The Wolverines are kings atop the AJHL castle, waiting for playoffs to begin

After a season full of highs and lows, the Whitecourt Wolverines will enter the post-season in
the highest spot, first place in the AJHL. It is the first time in franchise history that the
Wolverines have entered playoffs in the league’s top spot. Their last home game of the regular
season was Wednesday night against the Grande Prairie Storm, with 470 fans in attendance. It
was RBC Night at JDA Place. Staff from the local RBC branch helped drop the puck and gave
fans fun little hand clappers and pens.
Whitecourt was first on the board in the first period for both penalties and scoring. Two minutes
and thirty-four seconds into it, Jack Pollock scored his second of the season, assisted by Kyle
Venneman, with his 15th helper. Two minutes later, Wolverines Reid Larson was caught tripping
up a Storm player and sat for two. A little while later, Venneman was called for interference,
giving the visitors another chance with the man advantage, but the Storm could not capitalize on
either opportunity.
During the midway break of the first, Wolverines’ Game Day Coordinator Stacy Crossland
hopped onto the microphone at the Chuck-A-Puck table to thank a local coach. Darrell Acker
was named Whitecourt Minor Hockey’s Coach of the Month for December for his dedication to
his U18 team, which is number one in the league. Acker has coached different teams over the
years and received loud applause from the audience as he accepted an appreciation gift, a
Wolverine hat.
In the second, the Storm answered back. At two minutes and thirty-five seconds in, just a
second more than the first period’s goal, the Storm scored to tie things up, 1-1. Just over three
minutes later, the Wolverines pushed back and regained the lead, thanks to a goal by Jalen
Bianchet, his fourteenth of the regular season. Colby Browne and Braden Keeble assisted,
pocketing their 39 and 35 assists, respectively. Before the end of the second period, the Grande
Prairie Storm managed to tie things up again with a goal at 15:53. The lone penalty of the
second went to Whitecourt’s Jack Franklin for holding.
In the final twenty minutes of regulation, things got heated as both teams pushed to take the W.
The Wolverines had already established themselves as Kings of the AJHL, with over ten points
between them and the second-place team, and a loss or win would not change that. But every
team wants to win their last home game of the regular season. It was clear that the Wolverines
wanted this win for their fans.
Three names already on the score/assist sheet earlier in the game found themselves together in
the attacking zone: Browne, Franklin, and Keeble. After a pass or two between them, the puck
landed on Keeble’s stick, and he managed to pot in his seventh goal of the season. Franklin got
his 19th assist, and powerhouse Browne got his fortieth. The Wolverines won 3-2.
Speaking of Browne, after two considerable efforts saw him recently tally two four-point games,
and after netting his 150th AJHL point in last week’s win over Drayton Valley, he was rightfully
crowned as the AJHL’s Player of the Week.
Several Wolverines’ players are up for AJHL awards this season. Goalie Ben Charette is
nominated for two awards, MVP and Top Goaltender. Charette leads the league in both save
percentage (.925) and goals against (2.40) and is the only goaltender nominated for MVP. Joey

Melo, who set a new team record for most goals scored by a rookie (22), is in the running for
Rookie of the Year, and Dylan Leslie is nominated for Most Dedicated. Leslie has been a
Wolverine since entering the league in 2019, with over 175 regular season games under his belt
and nearly 200 when counting playoff games, the fourth highest in Wolverines’ history. Leslie
has reached a career-high for points this year with 38. Head Coach Shawn Martin is also on the
list with his Coach of the Year nomination.
With all the chaos of the last month in the rearview mirror, the Whitecourt Wolverines are
steadily focused on the playoffs coming their way. As the top team, the Wolverines snagged
home-ice advantage, something fans will enjoy. “There has been a lot of stuff going on within
our league, but we’re just staying focused on what we can control, and that’s going out every
single night and playing to our best ability. Hopefully, we can have a long run to the end of April.
Start of May is our main goal right now,” said assistant coach Bryson Traptow, speaking recently
about the post-season and beyond.
The Whitecourt Wolverines will soon start battling it out for the top prize in the AJHL, the Inter
Pipeline Cup. To keep up to date on when the playoffs start, visit www.whitecourtwolverines.ca.
Go, Wolverines, Go!