It's Hockey Time
It has been leaked that the official start to the 2007-2008 GTHL season will begin on Saturday October 13. The schedule is not yet out but it is rumored that it may be a double header. That information may come as early as tomorrow as the schedule may then be released. Some reporters have stated that the T-Wolves have not yet established line combinations for the season opener and will be experimenting in the first few games. In other news, a team from Landmark that made an attempt at entering the league will not enter but a player is in negotiations with the T-Wolves but has not yet signed. However, there will be one more team entering the league this year but the name and location of the team is unknown at this time.
Pre-Season Action
The T-Wolves got underway in a preseason game against Landon Elhard's old team. The boys came out a little rusty but once they were able to find the net the goals kept coming. In net Tim had a little bit of a rough season however most of which is due to the fact that he has an injured left hamstring muscle. The defense had a few breakdowns especially when Josh Thiessen fell on his behind and the other team skated in a found the back of the net. Most of the players looked to be a little out of shape as the game got more wide open due to the fact that no-one had the energy to play defensively leaving both goalies out to dry. In a post game interview Landon Elhard said, "It was a good test. It felt good to get out there and knock the rust off the legs. We should be good to go Saturday." Tim Thiessen also stated that he will be ready to go Saturday and that he feels his leg is getting better and that he will give it 110% regardless of how it feels. The score of the game is unknown. Some say it was close but quite frankly, I have not got the slightest idea. There were some young prospects in the game for the T-Wolves. One player out of the three may play for the T-Wolves this season. The T-Wolves should be ready to go on Saturday and are expected to get their veterans that missed the game on Tuesday back for the start of the season.
Opening Season Tie
The T-Wolves got the season started off with a 6-6 tie against the Chiefs. The Chiefs scored early in the game on the first shift but the T-Wolves soon countered with a goal of there own. The T-Wolves opened up a two goal lead in the third when Josh Thiessen took a gift wrapped pass from Jeff Penner and put it in the open net. The Chiefs then countered with two goals of there own in 14 seconds and we were back at a draw. Landon Elhard with 19 seconds left took a pass from Mark Thiessen and was able to slide the puck past a sprawling Chiefs keeper to put the T-Wolves back on top. However with roughly six seconds left on the clock the Chiefs called a time out and off the ensuing face-off to the left of Tim Thiessen the Chiefs were able to put in a rebound past goaltender Thiessen to tie up the game. It was a hard fought battle and though the outcome was a tie the T-Wolves have already tied last years point total of one and are looking forward to playing the Classics next Saturday. "Tying the Chiefs was some what of a victory since they finished on the top of the league last year," said Josh Thiessen, "but having the game end like that still seems like somewhat of a loss." The T-Wolves are hoping that Dean Waldner and Jeff Penner will continue to play with the team as they both had a multiple point game. After team practice on Monday a reporter caught up with Tim Thiessen and he said, "Well pretty much we are guaranteed the win this Saturday against the Classics. Our team is getting stronger and my position in goal is also getting better. Pretty much we are going to be a dominant team this year." One would say those are pretty bold statements coming off a 6 goals against outing but this team is looking much better than last year and could challenge for a top half playoff spot this year.
Second Game Draws Near
On Saturday, October 20, the T-Wolves will lace em up against the Classics. These two teams had a good season series last season. Classics however won each of the games in which they faced each other but the T-Wolves were close and probably could have won some of those games if they knew how to put a solid third period together. The T-Wolves are expecting one or two new faces for this game to bolster their line up. Gatlin _______(fill in a last name of your choice) will be in the line up. Also Kenton and Dennis' brother Wayne may also be in the line up come Saturday. The return of Dean Waldner to the line up will be a good help as well as Myron Thiessen will be making his season debut, he will be replacing Allen Thiessen on the defence as he is off to Nipawin on a scouting endeavor. He will be scouting prospect Matthew Thiessen who had limited game time last year. The T-Wolves are looking forward to having Matthew come out for some games during his breaks at Nipawin. After last weeks last second tie the T-Wolves will most likely come out hard this week in a seek of their first ever franchise win that was so dramatically stolen out of their clutches last week.
T-Wolves Lose Their First Game
This weekend marked the first loss for the T-Wolves this season. They fell to the Classics by a score of 8-5. The Pack came out a little sluggish in the first period and the Classics took advantage of that and opened up a size able lead. The T-Wolves countered with some goals of their own but could not find a way to get back into the game. The Classics received some early bounces and got a couple lucky goals and The T-Wolves found themselves trailing. The T-Wolves had a hard time finding the back of the net. Ryan Peters got stopped on a break away. Josh Thiessen took a drop pass from Ryan and attempted to put one up stairs but the Classics goalie flashed the leather on that one keeping the puck out. The Classics goalie made some big saves at key times in the hockey game to keep the T-Wolves from clawing back into the game. There was some controversy in the third period when forward Josh Thiessen cut in at the top of the circles and let a wrist shot go that beat the goaltender but hit the post. The ref blew the whistle indicating that he thought the puck went in but when the Classics claimed that it did not go in the referee called it no goal saying that he did not actually see the puck in the net. After the game a reporter caught up with Ryan Peters and he said, "it looked like the puck went in. I thought it hit a post on the inside of the net." None the less the T-Wolves just could not match the early play of the Classics and therefore found themselves behind at the end of play. The T-Wolves look forward to a double header this coming weekend as they face off against the Phantoms and Dycks on Saturday and Sunday respectively. They will have to come out with a better effort in the first period of both those matches if they want to come out with a win or two this weekend.
On a side note please remember that the game on Saturday is in St. Agathe not Niverville.
T-Wolves Receive Mange
The T-Wolves started off this weekends double header against the Phantoms. The 0-0 score at the begining of the game was the closest the Wolves got all game. The Phantoms came out quick scoring early. After the first the T-Wolves were only down 2-0 despite being badly outplayed. The second period was the same in that the Phantoms controlled the play but was different in that they started to find the goal and did not stop until they had scored 6 goals in the period. In the third after some intermission deliberations the T-Wolves scored twice and were able to play a better period but still lost by a score of 11-2. If not for the third period one could argue that this would have been one of the worst, if not the worst game in franchise history. The pack came out slow and could not find their legs probably due to the fact that they only had 8 skaters to the Phantoms 12.
On Sunday the T-Wolves found themselves facing off against the Dycks. And once again the T-Wolves came out to a slow start and after the first shift they were already down by 1. The T-Wolves played much better in this game and really took the game to the Dycks in the third but it was to little to late as they lost 6-4. The third period was the best period that they played all weekend and outscored the Dycks 2-0 in the frame. If something can be brought out of these games to next weekend it has got to be the play from that third period. If they were to play like that in all periods they would find themselves more often than not in the lead at the end of the game. The next game is in Ste. Agathe against the Southwinds at 3:30 on Saturday. We will see if the T-Wolves will be able to put 3 periods together.