BY SCOTT HUNTER HADDOW
The Northern Wolves gave new Rayside Balfour Sabrecats' head coach Joe Williams a rude welcoming to the NOJHL last night with a 9-1 drubbing.
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The Northern Wolves came out hard and fast against their cross-town rival and never really gave the Sabrecats a break through the entire 60 minutes of the game.
By the end of the first period the Northern Wolves held a 5-1 lead.
Sudbury's head coach Jason Stos was obviously pleased with his team's effort for the whole game, something in past games when they played teams that are lower in the standings.
"I was impressed with the way we responded after losing Saturday to Abitibi and not showing up for the game," said Stos. "We came in with the idea of not to be scored against. We wanted to fill the net, but I wanted to make sure the guys kept the pucks out of our net. Overall, I think we played a very good defensive game tonight."
The decisive win was all about game preparation.
"We have played these guys before and tied them 6-6," said Stos. "I have been telling the guys all season that they have to learn, whether we're playing a pee wee team or an NHL team, you have to learn to play defence. We scored nine goals, but that's not what won us the game. We allowed one goal against, and if we're going to allow one goal against in games, then we're going to have a chance to those games."
Sudbury got off to a quick start when Jeffrey Christison scooped up a pass from a Sabrecat defender in the slot and fired it past goalie Paul Dainton at 2:55 to make it 1-0. It was a short-handed goal.
Sudbury followed it up with two more quick goals by Jesse Graham and Brian McGarry to pad the lead to 3-0 by the midway point of the first period.
The Sabrecats didn't immediately roll over and die. On the power play, Justin Lacey picked up a loose puck in the slot and fired it past Paul Pidutti to make it 3-1 at 13:56. It would be as close as the Sabrecats would get in the game.
McGarry and Christison scored again before the period was out to swell the Sudbury lead to 5-1.
The second period was more Northern Wolves.
Christison completed the hat trick, when he skated over the blue line and blasted a cannon shot past Dainton at 7:11 to make it 6-1.
Graham, Darren Marynuk and Nick Heins added the last three goals for the Northern Wolves to complete the 9-1 thrashing.
McGarry knows a hard practice on Monday contributed to the win.
"We had a good, disciplined practice on Monday and it carried over into the game tonight," said McGarry. "It helps us learn to stay in the game and never give up whatever the score is."
Christison was thrilled with his performance and the big win.
"We played both ends of the ice," said Christison. "We got to try some different things out tonight that we usually try in practice."
The Northern Wolves will now break for the holidays and go to Newmarket in late December for a tournament. Their next home game is Wednesday, Jan. 7 against the Northern Michigan Black Bears. Game time is 7:30 pm at the McClelland Arena.
Snap shots
-McGarry finished the game with two goals and one assist
-Graham finished the game with two goals
-Pidutti made 16 saves for the win
-Christison is off to play three games with the Sarnia Sting in the OHL. Christison is excited to get back to the OHL. He has already suited up for two games.
"It's great being up there," said Christison. "The speed is incredible. I will play three games against Ottawa, Peterborough and Kingston."
