The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Long weekend on the Front Range
The Crested Butte Wolfpack had a bit of an eye-opener this past weekend as they kicked off league play with four games on the Front Range, including two against the top team in the league.
The holidays wreaked havoc on the Wolfpack, with limited practices over the break and any momentum gained during the preseason somewhat non-existent. Furthermore, they’re several weeks, maybe months, behind a majority of the league in game experience, and it showed.
The team opened the weekend road trip Friday night against Littleton, a team that currently sits in third place with a record of 8-3 and was coming off an eight-game winning streak.
Littleton opened the scoring five minutes into the first period but the Wolfpack tied it up midway through the second period on a powerplay goal from Ian Dethloff off an assist by Christo Church.
Littleton poked another goal through late in the second period and sealed the 3-1 win with a goal in the third period.
Crested Butte got a shot at redemption Saturday morning against Littleton but struggled against the Front Range team.
Littleton opened the scoring again with a goal four minutes into the game and added a second strike six minutes later to take a 2-0 lead.
They tacked on two more goals in the second period before the Wolfpack found the back of the net when Josh Melnick assisted Isaac Evans for Crested Butte’s first goal of the game.
But before the Wolfpack could mount any momentum, Littleton struck back two minutes later to build a 5-1 lead heading into the third period.
The Wolfpack connected for a second goal midway through the third period when the work of Ashton Mabry and Gus Hensley set Evans up for his second goal of the day, but Littleton clamped down to hold on for the 5-2 win.
“We should’ve been able to beat those guys,” says assistant coach Steve Curtiss.
The Wolfpack returned to the ice Saturday night to face the Arapahoe Warriors. The Warriors have been playing since the beginning of October with 25 games under their belt already, and sit at the top of the league standings with a record of 12-0.
The Wolfpack stepped up to the challenge initially when Ian Dethloff scored off an assist from Melnick to take a 1-0 lead in the first period.
But, as the game wore on, the Warriors warmed up, scoring seven unanswered goals in a row to hand the Wolfpack a 7-1 drubbing.
“We were right in there but they stepped it up and we just crumbled,” says Curtiss. “The conditioning and relentlessness of those guys broke us.”
It only got worse for the Wolfpack as they lined up against Arapahoe again on Sunday. This time, the Warriors gave up nothing to the Wolfpack, outshooting them 46-16 en route to a 7-0 shutout.
“They are a well-oiled machine,” says Curtiss. “It was a good wake-up call for the boys. They were crushed but they weren’t as down as I was expecting. It gave them ambition to get going. I think it was a good experience even though we came away 0-4.”
Despite the brutal start to the regular season, Curtiss and the team are well aware of their modus operandi when it comes to league play.
“We’re still looking to make the playoffs,” says Curtiss. “We always start slow and then ramp up at the end. We’re still getting used to new lines and the guys coming up.”
The Wolfpack look to get back on the winning track on Wednesday, January 8 when they head down valley to face the Gunnison Blades. The Wolfpack will then host their first home game of the season this Saturday, January 11 at 5:15 p.m. when they take on Durango at Big Mine Ice Arena.
