By Mark Janzen /
 
For the La Ronge Ice Wolves, last year’s struggles have been this year’s gains.
After a season of frustration and disappointment, to say the least, that saw the Ice Wolves post a league worst 11-42-3 record, La Ronge is back in the pack.
Through 14 games La Ronge has a 7-5-1-1 record, which has them in a tie for second place in the Bauer Conference and only two points back of the conference leading Battlefords Stars. And although a loss is a loss, it should be noted the Ice Wolves have only dropped one game by more than a goal.
And all this success has come despite a bevy of early-season injuries to key players including defenceman Kirk Moore and forwards Taylor Piller, Leo Lacourciere and Adam Moar.
“I think we have a good group of players that certainly have a lot to prove,” said Ice Wolves coach Bob Beatty. “The guys who were here last year definitely don’t want to go through a season like they did last season. We feel that we’ll be very competitive with anyone in the league this year and we’re playing that way. We’ve got a lot of guys with a year under their belt and we’ve added some real quality guys to the team.”
At the start of last season, La Ronge started the rebuilding process in earnest. They brought in a bunch of young, enthusiastic kids who were ready to learn. Last year’s results were a product of the steep learning curve many of the Ice Wolves went through.
But now the seeds sowed a year ago are coming to fruition.
“The attitude was good last year,” Beatty said. “We had cleaned house at the beginning of last year. We had a tremendous group of kids that had a good attitude. We just didn’t have the experience and skill set to compete. We do know.”
And leading the charges in dominant fashion has largely been the forward unit of Doug Lindensmith, Ben Findlay and Travis Gordon.
Lindensmith and Findlay are tied for the league scoring lead with 20 points each in 14 games while Gordon has 11 points in that span.
“They have certainly carried a lot of the offensive load,” Beatty said. They’re probably putting up better offensive number than anyone expected.”
Defensively, the team can attribute a huge bulk of their success to the defensive duo of Dustin Stevenson and Mike Alexander.
Stevenson has been a defensive stalwart while Alexander’s 16 points from the blueline has him sixth in overall league scoring.
“Stevenson is a returning guy who has been very effective for us,” Beatty said. “He’s an anchor back there and logs a lot of minutes. He’s definitely playing a more physical and a better game without the puck then he did last year. He’s certainly an offensive threat as well.
“And then there’s Alexander who has been a great addition for us. He has good experience after three years in the WHL (with Everett). The two of them have given our defence an offensive punch as well as a steadying influence.”
And those two players, along with a dynamic top line and several key role players has this year’s Ice Wolves in the mix. And when they eventually do get their extra artillery back from the injured list, there’s no question this team can run with the best their conference has to offer.