The 15th season for the North Vancouver Wolf Pack has ended, after a nail-biting 4-3 second-overtime loss in a best-of-three “survivor series” against the Grandview Steelers.
The two Pacific Junior Hockey League teams faced off Sunday night at Harry Jerome Arena. It was a must-win game for the Wolf Pack, after losing to the Steelers in Game 1 of the series, Feb. 15.
It was a back-and-forth game with North Van up 3-2 nearly halfway into the third period. But a powerplay goal from Grandview forward Steven Konechny took it into overtime. The game-winning goal came from first-star Kaidan Johnson at nine minutes and 33 seconds into second overtime-period play.
The Steeler’s goalie picked up the second star with a whopping 43 saves. The third star went to the Wolf Pack’s goaltender Charlie Tritt, with 31 saves.
After going winless in its first month of the regular season, the Wolf Pack made some changes to its roster and won 25 of its next 37 games, climbing out of the basement to make it to the play-in survivor series.
Acknowledging the challenges and successes, the Wolf Pack thanked fans in a blog post.
“Thank you for cheering on the team this season wherever you were. You stuck with us through the good times and the bad and we truly appreciate it,” reads the post.
The Wolf Pack roster includes five players from North Vancouver – Leo Keith, Jason Scott, Kaj Burgess, Corson Penman and Luke Bradley – and West Vancouver’s Branden Pollock.
On the Burnaby-based Steelers are Luke Cox, Max Chelico, Gabriel Adam and Nico Falso, all from North Vancouver.
The Steelers and Wolf Pack were ranked fourth and fifth in the PJHL’s Tom Shaw Conference in the regular season.
Tough way for the wolves to go out. 🐺 pic.twitter.com/5eOycRsZfr
— North Vancouver Wolf Pack (@NVanWolfPack) February 20, 2023
