The Sudbury Junior Wolves don't need any extra motivation to
beat their arch-nemesis North Bay, but they will take any
additional inspiration if it means winning the NOJHL crown.
After dropping the first game of their NOJHL championship
series to North Bay 5-1 on home turf, the Junior Wolves bounced
back in a big way by pounding the Skyhawks 5-1 in their barn in
Game Two.
The Junior Wolves did it without the services of their head
coach Darryl Moxam, who was at the hospital with his extremely
sick daughter.
The Junior Wolves have the Moxam family in their thoughts.
"All the boys are there for Darryl and his family," said
captain Brian McGarry. "We're all thinking about them and
playing hard for them."
Game Three goes tonight at the Sudbury Arena. Game time is
7:30 pm.
Moxam wants to see his squad come out with the same will
they had in Game Two when they take on North Bay tonight.
"We came with a lot more character and more intensity than
we did in Game One," said Moxam. "We can't let up against a
team like North Bay. They have guys who have won and they know
what it takes to win it all. If we're willing to match that,
then we have a chance."
Game Two was a rough match featuring numerous dirty plays
and cheap shots.
Moxam feels the classiest team will rise to the occasion and
take the pivotal win in Game Three.
"It's going to be rough," said Moxam. "These two teams are
competitive and this is the finals. We were able to be
disciplined. We had a number of power play opportunities and
capitalized on a couple of them. Again, it will be rough, but
the more disciplined club will come out on top at the end of
the series."
Sudbury will not take North Bay lightly.
"We had a bad first game and we were overconfident," said McGarry.
"We didn't know how good they really were. They spanked us
in Game One. We wanted to send a message in Game Two and we did
that. It's going to be a tough series."
For veterans like McGarry and others, the road to the NOJHL
championship has always gone through North Bay, and has also
always ended there as the Skyhawks have dumped the Junior
Wolves from the playoffs in the past.
"They're the three-time defending champions," said McGarry.
"There wouldn't be anything better than to beat them. We lost
to them last year. Thinking about that keeps us focused."
Specialty teams will be vital.
"We have to keep our power play and penalty killing going,"
said McGarry. "Our forecheck has to keep up as well."
Moxam gave full marks to his assistant coaches, Steve Lauzon
and Dave Clancy, for their work in Game Two while he was
absent.
"Dave and Steve are unbelievable," said Moxam. "They did a great job."
