BY KEITH LACEY
There should be some fantastic hockey over the next 10 days as the upstart Sudbury Northern Wolves take on their cross-town rivals, the perennial powerhouse Rayside-Balfour Sabrecats in the opening round of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL) playoffs.
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Game two is set for Wednesday at 7:30 pm at McClelland Arena in Copper Cliff, home rink for the Northern Wolves, who just completed their most successful season since joining the league four years ago.
The series has all the hallmarks of being a dandy.
Not only are the Northern Wolves and Sabrecats cross-city rivals, but only two points separated them after a gruelling 48-game schedule.
The Sabrecats wrapped up the regular season Thursday by defeating Espanola to finish with a record of 30-16 and two overtime losses. The Northern Wolves finished 28-16 with four overtime losses.
Rayside grabbed third place and will have home-ice advantage against the Northern Wolves.
However, Sudbury won five of eight contests against the Sabrecats this season.
The series also pits veteran coach Ken MacKenzie against rookie head coach Steve Warner, who had been an assistant with the Northern Wolves since they entered the league.
Both head coaches predict a long, tough and difficult series, which should feature some outstanding hockey.
Â?Everyone of the games weÂ?ve played against each other this year has been close,Â? said MacKenzie, who has led the Sabrecats to several NOJHL championships during his long tenure.
Â?Anytime you have players from the same community they know each other on and off the ice and they really want to beat each other. This series is all about bragging rights and thereÂ?s no doubt itÂ?s going to be a great series.Â?
Warner agrees.
Â?We certainly have a very heated rivalry, especially this season with the teams being so close to each other in the standings all year,Â? said Warner. Â?All of the kids on both teams know each other and weÂ?re all familiar with how each team plays and this provides a natural sense of competition.Â?
With the Sudbury Wolves eliminated from playoff contention in the Ontario Hockey League, both Warner and MacKenzie are expecting large and vocal crowds during the series.
The Northern Wolves have a high-powered offence and arguably the leagueÂ?s best goaltender in Danny Battochio and the Sabrecats face a real challenge shutting down the Sudbury offence, while trying to find ways to beat Battochio, said MacKenzie.
Â?Sudbury can score with the best of them and we can also put the puck in the the net so if people like watching goals being scored, theyÂ?re going to like this series,Â? said MacKenzie. Â?Our big challenge will be beating their goaltender, who has won an awful lot of games for them this season.Â?
Warner said going up against a legend like MacKenzie is a challenge he welcomes.
Â?For me as a rookie head coach, I certainly look forward to the challenge of going up against a man I certainly respect,Â? said Warner. Â?I know IÂ?ll have to be at the top of my game to give our team a chance to succeed.Â?
Warner believes special teams and goaltending, as is most often the case, will decide this playoff series.
Â?We give up a lot of experience to Rayside, but I feel we more than make up for that in talent,Â? he said. Â?To win, weÂ?re going to have to be disciplined and focused and weÂ?re going to have to be especially sharp on special teams. Power play and penalty killing is crucial to winning any series.Â?
The loser of this series will play a one-game sudden-death contest against the loser of the Soo-Abitibi playoff series with the winner of that game forced to battle the North Bay Skyhawks, the regular season champion and prohibitive favourite to capture the league title.
Â?This series is huge because nobody wants to go up against North Bay early in the playoffs,Â? said MacKenzie.
Game three is set for Thursday in Rayside with game four at McClelland Saturday evening.
Game five, if necessary, is set for Sunday afternoon in Rayside with games six and seven set for the following Monday and Tuesday in Copper Cliff and Rayside, respectively.
