By GREG NESBITT
Crossroads This Week
October 29th, 2010 Edition

           
The Waywayseecappo Wolverines are gradually working their way back to the .500 mark after a sluggish start the Manitoba Junior Hockey League this season.  After going winless in their first five games, the Wolverines have since won six of their last 10 games, including a 3-1 win over the Portage Terriers in front of an announced crowd of 527 in Portage la Prairie on Tuesday, Oct. 26.  The Wolverines are still in last place in the six-team Sher-Wood Division, but are just one game under .500 with six wins, seven losses and three overtime losses. In fact, as of press time only eight points separated the first and sixth place teams.

Wolverines 3 Portage 1
Brett Pinkerton's goal midway through the third period was the game winner in the Wolverines' 3-1 win over the Terriers.  After the first two periods were scoreless, Bobby Janzen opened the scoring for the Wolverines at 2:13 of the third. After Pinkerton made it 2-0 at 9:18, Tanner Waldvogel replied just 13 seconds later to cut the lead in half. Ryan Duhaime got an insurance marker for Waywayseecappo at 12:35.  Brett Gagnon picked up the win in goal for the Wolverines, making 19 stops. Kirk Coswell stopped 26 shots in a losing cause for the Terriers, who are tied for second in the Sher-Wood Division with the OCN Blizzard.

Neepawa 3 Wolverines 1
Tripp Emmer scored twice as the Natives dumped the Wolverines 3-1 in front of 382 spectators in Waywayseecappo on Saturday, Oct. 23.  Daniel Adams' shorthanded goal in the second period proved to be the game winner for the Natives, who led 1-0 and 2-0 at the intermissions.
Brett Pinkerton's powerplay goal midway through the third period broke Neepawa netminder Wendel Vye's shutout bid. Vye finished with 25 saves.  Brett Gagnon stopped 17 shots in the Wolverines' goal.

By GREG NESBITT
Crossroads This Week
October 22, 2010 Edition

Defenceman Zach Sweet scored the only goal of the shootout to give the Waywayseecappo Wolverines a 7-6 win over the Addison Division leading Selkirk Steelers in a Manitoba Junior Hockey League game played in Waywayseecappo on Sunday, Oct. 17. The entertaining game was played in front of 290 fans.  Sweet's goal salvaged two points that should have been the Wolverines in regulation time.  Leading 6-4, the Wolverines gave up two goals in the last 1:13 seconds - both with Selkirk netminder Trent Michalick on the bench in favor of an extra attacker - to send the game into overtime.  The Wolverines (5-6-3-0) led 3-2 after the first period and the teams were tied 4-4 after 40 minutes.  Shane Goodrunning had a hat trick for the Wolverines, with Ashley Howie, Jordan Hirano and Brett Pinkerton notching singles.  Joel Ridgeway and Colan Jackson each scored twice for the Steelers, with Matt Kaarela and Alex Kampen picking up singles.  Brett Gagnon stopped 36 shots in the Wolverines' goal, while Michalick finished with 26 saves for the Steelers.

Wolverines 3 Steinbach 1
Matt Malenstyn's first period goal proved to be the game winner as the Wolverines dumped the Pistons 3-1 in front of 388 fans in Waywayseecappo on Saturday, Oct. 16.  Ashley Howie and Dave Williams also scored for the hosts, who led 2-0 and 2-1 at the intermissions.  Tanner Harms was the only Piston able to beat Wolverines' netminder Riley Feser, who finished with 24 saves.
Caden Unger stopped 22 shots in a losing cause for the Pistons.

GREG NESBITT
Crossroads This Week
October 15th, 2010 Edition

Despite firing 25 shots at Swan Valley Stampeders' netminder Jason Argue, the Waywayseecappo Wolverines couldn't put a puck past him as they dropped a 2-0 Manitoba Junior Hockey League decision in front of 420 fans in Swan River on Wednesday, Oct. 13. The loss came on the heels of two strong games at the Showcase Weekend in Winnipeg that saw the Wolverines pick up three of four possible points.

Swan Valley 2 Wolverines 0
Clark Byczynski's powerplay goal early in the first period proved to be the game winner for the Stampeders, who moved into first place in the Sher-Wood Division - one point up on the OCN Blizzard.  The fans were just getting settled in their seats as Jeff Peel put the hosts up 2-0 with a goal 17 seconds into the third.  Wolverines' netminder Brett Gagnon stopped 27 shots.

Wpg. Saints 4 Wolverines 3 (OT)
Jorden Davies scored 10 seconds into overtime to give the Saints a 4-3 win over the Wolverines in a game played at the MTS Iceplex in Headingley on Saturday, Oct. 9.  The overtime goal completed a comeback that saw the Saints rally from a 3-1 deficit in the third to tie the game.
Kevin Shek, Jordyn Boyd and Kyle Stephansson also scored for the Saints, who trailed 2-1 after the first period.  Paul Van De Velde, Zach Sweet and Ashley Howie were the Wolverines' marksmen.  Michael Deslauriers stopped 24 shots to earn the win in goal for the Saints, while Brett Gagnon made 22 saves in a losing cause for the Wolverines.

Wolverines 6 Steinbach 1
The Wolverines turned up the offense, but didn't forget about defense in a 6-1 win over the Pistons at the MTS Iceplex in Headingley on Friday, Oct. 8.  The Wolverines led 1-0 and 3-1 at the intermissions, before scoring three unanswered third period goals to put the game away.
Defensively, the Wolverines gave up just 17 shots, with only Brett Fargher able to solve netminder Brett Gagnon.  Shane Goodrunning scored twice for the Wolverines, with Ryan Duhaime, Gary Raj, Curtis Veitch and Joe Carney picking up singles.  The Wolverines had a whopping 46 shots on Pistons' netminder Caden Unger.

WOLV TALK - Waywayseecappo is sixth in the Sher-Wood Division, two points back of the Neepawa Natives... Stephane Robidoux was reassigned to the Wolverines this week by the WHL's Portland Winterhawks. The 19-year-old Haywood, MB defenceman was pointless in two regular season games with the Winterhawks... The Wolverines host the Steinbach Pistons on Saturday, Oct. 16 and the Selkirk Steelers on Sunday, Oct. 17.

By GREG NESBITT
Crossroads This Week
October 8th, 2010 Edition

Two third period powerplay goals propelled the Waywayseecappo Wolverines to a 4-1 victory over the Swan Valley Stampeders in a Manitoba Junior Hockey League game in front of 297 fans in Waywayseecappo on Wednesday, Oct. 6.
The win was the second in a row for the Wolverines, after the team started the season without a win in their first seven starts. However, despite losing five of their first seven, the hard luck Wolverines lost only one game by more than one goal.

With the score tied 1-1, Bobby Janzen scored on the powerplay at 9:13 in the third, followed by Brett Pinkerton's powerplay marker just over a minute later. Ryan Duhaime, with his second of the game, scored a shorthanded goal into the empty Stampeders' net with 45 seconds left to put the game on ice.
After a scoreless first, Terrence Jorgensen was the only Stampeder to beat Wolverines' netminder Brett Gagnon, who finished with 17 saves.
The Wolverines peppered Swan Valley netminder Jason Argue with 33 shots.

Wolverines 4 Wpg. Blues 3
The Wolverines won their first game of the season with a 4-3 victory over the Blues before just 140 fans at the MTS IcePlex in Headingley on Sunday,
Oct. 3. The Wolverines led 2-1 and 4-1 by periods, but the Blues mounted a comeback in the third. Shane Goodrunning, Paul Van De Velde, Braeden Raiwet and Ryan Duhaime scored for the Wolverines. Jason Gardiner with a pair and Andrew Hewett scored for the Blues. Brett Gagnon stopped 18 shots to earn the win in goal for the Wolverines. Charlie Pogue made 20 saves in the Blue's net.

Winkler 4 Wolverines 1
The Flyers dumped the Wolverines 4-1 in front of 689 fans in Winkler on Saturday, Oct. 2.
Chapen Leblond, Brock Vanderveen, Michael Wilgosh and Joradna Neduzak scored for the hosts, who led 1-0 and 3-1 at the intermissions.
Paul Van De Velde was the lone marksman for the Wolverines, who were outshot 39-29 in the contest.
Peter Alexander picked up the win in goal for the Flyers, while Riley Feser took the loss for the Wolverines.

Wpg. Saints 5 Wolverines 4
Richard Little's goal with one second left in the third period gave the Saints a come-from-behind 5-4 win over the Wolverines in front of 141 spectators at the St. Adolphe Arena on Friday, Oct. 1.
The goal capped a comeback that saw the Saints rally from a 4-0 first period deficit, with three goals in the second and two more in the third.
Kyle Stephansson, Kyle Bodnaruk, Paul Crane and Jordan Davies also scored for the hosts.
Ryan Duhaime, Curtis Veitch, Dave Williams and Shane Goodrunning were the Wolverines' marksmen.
Michael Deslauriers and Brent White combined to make 21 saves in goal for the Saints. White replaced Deslauriers after the third Wolverines' goal. Wolverines' netminder Brett Gagnon finished with 33 saves.

WOLV TALK - The Wolverines play the Steinbach Pistons on Friday, Oct. 8 and the Winnipeg Saints on Saturday, Oct. 9 as part of the Old Dutch MJHL Showcase Weekend at the MTS IcePlex in Headingley. After traveling to Swan River to face the Stampeders on Wednesday, Oct. 13, the Wolverines host Steinbach on Saturday, Oct. 16.

By GREG NESBITT
Crossroads This Week

Anthony Nobili scored with 11 seconds left in overtime to give the Neepawa Natives a 3-2 win over the Waywayseecappo Wolverines in a Manitoba Junior Hockey League game in front of 341 fans at the Yellowhead Centre in Neepawa on Wednesday, Sept. 29.  The overtime loss left the Wolverines in last place n the Sher-Wood Division, winless in their first five games with a record of 0-3-2.  The Natives got a powerplay goal from Zach Mausolf and a shorthanded marker from Tyler Larson in the first period to grab a 2-0 lead.  The score stayed that way until the third when Shane Goodrunning scored at 16:01, followed by a goal from Dave Williams just 47 seconds later to tie the score.  The Wolverines outshot the Natives 47-42 in the game, including 20-10 in the third period. Wendell Vye picked up the win for Neepawa, while Riley Feser took the loss for Waywayseecappo.

OCN 3 Wolverines 2
Jorden Christianson's second goal of the game early in the second period proved to be the game winner as the Blizzard edged the Wolverines in Waywayseecappo on Saturday, Sept. 25. The game was the home opener for the Wolverines, and the 415 fans went home disappointed despite watch their Wolverines outshoot the Blizzard 30-20.  Denis Restoule also scored for the Blizzard, who tallied twice in the second to take a 3-1 lead into the dressing room.  Matt Malenstyn had both goals for the Wolverines.  Matthew Krahn stopped 28 shots in goal for the Blizzard, while Brett Gagnon made 17 saves for the Wolverines.

Swan Valley 3 Wolverines 0
Jason Argue stopped all 31 shots he faced to record the shutout as the Stampeders blanked the Wolverines 3-0 in Swan River on Wednesday, Sept. 22.  Clark Byczynski's first period goal held up until the third when Carmer Coulthart scored twice to give the Stampeders a cushion.
Brett Gagnon stopped 24 shots in goal for the Wolverines.

WOLV TALK -Dan Szwaluk dropped the puck to officially kick-off the season in Waywayseecappo on Saturday night. Szwaluk is the general manager of the Wayway Food Mart, which was the game sponsor... Veteran defenceman Jordan Holovach of Russell has been named the Wolverines' captain for the 2010-11 season... Efforts are being made to update the Wolverines' website on a regular basis... The Wolverines host Swan Valley on Wednesday, Oct. 6, and face the Winnipeg Saints in Winnipeg on Saturday, Oct. 9 as part of the MJHL Showcase Weekend.