Wolverines hockey club makes debut

Whitefish’s new junior hockey club made its debut last weekend, donning burgundy and gold jerseys for the home crowd at the Stumptown Ice Den.

Whitefish put up a good effort against the top-rated Idaho Steelheads, but came out on the losing end each night.

“We opened against the best team in the country,” Wolverine coach Joakim Falt said. “For being a brand new team, we did really good.”

“We worked hard and played to the best of our abilities.”

The Wolverines opened the series with Idaho with a tough 14-0 loss.

The club rebounded the next night with a good effort in a 3-1 loss. Whitefish’s Aleksei Garin scored the team’s only goal at 4:31 into the third period to make the score 2-1.

Goalkeeper Joakim Hidestrand stopped 40 shots out of the 43 that he faced.

“Our boys showed they can play with the best that night,” Falt said.

On Sunday, the Wolverines lost 7-1.

Falt says the team needs to execute on scoring opportunities to have a chance this season.

“If we don’t execute, we won’t be successful,” he said.

Power plays and defensive zone coverage also need to improve, he said.

The Wolverines joined the Western States Hockey League last spring. The club succeeds the Glacier Nationals as the hometown team after the Nationals moved to Havre in May.

The club returns to action Sept. 26-28 with a road trip to California to face the Lake Tahoe Blue.

The Wolverines next home stand is Oct. 3-5 against the Southern Oregon Spartans.