BY SCOTT HADDOW
It's Go Time!
It was bound to happen sooner or later, and
on Wednesday, The Windsor Spitfires traded disgruntled forward
Steve Downie to the Peterborough Petes.
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The Sudbury Wolves will need their
best player, Ben Pouliot, playing his best this weekend
as they face three tough foes on the road. |
In exchange for the pepper pot Downie, the
Spitfires received defenceman Peter Aston along with two second
draft picks, one in 2006 and the other in 2007, and a fifth
round draft choice in 2006.
Downie has not played since Sept. 24. The
forward was involved in a fight with teammate Akim Aliu during
a practice earlier this season after a hazing incident.
Downie, a first round NHL draft pick in 2005
by Philadelphia (29th overall), has three goals in his only
game this season.
Last year, the Queensville native poured in
21 goals and 73 points in 61 games, along with 179 penalty
minutes.
Aston, was the OHL Defenceman of the Month
for October. He has four goals and 19 points in 16 games.
Haddow's take: In Downie, the Petes get a
really feisty centreman to mix into their already awesomely
skilled group of forwards that includes Daniel Ryder (24 points
in 16 games), Jordan Morrison (23 points in 16 games), Jordan
Staal (20 points in 16 games), Jamie Tardif (19 points in 11
games), Liam Reddox (19 points in 16 games) and Patrick Kaleta
(18 points in 16 games).
Downie will inject an incredible amount of
grit to a group of creative forwards, but not always the the
most physical bunch.
This is turn could result in more goals for
the Petes, which is a scary thought because they can almost
score at will.
The Petes do lose their best offensive
defenceman in Aston but with Kyle Raftis (14 points in 16
games) and Trevor Hendrixx (10 points in 11 games) still
manning the point in Peterborough, they should be able to
overcome the loss.
The bottom line here is simple: The Petes are
a team gunning for the OHL championship and the Memorial Cup,
and with this trade, they proved they're committed to
winning and sacrificing some of their future for the now.
The Sudbury Wolves hit the road this weekend
for the ever popular three-games-in-three-nights. The Wolves
start their road trip on Friday night against the Guelph Storm,
who are the second best team in the OHL. The Wolves then play
the Erie Otters Saturday night, followed by a Sunday afternoon
contest against Toronto.
All games can be heard live on 790 CIGM with
Stew Kernan calling all the action.
The Wolves have lost two straight on the road
(5-0 to Belleville and 5-1 to Mississauga), and are 1-5-0-1 on
the road overall.
Haddow's take: This is the test for the
Wolves. If they can put together a couple of wins from this
road trip, it should provide a huge confidence booster for the
rest of the season.
The Wolves are going to need their best
players playing their best. Ben Pouliot and Marc Staal need to
step up and take command. Pouliot has six goals and 19 points
in 14 games. Staal has 17 points in 17 games, but is a
-2.
As always, the Wolves are going to need tough
discipline. In the Mississauga game, the Wolves top line of
Pouliot, Nick Foligno and Anton Hedman combined for 19 minutes
in penalties. This is too much for any team's number one
line. These guys should be on the ice scoring goals, not
sitting in the box all game or killing off penalties left and
right.
The Wolves should have defenceman Jonathan
D'Aversa back for the road trip. D'Aversa has missed
the last four games.
Hedman will miss the first two games of the
trip due to a two-game suspension for instigating a fight in
the last five minutes of the third period in the Mississauga
game.
Defenceman Troy Murray is still out, and will
be on the injury shelf for at least another three weeks.
In other OHL news...
Sarnia's Chad Painchaud has been named
the OHL Player of the Week after scoring six goals and nine
points in three games last week, and helping Sarnia win
two
out of three games.
In a pair of minor transactions, Windsor
dealt goalie Kyle Knechtel to Owen Sound for a conditional 15th
round draft pick in 2006, while London sent forward Kelly
Thomson to Oshawa for a conditional 13th round draft pick in
2008.
Enjoy the weekend action fans!
