BY SCOTT HADDOW
The Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves still have a bitter taste in
their mouths from the last time they met the Sault Ste. Marie
North Stars in the GNML playoffs.
In 2007, the North Stars swept the Nickel Capital Wolves in three games to win the hotly-contested GNML Championship and the right to play for the Ontario AAA midget championship. (The Soo then went on to win the provincial title and go to nationals.)
Once again the two big rivals will clash for bragging rights and a trip to Ottawa for the 2008 provincial championship from March 31 to April 6.
Game one goes Saturday at Countryside Arena at 7:20 pm. Game two occurs Sunday at Countryside Arena at 2:50 pm. Game three goes March 22 in Sault Ste. Marie at 7 pm.
Sudbury smoked its way past Kapuskasing and North Bay in the first two rounds, going 6-0. Sault Ste. Marie was just as impressive, knocking out New Liskeard and Timmins in six games as well.
The unpleasant aftertaste from 2007 has lingered all season in the mouths of the Nickel Capital Wolves and it's been their fuel for their drive to break Sault Ste. Marie's four-year stranglehold on the GNML crown.
"We're sick of it and we've had enough of it," veteran defenceman Lenny Talarico said. "For a lot of us, it's our last chance to get these guys. We do it now or never."
Winning will be no easy task for either squad as they fought each other hard all season long for first place and their regular season series was close, with Sudbury getting the slight edge by going 4-2-1. Sudbury finished first overall with a record of 31-2-1-0, good for 63 points, while the North Stars finished at 30-3-1-0, good for 61 points.
"We're excited and ready to go," head coach Peter Michelutti said. "Our goal is to win the GNML Championship and we have to beat Sault Ste. Marie to do it. As far as we're concerned, the North Stars are a great team and the four-time defending league champions. We're the underdogs and we have to do everything we can if we hope to knock them off."
Sudbury is known as a fast-paced and skilled team. They will not change for the title series. They hope their speed will kill on home ice at the Countryside Arena as it features an Olympic sized surface, perfect for players with jets on their skates. It will take more than skill to beat Sault Ste. Marie though.
"It's going to come down to sacrifices," Michelutti said. "The players have sacrifice individual success for the team...they have to be willing to do anything and everything."
The players are ready to answer this call of duty and get the job done.
"Individual points don't matter to us anymore," captain Mathieu Lecours said. "The only points that matter are the two points we get from winning games. We're not taking them lightly. Sault Ste. Marie has always found ways to come out on top of big games. We have to stick to together to win."
A good majority of the Sudbury roster is back from last season and want to extract revenge on the North Stars.
"A lot of us came back for this reason...to get the shot at trying to beat Sault Ste. Marie," Lecours said. "It's a big thing for us. It's going to be intense."
Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie have been going at it toe-to-toe for numerous seasons now and the animosity is at an all-time high.
"It's a heated rivalry...there's no love out there on the ice," Talarico said.
