BY SCOTT HUNTER HADDOW
Enemy Line
The Toronto St. Michael's Majors are ready
for the wrath of the north.
Majors head coach Bud Stefanski has his
troops ready to continue one of the OHL's most intense
rivalries when they square off against the Sudbury Wolves
tonight.
Toronto-Sudbury games are usually spirited
battles. They typically end with many bruised bodies, blood on
the ice and two teams eager to rip into one another as soon as
possible.
"Sudbury has a strong defence and some good
forwards," said Stefanski. "They started slow, but they are
coming on now. It's always a hard game up in Sudbury. There's a
great rivalry between the two clubs and that will
continue."
The Majors are dealing with some injuries to
key forwards such as leading scorer Justin Donati, second
leading scorer Tyler Haskins and veteran Jeff Larsh. Donati and
Haskins are probable for the Sudbury game.
The Majors, as of Oct. 27, have been one of
the highest scoring teams in the OHL. They have popped 64
goals, good for second overall in the league. They have also
allowed 64 goals against, third most in the OHL.
The goals for are good, but the goals against
have Stefanski bothered.
"We have scored a lot of goals, but my
concern is the number we have allowed," said Stefanski. "We
have allowed just too many goals against and it's an area we
have to improve on."
Stefanski has been impressed with his team's
resolve.
"Our resiliency and ability to come back have
been the biggest surprise so far," said Stefanski.
"It seems we're down in every game and then
we find a way to battle back. It's been the trademark of this
team."
Toronto features one Sudbury-born player,
defenceman Scott Lavigne. The five-foot-eleven defender has had
a slow start to his 2005-06 campaign due to injuries. Lavigne
suffered a concussion in the second game of the season and a
cracked rib. He has only played three games so far, recording
no points. Lavigne will probably been in the line up
tonight.
Here's the Majors Top-three scores as of Oct.
27.Justin Donati 12-9-15-24
Tyler Haskins 12-7-12-19
Tyler Donati 13-6-10-16
Battle Report
The Sudbury Wolves will be looking to let
their offence run wild Friday night at the Sudbury Arena.
The Wolves host their southern rival,
Toronto, tonight (game time is 7:30 pm) and the locals will be
looking to fire up their offensive weapons after getting shut
out 4-0 by Brampton last Friday at home.
The Wolves will also have to stop the Majors
scoring machine, which has produced the second most goals for
(64) in the OHL as of Oct. 27.
"Toronto has four scoring lines," said Wolves
head coach and GM Mike Foligno. "They made changes last year
that made them a more offensive
team. What we have to do is eliminate as many
as their scoring chances as possible. If we can reduce their
chances to about 10 or 12 than it gives us a chance to be
successful. Our last game against Brampton we didn't capitalize
on our chances. Any chances we create this game...we have to
score."
A good deal of offence might come from the
defence. The Wolves three big shooting defencemen, Marc Staal,
Jonathan D'Aversa and Ryan Hastings , have combined for nine
goals and 34 points in 35 games. Factor in new guy Kyle Hope,
who has two goals and three points in seven games, and the
Wolves defence is one of the most offensively prolific units in
the league.
Hope has earned praise for his efforts.
"We brought in Kyle as a guy who could
relieve our defence or fill in case of an injury," said
Foligno. "Kyle has worked really hard and plays with a
will-to-win attitude. He's worked himself into our lineup and
it will be hard for us to keep him out of it. Kyle has
contributed, not only on defence, but on the offence as well
with his great shot from the point. It has allowed us to use
him on the power play."
Both of Hope's goals were on the power
play.
The Wolves have only one player out with an
injury, defenceman Troy Murray, who's expected to still miss
another six weeks.
Here's a look at the Top-three Wolves
scorers:
Ben Pouliot 8-4-11-15
Marc Staal 11-5-8-13
Jonathan D'Aversa 12-2-10-12
