Sudbury Wolves Battle
Report
The Sudbury Wolves are looking to feast on
the Oshawa Generals at the Sudbury Arena tonight for their
first home win of the 2005-06 season.
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Brett Parnham |
The Wolves are currently 0-2 at the barn on
Elgin St., but there's hope after the team pulled together
after a crushing 5-1 loss to Erie in the home opener last
Friday to battle Ottawa to a hard-fought 4-3 loss last
Sunday.
The team's effort overall in the Ottawa game
compared to the Erie game was like night and day. Wolves head
coach and GM Mike Foligno is hoping his troops can build off
the solid play from the Ottawa game.
"We have to play better hockey overall at
home," said Foligno. "It's a must. I really liked our second
and third periods against Ottawa last Sunday. We took the play
to them. It's the first time we've done that consistently in a
long time. I felt good about what they were doing. The work
ethic was great and if they continue to play that way, we will
win a lot of hockey games."
The Wolves are looking for more discipline as
well.
"We need to stay out of the penalty box,"
said forward Mike Mills. "Five-on-five we can beat anybody,
just penalties are killing us."
Foligno has been impressed with the early
play of 2005 first round draft pick Brett Parnham, who scored
his first OHL goal in his first OHL game last Friday against
Erie.
"Brett's anxious to show what he's capable of
doing," said Foligno. "He never got a chance to play in any
exhibition games because he was injured, so he's still just
playing his first few games. I only expect it to get better for
him as he fully heals. When he fully learns our team concept,
he's going to be even more productive offensively and
defensively for us."
The Wolves plan on giving Generals phenom
John Tavares a tough time in his debut at the Sudbury
Arena.
"John's a young man who will go through some
growing pains," said Foligno. "At the same time, he feels he
can get the job done, so you have to give the kid full marks.
Playing in the OHL as a 15-year-old isn't an easy thing to do.
Heck, it isn't easy for some 17-year-old players. We will pay
attention to him for sure. We wish him a lot of success, except
for when he plays against Sudbury."
The Wolves are back in action on Sunday, when
they host the Peterborough Petes. Game time at the Sudbury
Arena is 2 pm.
Oshawa Generals Enemy
Line
The Oshawa Generals have undergone a few
radical changes from last year. After finishing dead last in
the OHL, the Generals earned the right to select highly coveted
14-year-old John Tavares, who has been labeled the next big
thing in hockey.
The Generals have also reloaded their lineup
through trades, the draft, and free agent signings.
They signed Provincial Junior A players, such
as Nathaniel Brooks and Billy Seacrest, and acquired Phil
McIlhone from Sudbury in the summer.
"We have a lot of new faces in our lineup,"
said Generals' head coach Randy Ladouceur. "It gives us a
definite new look. Both our goalies from last year are gone and
we have a new goalie that we picked in the import draft, Stefan
Grauwiler. We had our first three picks from the 1989 draft
make our team as well. We are excited about all these new
players."
Ladouceur has put his stamp on the franchise
by making the team accountable for their actions on and off the
ice.
"We had a difficult and strenuous training
camp that got our players in really good shape," said
Ladouceur. "They know what we expect from them. Our goal is to
get into the playoffs. We feel we're a better team than we
showed last season."
The Generals will be relying on four-year
veteran forward Adam Berti, centre Peter Tsimikalis and
character guy Cal Clutterbuck to lead the charge up front, and
returning defencemen Brett Nasby and David Halasz are expected
to lead the defence.
"Those guys will carry the workload for us,"
said Ladouceur.
The Generals are taking a wait-and-see
approach to injured forward and Sudbury boy Christian Cundari,
who was hit in the mouth with a puck in training camp and
needed extensive dental surgery to repair the damage. Cundari
is still out, but the Generals haven't forgot about him.
"We had Cundari penciled in to make our
club...But he got injured and he's still recovering and it has
set him back," said Ladouceur.
Tavares has lived up to his billing. Tavares
scored his first goal in first game.
"John handles himself very well," said
Ladouceur. "All through training camp he got better and better.
He's a good player with the puck, so he will get time on our
power play. John has a bright future. From the way he has
started, it would indicate he's going to be a strong player in
this league down the road."
