BY SCOTT
HADDOW
The Sudbury Spartans brought some brooms to their practices
this week to dust themselves off after suffering a humbling
50-1 loss to Oshawa last weekend.
However, when the dust settled, the Spartans affirmed they're
still a dedicated squad, bent on earning a playoff spot.
Over the next four weeks, the Spartans are in the driver's
seat of their own destiny and hope to get back on the winning
road this Saturday when they travel to Toronto to take on the
T.O. Raiders in a pivotal matchup. Game time is 5:30 pm.
Despite the new-found determination, the 50-1 whipping is
still fresh in the minds of the Spartans.
"We still have a lot of work to do obviously," said head
coach Chris Bartolucci. "We went to Oshawa with half a
tank...missing a lot of starters. We didn't have a full lineup
and I don't know if we could have beaten that team with a full
team. They were good and we were intimidated. We were also
complacent because we had won two games in a row and everything
was rosy. We lost to, probably, the NFC champs...I think they
will win it all."
Oshawa literally chewed up Sudbury. Starting quarterback
Paul Gauthier was banged up as was Dan Leduc and Cory Bedard.
"We have to regroup big time," said Bartolucci. "They beat
us up pretty good. They were very physical. They weren't dirty
and all over us. We couldn't get anything going."
The Spartans are already the walking wounded group, with
starters such as Dave St. Amour and Eric Paquette still out
with nagging injuries.
Because of job commitments, the Spartans will be marching on
with a depleted lineup for the next couple of weeks.
"We need this win against Toronto," said Bartolucci. "We're getting near playoffs. We need to take two out of three games to end our season. This raiders team is kind of like us - they have a fairly good offence, but a spotty defence.
It should be a good game. If we win, we control our own
destiny. If we come out of the season at .500, we should be in
the playoffs and then anything can happen."
The Spartans final four games are all against divisional
rivals who are all within a few points of each other. Needless
to say, the Spartans realize the importance of the last few
games.
"We have a lot of big games coming up," said Walsh. "We're
playing teams who we could be jockeying for play-off positions.
Saturday's game will be a turning point to see where we are and
where we're going. If we put the effort in, we can make some
noise."
Sudbury still has teeth and will bear them on Saturday.
"We might have to go down to the Raiders game with about 30 players again...and that's going to be tough," said Bartolucci. "The guys who are playing are busting their butts. A lot of them are even playing on offence and defence.
It becomes a war of attrition. You can do it for, maybe a
quarter or two, but not a whole game. The guys will be up for
the game Saturday, no doubt."
The Spartans are vulnerable on defence right now.
"We are especially vulnerable on defensive backs...There's
nothing we can do because we just don't have the bodies," said
the bench boss. "These teams throw and pick us apart. Against
Oshawa, they came out with 55 players while we had 28. It's
tough to overcome when you just don't have the numbers and
depth."
In the NFC, Bartolucci would like to field a squad with
about 40 to 45 players, as opposed to 28 or 30 or even 55 to 60
players.
"For a senior men's team...45 would be ideal," said the bench boss. "A big roster number could work against you because some guys don't get into a game at all and lose interest. With 45, you get everyone in and have a good rotation."
