The Whitecourt Wolverines were eliminated from the 2025 Inter Pipeline Cup Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) Playoffs on Tuesday, April 8, following a 6-5 overtime loss to the Grande Prairie Storm.
Whitecourt’s Tim Kim opened the scoring at 12:34 with his third goal of the postseason while Braden Keeble scored his third goal of the postseason at 14:09 to give the Wolverines an early 2-0 lead. Kim’s goal was assisted by Mason Russell, while Keeble’s goal was assisted by Noah Milford.
Alec Hall got the Storm on the board at 15:02 with his sixth goal of the postseason, while teammate Chase Christensen tied the game 2-2 with his third goal of the postseason at 17:24. Hall’s goal was scored unassisted, while Cade Kozak and Kailus Green picked up the assists on Christensen’s goal.
At the end of the first period, the Whitecourt Wolverines had outshot the Grande Prairie Storm 14-13 but the game was tied 2-2 heading into the first intermission.
Tyler Rowland put the Wolverines back on top with his third goal of the postseason at 4:57 of the second period. Rowland’s goal was assisted by Braden Keeble.
But Tomis Marinkovic scored a power play goal for the Storm at 14:50 to tie the game 3-3. Marinkovic’s fifth goal of the postseason was assisted by Alec Hall and Max Leduc.
At the end of the second period, the Grande Prairie Storm had outshot the Whitecourt Wolverines 20-10 but the score was tied 3-3 heading into the second intermission.
Carter Streek then scored his first goal of the postseason just 1:42 into the third period to give the Storm their first lead of the night, 4-3. Max Leduc picked up the solo assist on that goal.
Kyle Tucker tied the game for the Wolverines at 6:19. Tucker’s first goal of the postseason was assisted by Quentin Bourne.
Later, Carter Streek scored his second goal of the game and third period at 6:38 to put the Thunder back on top 5-4, this time, assisted by Tomis Marinkovic and Max Leduc. That was also Streek’s second goal of the postseason.
Jalen Bianchet tied the game 5-5 for the Wolverines with a power play goal at 15:25 to force an overtime frame. Bianchet’s fourth goal of the postseason was assisted by Quentin Bourne and Dylan Ruptash.
At the end of the third period, the Whitecourt Wolverines had outshot the Grande Prairie Storm 15-11.
However, Chayse Laurie only needed 17 seconds to score the game-winning goal in overtime for the Storm. Laurie’s goal was scored on a power play and assisted by Alec Hall and Kaiden Bugera.
The Grande Prairie Storm outshot the Whitecourt Wolverines 1-0 in overtime and 45-39 in total.
Whitecourt Wolverines’ goaltender Zac Onyskiw made 39 saves on the 45 shots he faced.
Grande Prairie Storm goaltender Nicholas Jones made 34 saves on the 39 shots he faced.
With this win, the Grande Prairie Storm completed the four-game sweep to eliminate the Whitecourt Wolverines from the 2025 Inter Pipeline Cup Alberta Junior Hockey League Playoffs and become the AJHL Northern Division Champions.
The Storm will now face off against either the Calgary Canucks or the Drumheller Dragons. The Canucks lead that series 3-0 and have a chance to sweep the Dragons on Wednesday, April 9.
