Slow start, strong finish the story of "satisfactory" first half for TRU

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School is out for the winter and so is the Thompson Rivers University Men's Hockey team.

The WolfPack beat the University of Victoria 4-0 on November 29th in their final game of 2013 and heads into the holiday break with a 9-5 record in the B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League. The WolfPack currently sit in third place in the standings, two points behind Selkirk College and Simon Fraser University.

The ‘Pack have enjoyed a fairly successful first half. It started back in September at the Fall Ice Breaker Tournament in Calgary, where they became the first B.C. team to win the tournament in twenty-five years.
But Head coach Don Schulz remains grounded about the teams’ success so far.

"We are off to a satisfactory start," Schulz said. "There are a few games we would like to have back for sure."

TRU opened up the regular season with two big road wins in Victoria, where Josh MacDonald started the season with a giant ka-boom. In the first game of the weekend he buried five unanswered goals in Marian Gaborik-ian fashion.

"Josh is very strong," assistant general manager Steve Blundell said. "He is strong on the puck, a strong skater and he shoots it harder than anyone. He’s very talented."

The honeymoon quickly ended as the WolfPack dropped their next four games. TRU was drifting away from the style of game play that made them successful.

"We had a few meetings after those games to try and figure out what our identity was and where it went," Blundell said. "We're a very fast team and we needed to start applying pressure on the other team again."

"We also needed to improve our discipline a little," Schulz said.

The message got through to the team. TRU started winning and the momentum was mounting, as the WolfPack went on to victory in seven of their remaining eight games.

Much of the WolfPack’s success is due to the exceptional play of their top line. Josh MacDonald, Duncan Schulz and Tyler Berkholtz regularly light the lamp and have imposed their will on defences. MacDonald is third in league scoring with 13 goals and 15 assists.

"It's real easy when you play with such skilled players," he says. "Both Tyler and ‘Dunc’ see the ice real good."

"Their stats speak for themselves," Don Schulz said. "I think they can outplay any line in the league."

Duncan is 5th in league scoring with 11 goals and 15 assists, while Berkholtz is rapidly ascending league rankings and sits 8th with 8 goals and 12 helpers.

"They fit perfectly together," Blundell said. "Tyler is very patient with the puck, Duncan is incredibly elusive out there and he gets to the open spots, Josh makes things happen and is the finisher on that line."

The WolfPack’s goaltending situation has resembled a baseball team's starting rotation this fall. as Chris Solecki, Mark Menicucci and Stephen Wolff have split the time between the pipes.

"We don’t have a number one goalie, we have three number ones," Blundell said.

Wolff leads the ‘Pack in all categories. He is 4-2 with a 2.65 GAA and a .908 save percentage. Solecki and Menicucci have both played well this year. Solecki has a 3-1 record and Menicucci boasts a save percentage of .881.

"We are all very supportive of each other," Menicucci said. "We all get along and hang out off the ice."

"“We just show up, work hard and leave the playing time up to the coaches," Solecki said.

The WolfPack are going to need all the help they can get in the second half of the season. Six of their remaining ten games come against the two teams perched above them in the standings.

TRU combined to go 1-4 against Selkirk College and Simon Fraser University this fall. TRU has struggled against those two programs in the past. SFU swept the WolfPack last year in the first round of the playoffs.

"I believe it's a mental hurdle more than anything," Blundell said. "I feel like we are the top team in the league when all of our cards are on the table. We just need to play our game and we will be fine."

The top two teams in the conference are rewarded with home ice in the opening round. TRU has finished third two years in a row.

"We're definitely going to have to come out on the positive sides of those games to give ourselves a chance," Schulz said. "Home ice would be a huge advantage for us."

The team is holding practices throughout the exam break. Players will start to head home for the holidays before getting back into the swing of things in January.

They will have a few days of practice before the real deal starts up again. The WolfPack’s first game in 2014 will take place in Burnaby at the Bill Copeland Arena. It will be only the second they play SFU this season.

Memorial Arena will then host its first WolfPack action in 2014 when Selkirk College comes to town on January 17th.

Be sure to come out and check out TRU hockey in 2014. Happy holidays from TRU Athletics!