The Bulldogs have won their season series against the Wolverines 3-1 after their 4-3 victory over the Wolverines. The opening first half of the period was some of the worst hockey I have ever seen the Bulldogs play.
Joey Melo scored his 10th goal of the season just 25 seconds into the game. The assists went to Alaska Anchorage commit Travis Verbeek and Brandon, Manitoba native Braden Keeble. The mood in the building just dropped. Too boot being a Tuesday night game with alot less fans than usual, close to Christmas this just started out to seem like it was going to be a very long night for the Bulldogs.
Ryan Shaw got the Bulldogs on the board at 11:43 of the first period with the assists going to Cody Pisarcyzk and Jayden Joly. It was a very strange goal. Not sure if it was intentional or not. They were playing brutal up until that puck mysteriously went in the net. Then after that it seemed like they woke up.
Otto Hanson capped off a beautiful play by burying a Tanner Willick rebound at 12:07 of the opening period. That is Hanson’s 4th goal of the season.
Tanner Willick scores a beautiful goal from Brendan Ross and Hunter Brown at 16:06 of the first period. At this point it started to look like a whole new team. I started thinking at this point about how funny it would be for the Bulldogs to make the leagues leading goalie self evict himself from the net.
Shots in first period were 15-11 for the Wolverines.
Kaiden Wiltse put the Wolverines within one when he scored his 10th goal of the season unassisted at 9:03 of the second period.
The Wolverines leading scorer Colorado native Colby Browne tied the game up for the Wolverines at 11:44 of the second period while on the Power Play. The assists on the goal going to Pickering, Ontario native Jalen Bianchet and Braden Keeble.
Shots in second period were 11-9 Blackfalds.
Josh Sale forechecks the living hell out of the Wolverines and dishes the puck out to Kody Willick who scores the game winner at 16:01 of the third period. That was awesome pressure from Sale that is straight out of a Derek Sanderson play book.
Shots in third period were 13-5 for Blackfalds. Blackfalds outshot the Wolverines in the game 36-29.
Ryder Dembo who played a few preseason games with the Bulldogs this season was called up from the Calgary Flames of the AEHL tonight.
Wilson Maxfield stopped 26 of the 29 shots that he faced for the win. While Aurora native Ben Charette stopped 32 of the 36 shot that he faced for Whitecourt.
Three Stars of the game were 1) Kody Willick 2) Tanner Willick 3) Ryan Shaw
Attendance in Blackfalds was 372.
Bulldogs next game is Friday December 15th against the Lloydminster Bobcats in Blackfalds.
The Canmore Eagles beat the short benched Brooks Bandits tonight 4-1. Which really isn’t surprising as the Bandits have 6 guys playing for Canada West at the World Junior A Challenge in Truro, Nova Scotia.
Former Blackfalds Bulldog Jack Plandowski is on the move again. This time to the Calgary Canucks. Again I would like to state that I have no idea what goes on with the players of the Bulldogs or any team in the league for that matter. As a fan which I assume many others would agree loved having the guy play here. Plandowski has already played a few games with the Canucks and the Bulldogs will play Calgary in Calgary on Monday December 18th.
Ben Charette is without question one of the best goalies in the AJHL. His stats show that and so does he when you watch him. So it is no surprise that he got a scholarship to a great school like Harvard.
Whitecourt Wolverines 20-year-old goaltender Ben Charette has recently announced his commitment to Harvard University, an esteemed institution situated in the heart of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Under the leadership of former NHL player Ted Donato, the Harvard Crimson hockey team boasts an impressive record of 27 appearances in the NCAA National Tournament. Hailing from Aurora, Ontario, Ben Charette joined the Harvard team just over a year ago after being acquired from the New Jersey Titans in the North American Hockey League (NAHL). This season, the talented goaltender has demonstrated remarkable skills, ranking in the Top 5 in the AJHL (Alberta Junior Hockey League) in Save Percentage, Goals Against Average, Wins, and Games Played among qualified goalies. Adding to his accolades, Ben was recently honored with the prestigious AJHL Player of the Month award for November 2023.
Harvard has produced such NHL players as Adam Fox, Alex Killorn, Alex Kerfoot, and many more. Lately Harvard has been in the News for other things. Many not to great and I won’t get into on this blog. But going to Harvard, this person pictured here will technically be your boss! It is funny because Harvard has such good standards (at least perceived by the public) Its Education is suppose to be the best in the world. The Athletes all seem to be top of their class. Then you look at who they appointed to be in charge of all of it. I know you should and can not judge a book by its cover. There is a reason most successful people drop out of these institutions early. Good Luck with that.
It’s funny now, I can’t speak for Wilson Maxfield or Travis Verbeek on this situation as they are both great players. But who do you thin feels stupider here? Wilson for passing it straight to him (excellent pass by the way) or Verbeek for missing the complete open net (but hitting the post perfectly).
