eventually scored a second goal in the eighth minute when Mason Weitman slipped one past the Santa Fe goalie. A minute later, they cycled the puck low to set up Jirka for his second goal of the game and they closed out the second period with a powerplay goal for a 4-0 lead.

The short bench of Santa Fe started to show as the Titans continued to push the pace. Grady Buckhanan scored a wraparound goal five minutes into the third period. Piccaro continued to cycle the younger players in for more experience and the two teams played eight minutes of scoreless hockey until the first two lines finished out the game with three more goals. 

Grady Dietrich skated in off the wing to score and then set up Buckhanan 30 seconds later for another goal and Jirka completed his hat trick scoring in the final minute for the 8-0 win. Shane Mensing finished his game in net with the shutout.

Piccaro shared some words of inspiration for the younger skaters and switched up some lines when the Titans returned to the ice on Saturday, December 30 to face Santa Fe a second time. Both teams brought a better game to the ice on Saturday with the Titans doing more of what Piccaro was looking for.

“Everyone off the puck was moving much better and I got to play the freshmen more and they played really well,” says Piccaro. 

Santa Fe’s goalie was out sick though, so while Mensing got another start in net for the Titans, Jordan Silva was asked to stand in net for Santa Fe.

The improved movement and team play paid off for the Titans as they skated to a 9-1 win on Saturday. Dietrich continued his scoring ways netting two goals, Carson Zummach and Max Dukeman scored two goals each as well, while Luke Hartigan, Jirka and Zander Zacher scored one goal apiece.

“I give Santa Fe credit,” says Piccaro. “They matched our level of intensity and never quit hustling.”

The Titans return to Colorado high school play this week as they hit the road to face Battle Mountain on Friday, January 5 and Air Academy on Saturday, January 6. Their next home game will be against Summit on Friday, January 12 back at Jorgensen Ice Arena at 4:30 p.m.