BY SCOTT
HADDOW
The Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves will take on the Winnipeg
Thrashers for the 2008 TELUS Cup.
Sudbury earned the right to the big dance by knocking off the
Calgary Buffaloes 5-2 in a semi-final match up on Saturday
night.
Sudbury had waited since Tuesday of this week to get at the
Buffaloes again after the two clubs battled to a 2-2 draw in
the round robin.
The Nickel Capital Wolves had to wait a little longer than
expected to try and rope up the Buffaloes.
A leak in the roof caused a delay of almost an hour, forcing
both teams to sit and wait in their gear.
Sudbury was sluggish at the start of the game and in the first
period overall. They took three straight penalties at one point
and it was costly. Calgary's Adam Thompson made them pay at
12:31 when he put the puck past Sudbury goalie Christopher
McDougall to make it 1-0.
Sudbury stayed quiet until the second period when they caught a
lucky break and found themselves on a five-on-three power play.
Captain Mathieu Lecours ripped a one-timer past Calgary goalie
Kris Moore from the side of the net after a cross-crease pass
from Deven Stillar to tie the game at 1-1 at the 1:53 mark.
The third period saw Sudbury exploded for four goals as they
romped to a 5-2 win over Calgary.
Devin Lockeyer roofed a high shot on the power play at the 5:10
mark to make it 2-1.
Moments later, Denis Restoule barged into the slot and went to
the top of the crease and fired a hard back hand shot into the
net on the power play to make it 3-1 at the 10:52 mark.
Calgary didn't wither away into the night as Riley Reinbolt
found the back of the net on a late power play at 15:38 to make
it 3-2.
The tension was building and the momentum swinging back in
Calgary's favour until Stillar stepped up with a strong
short-handed effort and forced a turnover just outside the
Buffaloes' defensive zone. Stillar then raced in and went
forehand to backhand and put the puck in the net from 10-feet
out to make it 4-2 at the 16:41 mark.
Calgary, desperate for a goal, pulled their goalie with less
than two minutes to play to get their offence going.
It was a risk that didn't pay off as P.J. Taus fired a long
bomb into the empty net at the 19:49 mark to seal the 5-2
victory.
10 years ago, Sudbury defeated the Calgary Buffaloes 5-2 in the
1998 AAA national midget championship semi-final game to
advance to the gold medal game.
"History repeats itself," Sudbury head coach Peter Michelutti
Jr. said. "We battled Calgary hard and dug deep…the players
made all kinds of sacrifices. They did whatever it took to get
the puck out or create a scoring chance. They emptied the tank
and had no regrets. They get to fight another day."
Sudbury will now play Winnipeg for the national title on Sunday
at 4 pm. The Thrashers defeated Sudbury 5-4 in the round robin.
"It's going to take another full team effort again," Michelutti
Jr. said. "They have to compete and have some fun It's hard to
imagine we're playing for a national title…it just shows,
again, how hard all the guys work on this team."
Sudbury's Player of the Game, Stillar, was overwhelmed after
the rough match.
"That was a dog fight," he said. "We're jacked for tomorrow."
Stillar's late short-handed tally took the winds out of
Calgary's sails. He described the goal as the biggest of his
career thus far.
"The (back hand) has been working for me all week long so I
figured I wouldn't go away from it and it worked out," the
stocky winger said. "I can't believed I tried that…thank God it
paid off. It was such a relief…they were putting a lot of
pressure on us. I'm at a lost for words here."
Game notes:
- Sudbury gets a big boost as Justin Lockeyer
will return from action after missing two games with an upper
body injury.
- McDougall made 26 saves and will start the
gold medal game.
- Sudbury fired 21 shots on the Calgary net.
- Sudbury was nailed for 10 penalties, while
Calgary was hit for 11.
- Stillar had one goal and three points
The gold medal game will air on TSN at 4 pm (If you subscribe to digital cable it's channel 33).
