A Rivalry Explodes as the Wolfpack break through vs Rival Jesters
West Texas Shootout Hockey Invitation Tournament Playoffs Semifinal Round: #2 San Angelo Wolfpack vs #3 San Angelo Jesters
By Benjamin Martin
San Angelo TX — In a Rivalry that needs no introduction, the old schoolers of the block — the San Angelo Jesters — had taken their first loss in team history to the upstart San Angelo Wolfpack at the onset of the tournament. The grizzled veterans of the Jesters had slogged out a loss against San Antonio but rebounded well against Abilene to win in a route. Now the old hands of hockey were looking for a reckoning, including another trip to the tournament finals as the defending Sanley Cup champions. Team Captain Stephen Butler leaned over the boards into the home team bench. His piercing gaze and look of steadfast determination reminded the gathering of bearded, cussing, and muscular middle-aged men of who they had been as the kings of San Angelo hockey, “We owned these guys for the last year, we beat them in every game we played against them. If it wasn’t for a fluke in the shoot-out, they still wouldn’t have a win against us. Let’s remind them why we’re the defending champs and they’re not.”
Thirty feet to the south on the visitor’s bench, the captain of the Wolfpack was addressing the rest of the young men in red and white jerseys. After the incredible win in the shootout to start the tournament, the feeling amongst the contenders was that of optimism. They smiled and cajoled as the man with the red beard and the captain C on his chest railed on in his distinct booming voice, “These guys know we can beat them now, they know were not intimidated.” The Assistant captain Kurt Bueker looked up from tightening his shin pads and exclaimed, “We don’t have to play their game to win, we just have to play our game and keep them outside. Trey can handle them from the edges.” The team nodded in agreement and looked to the goalie for a final word of wisdom. Trey Duncan put on his goalie helmet emblazoned with the likeness of Anna Kendrick, and looked up at the team surrounding him, “It’s our game, lets go and take it.” A cheer arose from the visitor’s bench as the first line made their way to the center circle.
It was the Rivalry that saw the Jesters take the Sanley Cup only a short year ago. And through every Sunday scrimmage, through every Wednesday afternoon skate-around at Kirby park, it always came back to the Jesters and the Wolfpack, the veteran’s vs the rookies, Sante Fe vs Goodfellow, the past of San Angelo hockey vs its future.
The puck dropped and everything became a blur of sound and speed.
It was Laredo Williamson who drove first into the Jester’s zone. All it took was a quick pass to Keanu Henson and the best stick handler in the city put the puck top shelf over the goalie to make the score one goal to nothing. The Wolfpack had drawn first blood, and the game was only 45 seconds old.
Thirty seconds later, a slap shot from the Jesters defensive zone down the rink found the stick of Mickey Provost in front of the Wolfpack goal. Mickey turned and unceremoniously stuck it underneath the pads of goalie Trey Duncan. “Was that a goal?” the crowd could be heard murmuring past the stunned benches of both teams. The referee pointed, the horn sounded, and the weathered face of Mickey broke into a smile as he skated back toward his teammates. To Mickey it was all business — the lethal potential of his stick was unquestioned in the crease. The score was all tied up at one goal.
The battle continued, each team familiar with the other, each player skating and shooting just a little bit harder. The adrenaline feeding wrist shots and long passes all while the game hung in the balance.
Following a face-off in the Jesters defensive zone, Kurt Bueker laced a one-timer shot on goal that found its way behind the Jester’s goalie Ryan Andrich to leverage another Wolfpack lead at two goals to one.
The back and forth of the puck defined the game for the oncoming minutes of the first half. What had been an even match at the onset of the tournament had changed very little in the playoff round. The Jesters passed and looped the puck to the outside back to the top as their main strategy, while the equally talented Wolfpack tended to use speed and rushing attacks to get the puck into the crease. Both Ryan Andrich for the Jesters and Trey Duncan for the Wolfpack worked with tremendous fervor in goal to keep the score unchanged.
The jesters blocked a shot off the stick of Kurt Bueker. It was picked up by 2018 finals MVP Jesters forward Mike Matinchek. The tall muscular Airmen faked out Kurt Beuker who lost his footing, dangled and juked around Scott Talley, and neatly shot the puck through the five-hole on the Wolfpack goaltender to bring the score back to even. The ability of the Jester’s forward would no longer be questioned as Mike Matinchek sliced through the Wolfpack defense with such ease as to reinstate his unquestionable dominance as a skater in the crease.
Mike screamed in triumph while Kurt slammed his stick on to the cold hard cement of the rink.
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Frustration was mounting for both teams, and it was still anybody’s game.
Stephen Butler danced around 2 Wolfpack defenders with the puck, before passing it across the rink to Stoney for a slap shot that was snuffed out by the glove of Trey Duncan. The Jesters were executing with the puck offensively, but they were unable to get into the crease and had to settle for most of their shots from the perimeter.
“One-minute left in the first half,” rang out over the loud speaker as the Jesters cycled the puck back for another Stephen butler slap-shot. The puck missed the net and was run up the rink into the Jester’s zone by Kurt Bueker who’s shot was deflected off the goalie into the corner. Pursued by Jester’s defenders, Kurt dug the puck out of the corner and passed it to the top of the crease where newcomer Lenny Christo had a line of sight all the way to the goal. He wound up and put a one-timer towards the net as the final seconds of the half ticked down. The clink off the top post could be heard across the rink as the puck went bar down into the net to put the Wolfpack back up a goal with less than 10 seconds remaining in the half. The halftime buzzer came as a relief to all parties involved, as fatigue from a long day of hockey was beginning to take its toll.
Halftime passed in a blur of both benches shouting and cajoling with strategy and pep talks for the second half. The smoldering cigarette butts and half empty gator-aid bottles were the only remnant of a period break as the teams made their way back to center ice for the second half puck drop.
Kurt Bueker had a breakout in the opening moments and charged the goalie with a ferocity and wildness that went unseen in his family life as a youth soccer coach. He faked to the left, the goalie lept after him, then he backhanded over the top of the goalie. The puck had a trajectory for the back of the net until the Jester’s goalie stuck his elbow into the air and corralled the errant puck for a well-deserved save.
The next face-off saw Scott Talley walk the puck up to the top of the Jesters zone before passing the puck inside to Austin Scroggs. The fastest skater on the Wolfpack then took the puck between two Jesters defenders and whipped a shot around his body that found its way to the back of the net. The Wolfpack had climbed back into a two-goal lead much like the previous year’s Sanley Cup finals. But unlike the 2018 version, the Wolfpack had no intentions of letting the Jester’s steal this game from them once again.
The clock was under 5 minutes, and the Jesters were grinding, in and out of the Wolfpack zone. Mike Matinchek skated the puck around the top of the circle before passing to Stephen Butler who took a blinding wrist shot. The puck bounced off the leg pad of the Wolfpack goalie, right onto the stick of Jester’s forward Stoney waiting for the rebound. The puck hit the back of the net, Stoney fell to the ground cussing, and the Jesters bench went wild as the Wiry Connecticut native brought the Jesters to within a goal of tying the game.
There were four minutes left, and the Jesters had made it clear they were not going away.
On the next face off, the Wolfpack took the puck into the Jesters zone and circled it behind the goal back to the top. The Jesters defense got their sticks onto it and tried to clear the puck, but it careened off the referee’s skate as he attempted to climb the fence out of the way. Fortuitously for the Wolfpack, the puck landed directly onto the stick of Austin Scroggs who crossed the crease following his shot after it was deflected into the opposite corner. There was a battle between Stephen Butler and Austin Scroggs for the puck that saw Austin escape back around behind the Jesters net before wrapping the puck neatly between the goalie and the left post.
It was the final coffin nail at the three-minute mark. The Wolfpack had gone up by two goals yet again, and the Jesters could only charge in vain as Wolfpack goalie Trey Duncan stood on his head to keep the net clean for the remainder of the frantic Jesters attack.
When the final whistle blew, it was clear a new chapter in San Angelo hockey had been opened. The little brother was the weaker no more, and the landscape of San Angelo Hockey Club had been completely leveled. The game had come full circle, and for the first time in history it would not be the Jesters to represent the city of San Angelo at the Sanley Cup Finals.
The final score was San Angelo Wolfpack 5 — San Angelo Jesters 3, and it was on to the Championship match!🏒
Benjamin Martin is the Director of San Angelo Hockey club as well as an amateur journalist, professional hockey fan, and sub-par defender who is a complete liability in the rink.
During these turbulent times the recap of the 2019 West Texas Shootout hockey tournament will be republished on a daily basis to bring a little hockey excitement back into our lives as we wait for life to start again.
