Wolves’ Record-Setting 2015 – 2016 Season
By Garrett Fabris
The Wenatchee Wolves, a Junior A tier III program in the Northern Pacific Hockey League, had a record breaking 2015 – 2016 regular season. Being able to finish the season with only a single loss is an impressive feat, but the Wolves’ program has done much more than just that. For starters, the Wolves finished the NPHL’s 2015 – 2016 season with the best regular season win percentage the league has ever seen.
The Wolves were able to conclude the regular season with a .975 win percentage. This beats the former record holder, the Helena Bighorns, who have held this NPHL record since the team went 48-2-0-0 (.960) during the 2010 – 2011 season.
While the Wolves were on their way to setting the NPHL’s record, the team also captured the league’s best in goals for (263), goals against (49), power play percentage (24.23), power play goals (55), penalty kill percentage (92.40), power play goals against (13), and short handed goals for (11).
In addition to the league’s best in all of these categories, the Wolves went undefeated at home, as the team played a total of 20 home games. The Wolves also went on the two longest winning streaks of the season in the NPHL. The first streak was 19 games, then the Wolves finished the season on a 20 game streak.
Ryan McKelvie, the Wolves’ head coach, discussed what this record means to the players and the program. McKelvie said, “I think it’s a really neat thing for the players. It’s a testament to how hard they’ve worked all season. We have a really good group of guys who have put in a really strong effort this season. To be able to find consistent success truly speaks to the type of high-quality characters we have in the locker room.”
But every team, program, and league searches for different types of characters in order to help grow the locker room, and the team. McKelvie said, “this is a really structured program and the players get pushed really hard. So, you have to have guys who are committed and want to get better day in and day out. Those are the types of players who thrive in our program, and we’ve had that this year. We’ve had guys who have a good attitude and come into the rink every day to have fun, but while also working hard and getting better. I think that is why the boys have been able to find success in the win column even though that’s not our primary focus.”
With the Wolves’ primary focus being on the development of players, the program doesn’t necessarily define the season by wins, losses, or records. The Wolves define their success as growing and developing individual players, while also preparing them for the next level of hockey.
McKelvie said, “we want to give our players a great experience while they’re here in Wenatchee. So, the regular season record was neat for the players, but overall we know it’s about helping these guys achieve their goals within hockey. We are all happy with the individual progress that all of our guys made this year. Hopefully we will see some of these guys go on to play at higher levels of hockey.”
As extraordinary as this feat is, both the coaching staff and players are keeping their heads down, while focusing on the playoffs. Bronson Moore, one of the Wolves’ goalies, discussed accomplishing the NPHL’s regular season win percentage record.
Moore said, “we’ve played pretty consistent all season and improved from game to game. So this accomplishment is huge, and I know all of the guys on the team think the same. During our last series of the regular season, we knew what was at stake and we wanted to pull off this accomplishment as a team.”
Moore continued, “this is something for us to build off of heading into the post-season. But we are going to continue to take it game-to-game and day-to-day, while continuing to work hard. It was a great accomplishment, but the post-season is here, so that’s where our focus will be.”
On Tuesday, the Wolves were able to clinch their Cascade Cup Championships series berth after beating the Tri-City Outlaws in three straight games. This marks the first time in the program’s two-year history that the Wolves will make it to the Cascade Cup series. The Wolves will have to wait until Sunday night, at the latest, to find out who they will play between the Bellingham Blazers and Eugene Generals in the championship series.
Tune in to the league’s website on Monday, March 21st, to find out who the Wolves will be playing in the championship series!
