CB Titans hockey skates past Caprock Academy

“We’re getting results from the work we’re putting in”

By Than Acuff

The Crested Butte Titans hockey team was the closest it has been to full strength all season when they skated to a 5-2 win over the Caprock Academy Eagles on Friday, January 10 in Gunnison. 

“It was a huge morale booster,” says coach Joey Otsuka.

The Titans came in looking, and somewhat expecting, to finish with the win and got down to work immediately firing off numerous shots and putting the wood to Caprock Academy with patience on offense but Caprock’s goalie was standing on his head to stave off the initial assault.

“Because we had more players back, we could run four offensive lines and their confidence was pretty high,” says Otsuka. “I think the whole team was aware how winnable the game was and we started off pretty well.”

Caprock did get a couple of close looks as they found players open in front of the Titans’ net, but Gustav DesAuliners made the stops and despite the Titans outplaying Caprock for the entire first period, the teams were tied 0-0 at the end of the first period.

“There was some uncertainty early but it’s why we play the game, you just don’t know,” says Otsuka. “You just don’t want to get ‘goalied’ out of a home game.”

Crested Butte finally broke the seal on the Caprock net five minutes into the second period as Ezra Paden put in a burst of speed up the ice to get the puck deep in Caprock’s zone. Rather than the old Titans of looking for the quick shot, they took their time to make the extra pass and find Matej Voldan open at the point and Voldan fired his shot past the Caprock goalie for a 1-0 lead.

Caprock did ping one shot off the post and the two teams traded off powerplays, but the Titans got another boost when Max Dukeman skated free up the ice during a penalty kill and ripped his shot just inside the far post for a 2-0 Titans’ lead. Successive penalties had the Titans playing two men down for a minute and then one man down for another minute, but their penalty kill did the job putting the finishing touches on a strong second period effort.

“It was nice to see all things clicking,” says Otsuka.

While Voldan’s and Dukeman’s goals were initial pressure releases, the biggest relief for the Titans came 70 seconds into the third period when Ethan Suazo won a faceoff in Caprock’s zone, got the puck back and turned and fired from just above the faceoff circle for a 3-0 Titans lead.

A Caprock shooter did hit the post a second time with his shot, but it was a slow trickler that eventually beat DesAuliners for Caprock’s first goal in the seventh minute of the third period.

“That was the flukiest of flukey goals,” says Otsuka.

The Titans responded a minute later as Tanner Maltby lined up for the faceoff in Caprock’s zone and spun on the initial drop of the puck to spin and fire a no look backhand through the pads of the Caprock goalie for a 5-1 Titans lead. Caprock did find the net once more down the stretch, but the Titans were well in control and finished off the 5-2 win. DesAuliners finished the game stopping 31 of Caprock’s 33 shots.

“It was a good game because they started to recognize how much time they have with the puck down low,” says Otsuka. “Just because we live in Colorado doesn’t mean we have to score off the rush like the Avalanche. Invest in the offensive zone, and they were doing that.”

Crested Butte then boarded the bus on Saturday, January 11 bound for Vail to take on the Battle Mountain Huskies hoping to avenge a loss to the Huskies earlier this season. Thanks to the expert skills of the RE1J bus driver, the Titans made it to the game just in time to get dressed and take the ice for the game.

“Ben Sergo did God’s work to get us through the Minturn blizzard,” says Otsuka. “It was five miles per hour from Leadville to Minturn.”

Battle Mountain struck early scoring just 41 seconds into the game and handed the Titans another blow scoring a shorthanded goal in the 10^th minute. The Titans had chances on a series of successive powerplays and finally found the back of the net as Voldan set up Cobin O’Connor for a goal to finish the first period down just 2-1.

“Aside from the shorthanded goal, we were still moving in the right direction,” says Otsuka.

The Huskies tallied a third goal in the second period and then two more in the third to skate away with a 5-1 win over the Titans. DesAuliners finished with 24 saves.

“If we were just more diligent in the corners and more physical, we could have had more time with the puck,” says Otsuka. “We just fell into some old bad habits. We are seeing some results from the work we’re putting in though.”

The Titans return home to host sixth-seeded Liberty on Saturday, January 18, the puck drops at 1 p.m.