Last season the North Van Wolf Pack learned that even if you are the leader of the pack, it doesn’t guarantee you’ll win the race.
Play begins this week in the PJHL junior B league and the Wolf Pack will be looking to bounce back from their last campaign that saw them dominate while running away with the regular season title before quietly bowing out to the fourth-place Delta Ice Hawks in the opening round of the playoffs.
“It was definitely a tough pill to swallow,” said general manager and associate head coach Elias Godoy. “By Christmastime we were like, ‘OK, we can do this. We can win this league and make a big playoff push.’ We did one of the two. … Obviously we had a lot bigger expectations than that. The game of hockey is weird for sure. Sometimes you don’t peak at the right time.”
This year, with a less experienced Wolf Pack team set to kick off the regular season Tuesday night, Godoy is hoping that the script will flip, with the regular season acting as a time for the team to grow and develop before making a playoff push.
“You’ve got to learn from your mistakes,” he said. “This year we’re rebuilding so we’re going to be younger, but we’re still going to be competitive. We’re not looking to break any records or anything in the regular season but we want to peak this year at the right time and be flying come playoff time. Whoever we play, we’re going to make a battle out of it.”
The top five scorers from last year’s team have all moved on, so the Pack will be looking for new leaders. Third-year players Jackson Tadey and Ian Creamore will be two of the names near the top of that list. Creamore is the highest scoring returning player, having notched 33 points in 41 games last season.
“If he plays the way he did last year – a little bit more consistent – he’s going to be a threat on the ice every time he steps out there,” said Godoy.
Tadey was right behind Creamore with 31 points in 42 games.
“He’s a great two-way player – we’ve always looked at him as a defensive guy, a shut-down guy,” said Godoy. “He’s most likely going to be playing on the top line (and we’re) looking for him to put the puck in the net a little more this year.”
Other vets expected to play big roles are forwards Caleb Holonko and Taylor Seganfreddo, defencemen Christian Gacina and Aaron McWilliams, and goalie Brock Leach-Moore. The club is also excited about their crop of rookies, including North Vancouver products Tanner Versluis and Justin Lee who both will likely see time on the top forward lines right away.
“We’re going to be young, we’re going to be fast, we’re going to be hard-working,” said Godoy.
“We’re definitely a lot younger than we’ve been the last couple of years. We made a couple of good runs with some older guys, now it’s time for some of the younger guys to step up and take lead roles on the team.”
Godoy said he envisions a different type of season than last year, but the end goal remains the same.
“I think we learned last year that it doesn’t matter if you’re first or fourth with our loss to Delta,” he said. “They limped into the playoffs and then beat us – and we were in the playoffs by December. We just want to improve and make sure guys are learning the systems and learning the right way to play and working together. … If all that comes together then we’ll be ready for the playoffs, and that’s when the real season starts.”
The Wolf Pack will get an early chance at revenge when they take on Delta on the road Tuesday night.
“It’ll be a topic of conversation,” Godoy said with a laugh when asked about last year’s playoff loss against the Ice Hawks. “We’ll be ready to go.”
The home opener will be held Saturday, Sept. 10 against the Richmond Sockeyes. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Harry Jerome Recreation Centre.
