The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Take alumni down 7-5
Current and past Wolfpack hockey players came together to exchange some holiday cheer Saturday night at the annual Wolfpack alumni game at Big Mine Ice Arena.
Daniel Hargrove stepped in net for the alumni team with Jeff Snyder, both Cosmo and Quinn Langsfeld, Rask Dietrich, Nathan Lacy, the Gillies, Jordan Borkevec, Jackson Cooper, Willy Truettner, Pearce Roemer and John Tharp all on the ice in front of him.
In the end the Wolfpack team held off the all-star alumni squad for a 7-5 win.
Robbie Holleran led the Wolfpack with four goals and Sam Evans, Kyle Hecker and Jenna D’Aquila each had one.
Tharp led the alumni team with four goals and Cooper poked one in.
The game was a warm-up for the current Wolfpack squad as they regrouped to return to league play on Monday, December 29 to face the Gunnison Blades Black team.
The Wolfpack opened the game sluggish as the Blades threatened early in the first period. Wolfpack goalie Zach Van Dyke denied a point-blank blast from in front of the net and then reeled in a low rocket to the corner with a brilliant glove save, holding the game scoreless for the first 10 minutes.
Gunnison continued to crash the net from the high slot to create opportunities though, and their strategy paid off in the 11th minute when Dustin McGuiness found Brandon Roedder alone in front of the Wolfpack net for the stuff and a 1-0 Blades lead.
The Wolfpack responded a minute later when Max Molitor followed on a rebound to fire a shot in close. The Blades goalie made the second save but Jenner Currier was there for the second rebound to score, tying the game 1-1.
The goal energized the Wolfpack pulling them out of their doldrums and fueling the fire for an explosive second period.
Evans started off a five-goal assault by the Wolfpack three minutes into the period taking a pass from Holleran in the neutral zone and skating the puck to goal to beat the Blades net minder.
Two minutes later the Wolfpack struck again when Ben Frame carried the puck end-to-end to set up a goal. By the time Frame reached the Blades zone, he was knocked off the puck by a triple team but Max Molitor followed to pick up the loose puck and score giving the Wolfpack a 3-1 lead.
The rally continued as Holleran found Evans alone in the slot on a power play and Evans poked in his second goal of the game.
The Wolfpack netted their second power play goal of the game in the ninth minute of the second period when Molitor took a pass from Connor McGuire at the blue line and fired a wrist-shot off the far pipe and in.
Taylor Reeves capped the scoring for the Wolfpack when Holleran won a face-off in the Blades zone, pushing the puck through to Reeves for the backhand in close and a commanding 6-1 Wolfpack lead with one period to go.
The third period was somewhat uneventful, with Van Dyke coming up with a handful of saves for a total of 24 on the night to protect the Wolfpack lead as the Wolfpack skated to a 6-1 win, bringing their league record to 2-1.
The Wolfpack play their first home games of the season at Big Mine Ice Arena on Saturday, January 3 when they face the Kremmling Cattle Kings at 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. They will then host the Gunnison Red Blades, or the “A” team, on Wednesday, January 7 at 7 p.m.
