A short bench was no match for the hosting teams last weekend as the Hazelton Wolverines 12 players couldn’t hold up against the hosting Williams Lake Stampeders on Saturday and Lac La Hache on Sunday.
After a strong weekend at home the week before, the Wolverines travelled last weekend but were not able to take a full bench and paid the price, falling 20-4 to the Stamps in front of a huge crowd of 350 people and 12-4 to the Tomahawks on Sunday.
Goal scorers for the Wolves on Saturday were Lou Parent Junior with two, and Chad Lewis and Curtis Cardinal picking up one a piece.
The week before Hazelton struggled with the Stampeders at home. After coming off a huge win on Saturday night against Lac La Hache they fell 8-3 to Williams Lake, which Head Coach Ray Sturney said the referees had too much to do with.
It was 2-2 after the first but in the second power plays were a huge factor and they gave up five goals.
“It was a real dog fight and the guys were working hard that game,” Sturney said. “We tried to kill the penalties and in one case we killed 1:58 and then they scored. It was pretty frustrating. But we had some strong players like Chad Lewis played really well, Jody Giguere played hard, Matt Ranahan played really well, Louie parent and Al Tolmie were real legs for us.”
Due to the extensive travel distance last weekend, coaches and players were not available for comment on the two away games before press deadlines.
This weekend, the Wolverines are traveling to Houston to take on the Luckies on Saturday night, and are hosting the Vanderhoof Omenica Ice on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Skeena Ice Arena.