Playoff action for Whitecourt Wolverines!

The Whitecourt Wolverines entered the first round of the 2019/2020 playoffs with a fire lit in their skates. Their series between the Fort McMurray Oil Barons kicked off at the Scott Safety Centre on Sunday, March 1 with 862 fans in attendance. The first period was fast paced but only featured two penalties for the Barons and no goals. Halfway through the second period, Joshua Corrow opened the scoring with assists to Cedric Matte and Ethan Leyer. In the third period, the Barons managed to tie things up and neither team could score again before regulation time expired.

At 3:19 of the overtime frame, Garin Butler snipped one in past the Barons’ goaltender thanks to a sweet pass from Brayden Labant. The Wolverines took game one 2-1. The second game of the series came the very next day on Monday, March 2 still at home. This time the Wolverines wouldn’t need overtime to decide the game. They came out hard in the first period and scored three big goals including one on the powerplay. The second period was all penalties and no goals, and the third period would not be enough time for the Barons to catch up. The Wolverines took a 2-0 series lead following the 4-1 win. The game showed the intensity of the playoffs, though, with 19 penalties between the two teams.

Games three and four brought the Wolverines up to Fort McMurray to play at the Casman Centre. On Wednesday, March 4, the Wolverines hit the ice hoping to build on their positive momentum. The first period was quiet goal wise, but the second period saw each team pocket in a goal. Tied 1-1, the teams kicked off the third period with some angst. The Wolverines broke the tie at 6:49 on the powerplay with a goal from Bryce Osepchuk and quickly followed that up with another goal less than two minutes later thanks to Sam Anderson. The Barons managed to get one more goal in after a late penalty was called to the Wolverines, but it wasn’t enough. The Wolverines took it 3-2. Ryan Wallz assisted on all three Wolverine goals.

Game four was do or die for the Fort McMurray Oil Barons as the Wolverines sat poised to sweep the series. Like two previous match ups, the first period was goalless. In the second period, the Wolverines got on the board with a goal from Joshua Corrow. After 40 minutes of play, the Whitecourt boys looked to be in a good position but the same fire that seemed lit under their skates at the start of the series seemed to switch over to the Barons. In the third period, they came out like a tsunami and scored four goals. The Wolverines couldn’t keep up and ended up losing 4-1.

That sent the series back to Whitecourt where the Wolverines had the unique chance to win the series in front of their fans. That’s certainly what the home crowd was hoping for! On Saturday, March 7, the Fort McMurray bus rolled into Whitecourt and over 850 fans filed into the arena ready to cheer. In the first, the Barons snapped an unassisted goal past Duplessis and took the lead 1-0. The Wolverines seemed to have less punch and the Barons took advantage of that. They scored one goal in each period and took the game 3-0.

By the time this story prints, game six will have played out in Fort McMurray on Monday night. Here’s hoping that the Wolverines were able to finish off the series with a win. If not, then game seven is set for Wednesday, March 11 at the Scott Safety Centre.