Sudbury falls to Winnipeg and takes second place at TELUS Cup

BY SCOTT HADDOW

It was game that had it all.

The Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves took their first loss of the 2008 TELUS Cup in Arnprior at the hands of the Winnipeg Thrashers.

Friday's game was a battle of two undefeated clubs and Winnipeg scored a tough 5-4 win.

It was 4-4 until 10 seconds left the game, when Sudbury, hoping to earn a win and first place, pulled goalie Landon Noel, but the Thrashers found the open net and sealed up the win.

It was a classic rough-and-tumble affair as both teams refused to give up one millimetre of ice.

The hits were hard and furious and the animosity reached extreme levels as both clubs tried to secure first overall in the round robin standings.

Despite the crummy way they lost the game, the Nickel Capital Wolves had their heads held high after the game as they knew they had fought one of the best teams in the country for a full 60 minutes.

"We wanted to prove we could play with them and obviously we can," captain Mathieu Lecours said. "This was our major test…we got a lot of confidence. I think we can play with anybody. I think we have a good chance of not only playing in the final, but actually winning it."

The coaching staff put out any fires after the game by being realistic with the players.

"We told them they're allowed to lose a couple of games in a tournament like this, you just can't lose a game on Saturday or Sunday," head coach Peter Michelutti Jr. said. "We're still happy."

Sudbury was nailed for 15 penalties compared to 10 by Winnipeg. It played a big part in the game as Winnipeg scored twice with the man advantage and Sudbury scored once while short-handed.

"It's definitely a little frustrating," Michelutti Jr. said. "A lot of the penalties we took were penalties. We felt we could have had a few more calls the other way. Those are things we can't control and just can't worry about. We just have to focus on tomorrow."

Sudbury will play Calgary on Saturday in one of the semi-final match ups. The two clubs tied 2-2 in the round robin.

"(Calgary is) good defensively," Lecours said. "So we have to get the puck in deep and not try to beat them one-on-one."

Player of the game for Sudbury, Devin Lockeyer, who tallied two assists, put it bluntly about what Sudbury has to do in Saturday's game.

"We need a lot more…discipline," he said.

Sudbury is still feeling good as they laid claim to being one of the top four AAA midget teams in Canada.

"It feels awesome," Lecours said. "Coming into this…we knew we had a good team, but we didn't know we could be this good. The next step is to win the next two games."

Sudbury jumped out to an early lead when Deven Stillar charged the net and threw a backhand past Winnipeg goalie Joey Rewucki at 3:38 of the first period.

In the second period, Sudbury gained a 2-0 lead thanks to Craig Laliberte who intercepted a pass and then ripped a high shot past Rewucki at 4:49.

Winnipeg came right back when Mark Stone scored at 5:37 on the power play. Winnipeg struck again at the 13:30 mark when David Conrad found the back of the net to make it 2-2.

P.J. Taus scored for Sudbury at the 16:15 mark on the power play to give the Nickel Capital Wolves a 3-2 lead.

It was short lived as Conrad ripped his second goal of the game at 17:47 on the power play to nod the affair at 3-3.

Sudbury leaped out of the gates in the third period thanks to a superb short-handed effort by Stefan Herrington who got the puck past Rewucki from the slot after a nice pass from Lecours just 1:08 into the final frame.

Winnipeg never wilted and came right back when Mathew Bodie's point shot had eyes and went past Sudbury goalie Noel and a heap of traffic at 11:36.

Stone finished off Sudbury with the empty-net goal at 19:50.