A dozen goals in just two home games for the Whitecourt Wolverines as they steamroll southern teams

The Whitecourt Wolverines decimated the Olds Grizzlys in their first game of the new decade. Played at home in front of 654 fans, the Friday, January 3 matchup delivered big for local watchers as they had regular reasons to cheer. In the first period, the Grizzlys kicked things off with an unassisted goal to take the lead 1-0. Less than two minutes later, on the powerplay, the Wolverines tied things up 1-1 thanks to a goal from Bryce Osepchuk, assisted by Brayden Labant and Ethan Leyer.

Again, less than two minutes later and still on the powerplay, the Wolverines notched in another goal this time from Brayden Labant. The goals didn’t stop there. Fifty-nine seconds later, the Grizzlys scored their second goal of the night, quickly tying things up, 2-2. With just over six minutes left in the period, the Wolverines briefly took the lead, but the goal was disallowed due to the net being off its moorings. The Grizzlys seemed to take the momentum, having just scored and managing to get a goal pulled back from the Wolverines but that shift did not last for them.

Greyson Stewart sliced one into the Grizzlys net a minute or so following the disallowed goal, giving the Wolverines back what they had lost. From that point, the floodgates opened, and the Wolverines scored another two goals, from Bryce Osepchuk and Garin Butler, before the period ended giving the home team a 5-2 lead after just 20 minutes of play.

The next two periods were relatively quiet, especially when compared to the first. Ben Wood added to the lead by scoring just past the five minute mark. Each team traded two penalties but neither capitalized on their chances. In the third period, the Olds Grizzlys managed to score on the powerplay but didn’t have enough in the tank to take down the Wolverines. The final score was 6-3 for Whitecourt.

The very next night, still at home at the Scott Safety Centre, the Wolverines hit the ice against the Drumheller Dragons. Though there were less fans in the seats than the night before (580), the home team put on another show and just so happened to nearly mirror the Friday night game. The Dragons scored first, as they tried to set the tone, but the Wolverines answered withing roughly two minutes and tied things up. Four minutes later they scored again, both goals coming from Kaleb Ergang, and ended the frame with the lead 2-1.

In the second period, Ethan Leyer found the back of the net and gave his team a wider cushion on the scoreboard, 3-1. The final period saw the Dragons score once more but it was the Wolverines that were in full control as they scored not once, not twice but three times! The final score, 6-2, was nearly identical to the night before with six goals for the home team. The next two games will be on the road against the Sherwood Park Crusaders and the Drayton Valley Thunder. The next home games will be another back to back set up on Friday, January 17 against the Thunder and the Camrose Kodiaks on Saturday the 18.