The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“It was an all-around-the-board effort”
by Than Acuff
The West Elk Hockey Association (WEHA) Wolverines u18 boys’ hockey team wrapped up the fall season this past weekend at the Colorado Veterans Cup tournament in Fort Collins and finished the three days of hockey with a couple of wins.
It’s always a tough row for the WEHA u18 team in the fall as most, if not all, of their opponents throughout the season are already on the ice while the Wolverines spend a lot of their time with dryland training and driving to Grand Junction for five hours of ice time in one day.
As a result, many of their opponents proved further along on the ice but once Jorgensen Ice Arena in Gunnison opened in late September, the Wolverines managed to get additional ice time, and it made all the difference in their final games of the season.
“They got a lot better the past two weeks,” says coach Paul O’Connor.
It showed at the tournament Friday through Sunday, November 6-8 though they had a slow start dropping their first game on Friday 5-3 to the New Mexico Ice Wolves. Ethan Suazo had two goals in the game, Cole Hawley netted one while Jack Willett and Mason Nichols provided one assist each. Goalie Atley Tillger finished the game with 23 saves.
The Wolverines then fell to the eventual tournament winners, the Casper Oilers, on Saturday 6-3 with Suazo, Hawley and Zander Zacher scoring off assists from Charlie Reamer, Mason Crist and Suazo. Goalie John Demsey finished with 19 saves.
The weekend started to turn in the Wolverines’ favor late on Saturday though skating to a 6-4 win over the Clearwater Ice Storm after a frantic first period that left the teams tied 3-3. Cobin O’Connor opened the six-goal period for the Wolverines, but the Ice Storm netted the next two goals. A goal from Hawley tied it back up but the Ice Storm scored six seconds later to retake the lead before a late goal by Zacher had it tied up 3-3.
Zacher netted his second goal of the game to open the second period to put the Wolverines out front 4-3 but Clearwater responded later in the period only to be outdone in the final minute as a goal from O’Connor of an assist by Suazo and Trevor Maltby put the Wolverines up 5-4 heading into the third period.
They had their slim one-goal lead for the entire third period and when the Ice Storm pulled their goalie, Crist scored a full-length empty net goal to seal the 6-4 win.
“We had great play from all around,” says O’Connor.
The Wolverines then closed out the weekend with a little revenge as they skated to a 5-2 win over New Mexico, the team they lost to at the start of the tournament. Reamer had two goals in the first period while Zacher and Easton Stanley scored one each for a 4-1 lead.
Penalties then plagued the Wolverines, but New Mexico could not capitalize and Stanley scored his second goal midway through the third period for the finishing touch on the weekend.
“It was an all-around-the-board effort,” says O’Connor. “I was really proud of the young guys, they fit right in.”
The team now switches uniforms as the Crested Butte Titans high school hockey season started on Monday, November 9 with a 6 a.m. practice. Their first games of the season will be in a tournament in Gunnison November 20-22.
