Wolfpack alumni eke out win over Titan alums

“If we win, you better put it on the front page”

By Than Acuff

It was just a matter of time and worth the wait.

For years the annual alumni hockey game pitted the current Crested Butte Titans high school team against a plethora of alumni players from both the old Wolfpack and Titans teams. And every year, the alumni bench is choked with players wanting to play but limited by sheer numbers.

So, for the past handful of years talk about just having a strictly alumni game, as well as a game between alumni and the current high school team, circulated. This year that talk became reality as the old(er) alumni, primarily former Wolfpack players, faced the young(er) alumni, primarily former Titans players, and what ensued may have been one of the best alumni games of all time.

Good thing too because the pressure was on to give it front page coverage. As Wolfpack alumni Rask Dietrich said, “If we win, you better put it on the front page.” Not sure if you know Rask but he’s a pretty big human, on skates even bigger.

So not only was it a good game, rather a great game, but Dietrich’s team won so here it is, on the front page.

It also may have been the largest crowd ever assembled for the alumni game with parents, grandparents, friends, girlfriends, alumni and plenty of kids in attendance.

I would be remiss too if I did not mention that one particular player had numerous onlookers wondering who the big guy was, with the big beard, eclipsing Dietrich in stature as well as facial hair.

That was none other than former Wolfpack coach Phil Martin who made the trip all the way from Minnesota for the game at the behest of some of his former players.

True, hockey can be a brutal sport but there is a big heart beneath all of that perceived brutality which is why hockey is one of the greatest games, evah.

I would also be remiss if I did not mention that the ice was littered with numerous players from the 2021 Titans team that battled its way to the 4A state finals back in 2021.

Speaking of greatest games, we had a hot one at Big Mine Ice Arena, barely frozen but delicately and diligently prepared for the big night by the rink staff, with Shaun Rourke in net for the Titans alumni and Montana Wiggins in net for the Wolfpack alumni.

While Rourke proved in the zone, the Wolfpack alumni struck first as Dietrich tipped a shot by Ashton Mabry past Rourke for a 1-0 Wolfpack alumni lead.

Yet the Titans alumni team had its fair share of players currently in the collegiate mix and their speed and stickwork noticeably ahead of the rest so it was just a matter of time when they would score. And that time came with just over three minutes left in the period as Titans alumni and current Southern Methodist University Mustang player Joseph Stock and current Titans assistant coach Shane McGuiness combined for a picture-perfect breakout to send McGuinness to goal for a double move and a goal tying the game 1-1.

Rourke came up with a flurry of saves in the closing minutes of the first period, but the Wolfpack alumni retook the lead in the final minute as Joe Coburn scored, which was also just a matter of time.

As is often the case though, the older team goes all in from the opening drop of the puck only to slowly but surely, slow down opening the door for the younger players. And that appeared to be what happened in the second period as the Titans alumni rattled off three goals in a row.

Grady Dietrich started it off early with a backhand goal, McGuiness fed Titans alumni and current Northern Arizona University player Sam Dukeman for another and while Wiggins did his best to stave off the attack with his netminding work, the Titans alumni struck again as Stock carried the puck end-to-end to score for a 4-2 Titans alumni lead.

But after spending the better part of the first two periods with a target on his chest and struggling to find room, Wolfpack alumni Sam Reaman finally found some room to score in the final eight seconds of the second period and those end of the period goals can be the most dangerous with the game-scoring team going into the break pumped up and ready to pounce and the team scored upon wondering how it happened.

The best remedy would have been for the Titans alumni to score early in the third, but Wiggins was in the process of turning in one of his best games in net and made a couple crucial early saves. Feeding off Wiggins’ energy and effort, the Wolfpack alumni continued their efforts and Wolfpack alumni Dylan Curtiss slipped his shot between the pads to tie the game 4-4.

The pace ramped up as both teams made a point of playing quick shifts to avoid tired legs and the back-and-forth action had fans three rows deep pressed to the glass.

After spending the better part of the game slicing and dicing but coming up empty, Dom Piccaro, technically a Titans alumnus but playing for the Wolfpack alumni based on age, finally found the finishing touch after another coast-to-coast run to set up Rask in the slot for his second goal and a 5-4 Wolfpack alumni lead.

Then, chaos ensued as it often can when a Wiggins is on the ice. Dukeman broke free on a puck tossed up ice and Wiggins charged off his line to try and sweep the puck away. His effort was somewhat successful, but Dukeman still had a chance until he was smothered and sent sliding into the net on a check by Mabry earning him a penalty shot.

Dukeman lined up, skated in, looked to get past Wiggins but with more snow on the ice than on the mountain due to the soft conditions, his speed was somewhat hampered and his shot most likely not where he intended and Wiggins made the save.

With a little over a minute left the Titans alumni went all in and pulled the goalie looking for the game-tying goal, but the Wolfpack alumni clamped down to hold on for the win proving once again that heart and effort trumps age and ability. It’s not about how good you are, it’s about how bad you want it. Even in an alumni game.

In the second alumni game on Sunday, the Titans alumni took down the current Titans, plus a couple of visiting friends, 7-2.