Not even an assist from former Squamish Wolf Pack star Konrad Sander could help the Pack against the North Delta Devils, as the team fell 6-3 on Saturday (Feb. 5).
It was through Sander that the Pack came in contact with call-up goalie Brighton MacDonald, who made his Pacific International Junior Hockey League (PIJHL) debut against the Devils.
When Sander was playing with the Burnaby Express in the British Columbia Hockey League, MacDonald was a member of his billet family and it was through Sander's recommendation that MacDonald found his way in between the pipes for the Pack.
"He's a young kid and I thought he played fairly well for us," Wolf Pack head coach Matt Samson said of MacDonald's 24-save debut performance. "He might be someone we look at in the future because we're really not sure of what our goalie situation will be next year."
Samson wasn't disappointed with his team's effort and said his players battled hard.
"We had a really good first and you could tell the guys wanted to compete tonight," he said. "In the second we got into penalty trouble to go down 2-1 and then a bad line change really cost us. They're a good team and it's tough to come back against them."
The Devils got on the board early, scoring a power-play goal just 1:50 into the opening frame, but the Pack answered when Dean Wilson ripped home his second goal of the year 56 seconds later. Vitalik Morozov and Jamie Creamore drew the assists on the goal.
Squamish was forced to play with two men down late in the first, but the penalty kill came up huge and the Pack stayed in the game. MacDonald made several key saves during the kill and the teams remained tied after one period of play.
The aforementioned bad line change led to a two-on-one for the Devils and they took advantage, grabbing the lead at 2:54 of the second period. North Delta added another goal at 11:30 of the second to make it 3-1 after two periods of play.
The third period was where the wheels came off for the Wolf Pack, as they allowed three unanswered goals to fall behind 6-1. The Wolf Pack's Jaret Babych was also booted out of the game following a bizarre incident. Babych rocked a Devils player, who then allegedly high Babych him in the face, cutting Babych open. Upon seeing blood, Babych challenged the Devils player to a fight and the North Delta defenceman opted not to drop the gloves. As a result, Babych gave the player a few whacks with his stick and was promptly given two 10-minute misconducts and kicked out of the game. The Pack managed two late goals from Connor Cross and Brady Bjornson, making the final 6-3 for North Delta.
The loss puts Squamish's record at six wins, 32 losses and four overtime losses for the season. The Pack's record in 2011 sits at one win and nine losses.
Next up for Squamish will be Sander and the Delta Ice Hawks, who take on the Pack on Saturday (Feb. 12). Puck drop is scheduled for 7:15 p.m.
