CLOQUET— Ely’s once seemingly promising hockey season came to a convincing end Tuesday evening in the first round of the Section 7A playoffs here. The Cloquet-Esko-Carlton Lumberjacks dominated play from start to finish in a 12-0 shellacking of the seventh-seeded Timberwolves.
Ely, which had built a 12-5 record at one point in the season, slipped in the rankings down the stretch and ended up seeded seventh and facing the number two seeded Lumberjacks.
There were few bright spots for the Wolves on Tuesday as the ‘Jacks outshot them 71-10.
The Wolves did manage to hold off the onslaught through much of the first period, but once the scoring started, the ‘Jacks were largely unstoppable as they racked up four goals in less than three minutes late in the period. They added five more in the second and three more in the final period to put an exclamation point on the rout.
The Wolves were flagged on seven penalties in the contest, to two for the ‘Jacks, but it made little difference in the outcome as the ‘Jacks went just one-for-seven on the power play.
The Wolves end their season at 14-12, still one of their best performances in several years. Looking ahead to next year, the Wolves will lose three of their top four scorers, seniors Drew Marolt, who led the team with 27 goals, Deegan Richards, who lit the lamp 16 times this season, and Brecken Sandberg, who added six goals on the season.