Hey sports fans, it's time to lift the lid off the local athletics scene and see what's cooking.
I'll start with some hockey first, specifically the Sudbury AAA
Peewee Wolves.
Representing the Northern Ontario Hockey Association (NOHA),
the Wolves put up a great fight against the best teams in the
province at the 2007 All-Ontario Peewee AAA Championships this
past weekend in Kanata.
Overall, the squad went 2-3-1, finishing in fifth place and
just missing a playoff spot by two points. Despite not making
it past the round-robin portion of the event, the peewee Wolves
represented Sudbury proudly.
With the exception of a 10-1 loss to the Toronto Marlboros, the
Wolves hung in tight and tough in every game. They beat Thunder
Bay 7-1 and Kanata 7-2 for their two victories. Sudbury clawed
out a 2-2 tie with the York Simcoe Express, the team that
eventually went on to win the AAA Ontario crown.
They lost 3-1 to Ottawa Valley (who won silver) and 2-1 to
Elgin Middlesex in their other games.
In going toe-to-toe with champion York Simcoe, Sudbury proved
it deserved to be at the tournament and, more importantly,
proved they were one of the top teams in Ontario this
season.
Forward Cody Gratton finished tied for fourth in scoring with
five goals and 10 points. His five goals placed him third
overall. Forward Mitchell Byrne also stood out with three goals
and eight points in the round-robin to finish eighth in
scoring.
They didn't win a medal, but this team won a lot of
respect.
In other sports news...
The club volleyball season is quickly coming to a close and
Sudbury's Northern Chill Club is gearing up for a series of
provincial championships all through April.
This upcoming weekend will see two of the club's four teams
start their quest for glory.
The Under-15 squad will travel to Barrie, while the Under-17
team goes to Toronto for their respective Ontario club
championships.
In the following two weeks, the Under-14 team travels to
Thorold, while the Under-16 squad goes to Barrie.
All the teams enjoyed solid success during the regular season
and could be poised to make plenty of noise at the
championships.
Now, back to hockey and some notes on the Sudbury Wolves.
I have to admit I was impressed with the fans who attended game
two of the Wolves/Barrie Colts series. They were, bar none, the
loudest crowd of the season so far on what turned out to be a
wild and long Sudbury Saturday night.
Even before the first puck was dropped, the noise was near
deafening. I saw plenty of people covering their ears while
fans went totally wild as the Wolves' players flooded the ice
out of the giant inflatable Wolves' head.
Of course Tim Hortons provided blow up noise sticks, which also
contributed to the experience.
There was a large contingent of Barrie fans who made the trip
and every time they cheered and tried to get loud, the Sudbury
faithful verbally jumped all over them and drowned out their
roars. It was chilling at times.
Of course, I count myself among the thousands whose skin nearly
leaped off my bones when Zach McCullough scored at 13:15 of the
second overtime period to give the Wolves a 4-3 win.
It was the longest game in Wolves history. The previous was 13
years ago when Ottawa scored at 6:50 of the second overtime
period to beat Sudbury 5-4.
And remember fans, check out northernlife.ca for stories and
exciting pictures of the Sudbury Wolves.
