Wolverine action at the Scott Safety Centre last week

The Whitecourt Wolverines had three home games last week. Things kicked off on Wednesday against the Drayton Valley Thunder. A small attendance of 228 fans was treated to a great game. The first period was uneventful, aside from four Thunder penalties and one Whitecourt penalty.

The second period brought in the action, with the Thunder scoring two. Riley See from the Whitecourt Wolverines made sure his team wasn’t down by two, scoring just shy of the nine-minute mark of the period. After forty minutes, the score was 2-1 for the visitors.

In the final frame, it was all about the Whitecourt Wolverines! Thomas Vela, from Dylan Leslie, shook things up first. Christiano Aiello followed with a goal from Nicolas Porterfield and Tyler Mahan. After a rough week, the Wolverines had turned a page, taking the win 3-2. The home star of the game was Thomas Vela.

On Saturday, November 27, the Wolverines welcomed the Okotoks Oilers into the Scott Safety Centre. A little over a hundred more fans than Wednesday were in attendance (322) for the first of two weekend matchups. In the first period, Jaxon Dube took a penalty for holding. The Okotoks Oilers made quick work of the powerplay opportunity, zipping a goal past the Wolverines netminder.

In the second period, the Oilers did it again. This time it was Wolverine Alex Dominique who took a penalty, hooking. The Oilers now had the lead 2-0. The visitors managed to score once more before the period, bringing their lead to 3-0. In the final period, the Whitecourt Wolverines clawed their way into it. Thomas Vela scored a beauty from Tyler Mahan just twelve seconds into the frame.

Travis Baker took advantage of a powerplay chance near the halfway mark with assists from Chase Broda and Christiano Aiello. At 15:35 of the third, the Okotoks Oilers went on the powerplay following an interference call on Christiano Aiello, but the resulting two minutes didn’t come out the way they wanted it to. Instead, it was the Wolverines snagging a shorthanded goal from Chase Broda, unassisted. Tie game! In the game’s final four minutes, the Okotoks Oilers scored two more times, including an empty netter, to take the game 5-3.

The last home game of the week saw the Wolverines battling the Brooks Bandits. The Sunday matinee had an attendance of 224 fans. In the first period, Brooks scored on the powerplay following a hooking penalty by Cooper Smyl. At the 16:30 mark of the frame, the Wolverine Tyler Mahan threw an elbow and was caught by the refs, who made him sit for two. While down a man, the Wolverines managed to steal a shorthanded goal which tied things up 1-1.

The second period only featured penalties. Brooks had two, one for slashing and one for tripping. The Wolverines had one for holding (Dube) and a high-sticking call (Vela). The third period was a little crazy. There were eight penalties called, with all but one against the Wolverines. Tanner Komzak owned four of them, game misconduct, fighting, instigator, and aggressor. With so many opportunities on the man advantage, the Brooks Bandits scored three times. The final score was 4-1. Local fans have several options to catch in-person action in December. The Whitecourt Wolverines play four home games, December 8, 11 and 14, and 18.