22.5°C Not observed 
Last week Squamish Wolfpack Head Coach Matt Samson was adamant that his team would need to win two of their upcoming three games – and his players came through.
Defenceman Brandon Pfeil recorded a hat trick as the Wolfpack began the crucial stretch with a 5-3 victory on the road versus the Aldergrove Kodiaks.
Jake Charles recorded three assists and now sits 11th amongst the league leaders in points. Malcolm Gould added a goal and three assists and sits close behind Charles in 18th place.
Gould was named the second star of the game behind Pfeil, who now needs only one goal to tie for the league lead amongst defencemen.
Pfeil seems to be fitting into his new role exceptionally.
“[Last year] I wasn’t really expected to do much – I’ve been a little bit more counted-on for goal-scoring this year.”
But as the third period expired, Wolfpack players were involved in a scrum that resulted in the suspensions of Wolfpack captain Hunter Nelson, Colton Lewis and two Aldergrove players.
Though unhappy that the altercation had occurred, Samson took some positives out of the situation.
“The guys all stuck up for each other,” he said. “We had to basically pull one their guys off of one of our guys.”
The Wolfpack returned to Squamish on Saturday (Nov. 21) for a game that left them without Nelson and Lewis facing the Mission Ice Hawks, which the team must catch to make the playoffs.
After a hard-fought opening two periods, and a goal by Jake Charles, the game was tied 1-1. Then the Wolfpack released the floodgates and inundated the Ice Hawks in the third.
Joshua Schaubroeck finished off a great passing play from Brady Bjornson and Brackendale’s Jacob Melville that lit a fire under the Squamish team that just would not extinguish.
Michael Mackie-Kwist made the score 3-1, while Malcolm Gould and Michael Ondzik added impressive insurance goals.
Scott Ismond only faced 22 Ice Hawks shots, but in stopping 21 of them improved his personal record to 2-3 since being traded to Squamish.
Schaubroeck was named the game’s first star, while Melville and Ismond came in second and third, respectively.
Samson was more-than-pleased with Schaubroeck.
“He was our best player overall. He’s an energy player,” he said. “Overall, I thought we really dominated play… having a good crowd really energized the team.”
The Wolfpack also had newly-acquired forward Marco Finucci for the first time, and Finucci contributed two assists, while wreaking havoc on the forecheck.
Finucci would figure prominently once again in the Wolfpack’s third game of the week – single-handedly leading the Wolfpack to a 2-0 lead in the first five minutes of the game versus the Mission Icebreakers.
Unfortunately, the Icebreakers were able to rally, and eventually drop the Wolfpack in a shootout, 5-4. Kiefer McNaughton and Malcolm Gould added goals for Squamish.
Ultimately, the Wolfpack picked up five points in their pursuit of Delta and showed much promise considering the amount of roster juggling.
“Now that we have our [goaltending] solidified. I think we’ve got a pretty good mix of guys,” said Samson. “I’m liking how we’re looking.”
The Wolfpack meet the Kodiaks once more Saturday (Nov. 28) at Brennan Park Arena at 7:15 p.m.
