BY SCOTT HUNTER HADDOW
The Sudbury Wolves enter the 2005 OHL
playoffs on an impressive roll, and they obviously want to keep
it going.
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Rookie Nick Foligno expects a
hard-fought first-round playoff series against the
Brampton Battalion. The series kicks off Thursday in
Brampton with game two set for Friday at the Sudbury
Arena. |
The Wolves have drawn the Brampton Battalion
as their first-round opponent.
The first game of the best-of-seven series
begins Thursday night in Brampton at 7:30 pm.
For the Wolves, it doesn't appear to matter
who they had to face in the first round because they feel ready
for a long playoff run.
The Wolves enter the playoffs having forged a
solid 6-0-1-3 record in their last 11 games. The Wolves haven't
lost a game in regulation time since a
2-1 defeat at the hands of Barrie back on
Feb. 17.
This makes them the hottest team in the
Eastern Conference heading into post-season play.
With key wins down the stretch on the road
and at home, confidence is definitely not in short supply with
this hockey club right now.
"The best thing about our recent success
going into the playoffs is there's a real sense of confidence
being generated by our success on the road and at home," said
Wolves head coach and GM Mike Foligno. "It's something we
didn't have a whole lot of last year. Another big help was we
beat a team (Mississauga) in the last game of the season on the
road. We hadn't beat them in a long time, and that really helps
with confidence."
Sudbury and Brampton both finished the
regular season with 77 points, but Brampton gets home ice
advantage because they had one more win than Sudbury (33 to
32).
As for the tale-of-the-tape, both squads are
fairly evenly matched, with the exception of Sudbury being a
much more physical team.
The Wolves produced 201 goals for, while
allowing only 185 against. Brampton generated 214 goals, but
allowed 200 against.
As for specialty teams, Sudbury again has a
slight advantage.
The Wolves power play is clicking at 18.2
percent, and Brampton's is firing at 18.8 percent.
Penalty killing could prove to be the
key.
Sudbury is ranked sixth in the OHL while
shorthanded with a kill rate of 83.5 percent. Brampton, on the
other hand, is 15th in the league, killing off 79.8 percent of
their penalties.
Brampton was one of the least penalized teams
this past season. Sudbury was short-handed 400 times this
season, second most in the OHL next to Kitchener (410).
Considering their terrific play down the
stretch, Foligno isn't about to make any drastic changes for
the playoffs.
"Regardless of who and where we play, it
comes down to us, as a team, playing hard and the playing the
team game," said Foligno. "We have been
doing that, and we got points out of a lot of
games recently. Now, we want to continue that same mindset
against Brampton."
The Wolves will rely on rock-solid defensive
play to contend with the Battalion's legion of offensive
talent.
"Our strength all season has been defensive
hockey," said Foligno. "This year we stressed it. One of our
goals this season was to get our goals against down. We did a
great job of doing so. I give credit to the goalies, defencemen
and our forwards because it takes everybody to play
defensive zone coverage.
"If we pay attention, as a team, to our
defensive responsibilities, it gives us a better chance to be
successful. At the same time, we're fortunate to have guys that
can score big goals for us. We've also had our defencemen
chipping with goals recently too. We got guys like Rafal
Martynowski,
Bobby Chaumont, Kevin Baker and Ben Pouliot
who can slip the puck into the net."
For the record, the Wolves lowered their
goals against by 35 goals this season compared to last.
Foligno knows all too well about Brampton's
firepower, and says he won't take a team coached by Stan Butler
lightly.
"They have guys like Wojtek Wolski, Luch
Aquino, Ryan Oulahen and Tyler Harrison who can score," said
Foligno. "Brampton's built like a lot of other teams in our
division. They're a competitive club. They were in the top spot
of the division for most of the season because they play a
consistent game.
"Butler has high expectations from his
players, and they work hard for him. It will be a great
matchup."
Sudbury's veterans are eager for the
post-season to begin.
"We are ready for the playoffs," said
Chaumont. "I don't think there's many teams that work harder
than we do. The guys have been working their butts off
everyday. We are well prepared for the playoffs."
The younger Wolves are also anxious to prove
their mettle when the wins count most.
"We are looking forward to the playoffs
because we have worked towards this moment," said Nick Foligno.
"It should be a good thing, but it will be a
hard-fought series. We have to come out hard.
Anyone can win on any given day. We will just play our game and
see what happens."
