The Whitecourt Wolverines and Fort McMurray Oil Barons split games one and two in the first round of the 2025 Inter Pipeline Cup Alberta Junior Hockey League playoffs.
Seeing as how they finished at the top of the AJHL North Division the Wolverines have home-ice advantage for this series, meaning games one and two were played at JDA Place.
The Wolverines won game one 3-2, on Friday, March 21 but the Oil Barons won Saturday’s game 3-2.
Xavier Lacoste opened the scoring for the Wolverines 15:08 into the first period of game one. Lacoste’s first goal of the series was assisted by Jalen Bianchet and Quentin Bourne.
At the end of the first period, the Whitecourt Wolverines had outshot the Fort McMurray Oil Barons 8-7 and took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
Danny Akkouche scored his first goal of the series just 1:16 into the second period to tie the game 1-1 for the Oil Barons. Justin Dumais and Alexis Beaulac were credited with the assists.
Jack Pollock put the Wolverines back on top at 3:51 with his first goal of the series, assisted by Ty Rayan and Tim Kim.
Jalen Bianchet extended the Wolverines’ lead to 3-1 with his first goal of the series at 14:29. What turned out to be the game-winning goal was assisted by Joey Vetrano and Kyle Tucker.
At the end of the second period, the Whitecourt Wolverines had outshot the Fort McMurray Oil Barons 14-5 and took a 3-1 lead into the second intermission.
Later, Cade Peterson scored a power play goal 8:58 into the third period to bring the Oil Barons within one, but they were unable to tie the game, despite having an extra attacker on the ice for the final minute of the game. Peterson’s first goal of the series was assisted by Justin Dumais and Danny Akkouche.
The Fort McMurray Oil Barons outshot the Whitecourt Wolverines 17-7 in the third period and both teams put 29 total shots on net.
Fort McMurray Oil Barons’ goaltender Vincent Filion made 26 saves on the 29 shots he faced.
Whitecourt Wolverines’ goaltender Zac Onyskiw made 27 saves on the 29 shots he faced in support of the Wolverines’ 3-2 Victory.
—
Game two was played on Saturday, March 22, but this time the Fort McMurray Oil Barons won 3-2.
Trennen Redlick got the Oil Barons out to an early lead, scoring an unassisted goal at 7:07. It was Redlick’s first goal of the series.
Dylan Ruptash tied the game for the Wolverines at 8:45. Ruptash’s first goal of the series was assisted by Spencer Claerhout and Travis Verbeek.
At the end of the first period, the Fort McMurray Oil Barons had outshot the Whitecourt Wolverines 11-8 but the game was tied 1-1 heading into the first intermission.
Fort McMurray’s Shawn Eliav scored a power play goal just 0:45 into the second period to put the Oil Barons up 2-1. Eliav’s first goal of the series was assisted by Dustin Good and Justin Dumais.
Dylan Ruptash then scored his second goal of the game on a power play at 5:07 to tie the game for the Wolverines again. Ruptash’s second goal of the series was assisted by Braden Keeble and Jalen Bianchet.
At the end of the second period, the Fort McMurray Oil Barons had outshot the Whitecourt Wolverines 10-6 but the game was tied 2-2 heading into the second intermission.
Carter Schmidt scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal at 8:25 in the third period, unassisted, to secure the 3-2 win for the Oil Barons.
At the end of the third period, the Whitecourt Wolverines had outshot the Fort McMurray Oil Barons 13-10 but the Oil Barons outshot the Wolverines 31-27 in total.
Whitecourt Wolverines’ goaltender Zac Onyskiw made 28 saves on the 31 shots he faced.
Fort McMurray Oil Barons’ goaltender Vincent Filion made 25 saves on the 27 shots he faced in support of the Oil Barons’ 3-2 Victory.
—
With the series now tied at one win each, both teams will head out to Fort McMurray for game three on Tuesday, March 25, and game four on Wednesday, March 26, before coming back to Whitecourt for game five on Friday, March 28.
Puck drop for games three and four is 7:30 p.m., and you can catch all the action live on XM105FM, home of the Whitecourt Wolverines.
—
Elsewhere in the AJHL North Division, the Grande Prairie Storm have taken a 2-0 series lead over the Lloydminster Bobcats.
In the AJHL South Division, the Calgary Canucks have taken a 2-0 series lead over the Camrose Kodiaks while the Drumheller Dragons and Canmore Eagles have split their series 1-1.
