The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Big break in action
The season started out on the right foot for the Crested Butte Wolfpack hockey team two weeks ago. Despite a serious lack of ice time, the team relied on true grit to defeat the Gunnison Blades 2-1 for their first win over the Blades in several years.
The Wolfpack opened league play the following weekend with a three-game road trip to the Front Range and while they came back without a win, the team and coaches were noticeably excited with how they played.
The team stumbled, though, in their second game against the Blades on Thursday, November 29, falling 2-0 to their down-valley rival.
The Wolfpack managed to put together a solid first period of hockey. While clear opportunities on net eluded them on offense, the Wolfpack defense was strong and goalie Montana Wiggins came up with a couple of big saves, including a huge stop in the final ticks of the period to hold the 0-0 tie.
The Blades opened the second period with a power play but the Wolfpack penalty kill was impenetrable, led by heavy fore-checking to keep the Blades from setting up in the Wolfpack zone.
Penalties started piling up for the Wolfpack but their penalty killing remained stout through most of the second period.
The Blades broke the scoreless tie with a minute left in the second period during their third power play of the period when Quinn Travis picked off an errant pass and skated straight to net to score.
Once again the Blades opened the third period on a power play and a couple penalties later the two teams were left playing four-on-four hockey. As soon as the Blades gained a man advantage they went straight to work. Set up in the Wolfpack zone, the Blades pressured the slot before dropping the puck to Topher Oneil at the top of the face-off circle with plenty of room. Oneil settled the pass and ripped a wrist shot in the upper corner on the near post for a 2-0 Blades advantage with eight minutes left.
The Wolfpack had a couple of late game chances but the Blades defense was tight and intact to deny any quality shots on net as they held onto the 2-0 shutout.
The Wolfpack now have a two-week break from games and no ice time for practice until they return to action when they host the Blades at Big Mine Ice Arena on Wednesday, December 19. The puck drops at 6:30 p.m.
