Sooner or later all that hard work is going to pay off. The Slave Lake Wolves put in two games of good effort against the Dawson Creek Jr. Canucks on the weekend, but all it got them was another couple of losses.
On Sunday, when the Canucks spent about half the first two periods in the penalty box, the Wolves managed a tie that led to an overtime loss. In Saturday’s game they trailed 2 – 0 most of the way before making it interesting with a late third-period goal. Dawson got that back and won 3 – 1.
Coach Kevin Imrie says he’s pleased with the effort his team gave, particularly on Sunday.
“Every player played well,” he says. “It was the most complete game we have played this year.”
On Saturday the Wolves came out flying, putting lots of pressure on the Canucks. But it only lasted about three minutes. Dawson Creek scored two goals within about 25 seconds of each other and turned the momentum back into their favour.
It looked as if it might turn into a rout, but the Wolves held on and fought back, playing a gritty second period in which they gave as good as they got. Billy Beaudry played very well in net, not giving up anything else until Grant Hawkins got one late in the third.
“Beaudry was very, very good,” says Imrie. “He’s an unbelievable goaltender for a 16-year-old.”
On Sunday the Wolves again spotted the Canucks the 2 – 0 first-period lead and then tried fighting back. Beaudry was superb again, and the Wolves had more powerplay chances than they ever dreamed of. They just couldn’t do much with them. Their first goal came off a point shot by Josh Imrie early in the second period and they couldn’t find the net gain until right near the end of the third when Chris Lowe banged one in. That sent the game into overtime.
Goalie Pisim Johnson is in Ft. McMurray for a try-out with a ‘AAA’ Midget team and may or may not be back with the Wolves. There was a new face on defence on the weekend. Number 27 Mike Mason came up from Grand Forks B.C. early in the week and played two solid games for the Wolves.
“Judging by this weekend he’s going to fit in very nicely,” says Imrie, who also praised rookie defenceman Dennis Dosedel (#2) for his play.
“He wanted to win.”
The Wolves play in Grande Prairie and Peace River this weekend.

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