Make no mistake – these are not the Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves of 2007-2008.
The local midget AAA hockey team that would go on to claim a national championship that spring could boast a regular season record of 32-2-1, outscoring their opponents by a margin of 290-66.
Fast forward some 10 years or so and the Peter Michelutti Jr.-led crew is hosting the 2018 Telus Cup and looking back on an impressive regular season campaign (31-4-0-1), though the goal differential is notably closer (195-83).
More striking, however, is the fact the current edition of the Nickel Capital Wolves earned three consecutive victories by a final score of 2-1 over the North Bay Trappers to capture the Great North Midget League title in four games.
If this team is going to repeat the success of its 2007-2008 season, they are going to need to do it in a drastically different fashion than their predecessors.
“If we get into a run-and-gun style, where we trade chances back and forth, those teams have those very skilled players that will put the puck in the net, and that's going to hurt you,” said Michelutti Jr. “We have to make sure that we play sound defensively, which we feel will give us more opportunities offensively.”
The coach has, he believes, a pretty solid strategy to steer his squad through the Telus Cup.
“You're going to have play a full 60 minutes, because against those teams, if we let up for five minutes, they can pounce on you, score two or three quick goals, and the game will be over,” he said.
There is no doubt his experience — a dozen years spent behind the bench of this crew, countless visits to provincials, three Telus Cup appearances — has substantially aided Michelutti in maintaining a healthy perspective.
“You don't need to win every game to advance to a semifinal. You can't get negative,” he said. “There's going to be times where you're just not playing well and that's hockey – you're playing against all of the best hockey teams.
“We are trying to get them in that positive mindset, so that no matter how the game is going, how the week is going, to stay on that even keel and keep plugging away, keep doing the things we need to do, and we'll be successful.”
Michelutti is also keenly aware that the task at hand is not necessarily made any easier when you are the host team of a national championship.
“When you have all of your family and friends and a lot of people watching, a lot of times, most kids in general tend to change their game a little bit,” he said. “The biggest thing is not to worry about what happens on the ice.
“You're going to make mistakes, things are going to happen. But most of the people that are watching you don't even realize the little mistakes that are happening. You need to go out there and enjoy the moment.”
You can watch the hometown Nickel Capital Wolves in action at the Telus Cup all week. The team plays nightly at 7 p.m. at Sudbury Arena.
