The Whitecourt Wolverines entered the Christmas break on a sour note after dropping back to back games against Spruce Grove and Bonnyville this past weekend.
The Wolverines were defeated 4-2 by Spruce Grove on Friday at the Scott Safety Centre in a game that saw Whitecourt on the penalty kill on twelve occasions. Spruce Grove jumped out to a 2-0 first period lead before Jordan Davies got Whitecourt on the board with his goal at 19:01 from Evan Warmington. Colten Mayor tied the game at two early in the second period when he scored at 4:27 from Zach Paterson and Clay Spencer. Spruce Grove notched two more goals to seal the 4-2 victory. Spruce Grove outshot Whitecourt 30-18 in the contest in which Mac Engel stopped 26 of 30 shots for the Wolverines.
Saturday night wasn’t kind to the Wolverines as well as they dropped a 6-2 decision to the Pontiacs in Bonnyville in which the Pontiacs scored three of their goals on the power play. Bonnyville stormed out to a 5-0 lead before Joel Kocur got Whitecourt on the board at 3:04 of the second period with assists to Joel Herbert and Evan Warmington. Brandon Switzer scored on the power play at 18:07 of the second from Mitch Deacon and Zach Paterson to pull Whitecourt closer. Bonnyville scored the only goal of the third period to seal the 6-3 victory. Mac Engel stopped 33 of 39 shots in goal for Whitecourt.
Whitecourt enters the Christmas break with a record of 18 wins, 19 losses, 2 overtime losses and 1 overtime win, good for 38 points and a share of fourth place in the AJHL North Division. The Wolverines have scored 137 goals while allowing 148. The Wolverines Power Play is ranked 10th in the AJHL, while their Penalty Kill is ranked 16th. Whitecourt’s 1,194 penalty minutes ranks second in the AJHL. Colten Mayor continues to lead the Wolverines in scoring with 45 points in 34 games.
Next action for the Wolverines comes on Friday, January 3 when they visit the Sherwood Park Crusaders in a 7:00 pm start.