I'm hard to impress. It's not often I am blown away by a
regular sporting event, which makes me feel compelled to write
something about it.
Go ahead and ask anyone who knows me. Nine times out of 10, I
can usually find the bad and ugly side of something rather than
the fleeting glimmer of something good. It takes skill people.
Well, last Friday night I was impressed with the Sudbury
Wolves.
I've been covering the team for five seasons now, and there
hasn't been too many times I walked away from a Wolves game
shaking my head in profound disbelief.
Of course there were the many times last year during the Wolves
run to the OHL finals, but that aside, it has been usually a no
head-shaking experience for me.
The Wolves were down 5-1 to the Kitchener Rangers before the
game was even half over. Since Sudbury was playing Saturday
night, I thought I would go home early like many fans decided
to do after the Rangers' fifth goal.
Then, something extraordinary happened. The Wolves battled all
the way back to win the game. The icing on the cake was forward
Patrik Lusnak scoring the winning goal with just one second
left. For a team that had only three wins in the New Year prior
to that victory, it was a reason to celebrate. And celebrate
they did. The Wolves poured onto the ice and hopped onto one
another in a big bundle of joy. It was a nice treat for the
fans to witness as they stood on their tippy toes yelling
encouragement to their local heroes.
Sudbury thumped the Memorial Cup host and the third ranked team
in the country on home ice. It was a huge win for a young squad
that features numerous 16 and 17 year old players as well as
many first year players.
There's an exciting contest for Major Junior hockey fans which
will land the winner a trip for two to the Memorial Cup in
Kitchener in May. Go to
www.mastercardmemorialcup.com/ticket_contest.php
for all the rules and regulations.
Basically, the contest is for kids under the age of 19 and asks
them to design a ticket that features a memorable moment from a
past event and what the championship means to the contestant.
Hurry up kids, as the contest ends Feb. 22. The Memorial Cup
is, in my humble opinion, the hardest sports trophy to win and
it's one of the best hockey tournaments anyone will ever
witness, so don't miss out on any chance to go.