For the first time this season the Squamish Wolfpack tasted victory on home ice as the team defeated the defending Pacific International Junior Hockey League champion Aldergrove Kodiaks 5-3 on Saturday (Oct. 2).
After dropping their first three games at Brennan Park to start off the year, changes were needed, said head coach Matt Samson. The Wolfpack addressed that by adding several new players to the roster on Saturday (Oct. 2).
The team added defencemen Darcy Rail and Dean Wilson as well as forward Naeem Bardai, all of whom made a significant impact, said Samson.
"We wanted guys who could win battles out there and I think the new guys helped us with that tonight," he said. "Overall it was a good effort by the boys."
Aldergrove opened the scoring four and a half minutes into the first and were buzzing the net early. Wolfpack starting goalie Jordan Liem played a solid game as he was forced to make some big saves early to hold the Kodiaks off. It paid off as Jaret Babych evened the game at one on a power play goal on a nice set-up from Matt Bonin.
Ty Babych scored five minutes later to give the Wolfpack their first lead on home ice this season.
The first period ended with the Wolfpack holding a 2-1 lead despite being out shot 15-10.
The second period saw the team score three more unanswered goals. Trevor Kang scored back-to-back markers to give the Wolfpack a comfortable three-goal lead and then Bardai added to put the team up by four.
Konrad Sander was involved in all three second period tallies, adding to the team's leading point total of 10.
Aldergrove scored late goals in both the second and third period but the lead stood for the remainder of the game and the Wolfpack emerged victorious 5-3.
One key difference that may have pushed the Wolfpack to victory was the special teams battle. The team picked up a power play goal and killed off all seven shorthanded opportunities they faced, which was in stark contrast to last week.
According to Samson, a week off helped the team prepare.
"We did work on special teams a lot in practice but especially the penalty kill," he said, noting the team had an intense "bag skate" on Tuesday.
"We wanted to send the team a wake-up call that our effort last game wasn't good enough. We've got 10 games here in October and there's a lot of must-win games for us if we want to make the playoffs."
Missing in the lineup was Brady Bjornson, who suffered an injury, and Marcus Chabot who was suspended for fighting in the last 10 minutes of the last game. But they are both expected to be in the lineup against the Ridge Meadows Flames on Friday (Oct. 8).
Ben's beast of the game: Valik Chichkin, who made a number of strong defensive plays and was a pillar of strength on the blue line for the club.
Next up for the Wolfpack is a trip to Maple Ridge to take on the Ridge Meadows Flames on Friday (Oct. 8). The next home game will see the Abbotsford Pilots come to town on Saturday (Oct. 9).
The team also plays its first game in Whistler this season when they take on the Port Moody Black Panthers at the Meadow Park Sports Centre in Whistler on Monday (Oct. 11).
For more information on the team, visit www.squamishwolfpack.com.
