Enemy Line
Toronto St. Michael's Majors head coach Bud Stefanski has been
around the OHL long enough to know his team isn't walking into
a good situation in Sudbury tonight.
Knowing the deep pride that's instilled in the Wolves club, and
the fact they lost two straight homes games and don't want to
lose a third, Stefanski will have his troops ready for an
all-out assault from Sudbury tonight.
The Majors went 1-2 in their first three games. They played
in Brampton last night, but results were unavailable at press
time.
In their first three games, the Majors were the most
penalized club in the OHL.
Cutting down on mistakes and withstanding a potential angry
barrage from the Wolves will keep Toronto on track.
"It's not too often Sudbury looses two in a row at home, so obviously we will have to be at our best," said Stefanski.
"With the return of Nick Foligno...he will give them some extra jump and make players around him a lot better.
We've had some good periods and some bad periods. We're
trying to find a consistent level of play for 60 minutes right
now."
Stefanski has taken the penalty parade in stride with his
young team.
"There's an adjustment period for a lot of these young
players," said the coach. "That urge to reach out and grab
somebody or give them a tug with the stick is there and tough
to fight for young players."
During training camp, the Majors swung an eighth round pick
to Sudbury for defenceman Troy Murray. The six-foot-three,
210-pound defender has been a pleasant addition to Toronto.
"He's been steady," said Stefanski. "He competes hard and
killing penalties for us. He's been really good in the dressing
room because he's a quality kid."
One player for fans to keep an eye tonight will be scrappy
veteran Michael Haley. The five-foot-10 pepper pot has a stern
reputation around the league as a no nonsense player, and he's
off to the best start of his OHL career, racking up three goals
and five points in his first three games, along with 12 penalty
minutes.
"Michael is a leader," said Stefanski. "He plays hard and is
a real competitor. He's the type of guy who makes others
accountable."
Rookie Dylan O'Neil, selected 10th overall in the 2006 OHL draft, has added immediate respect to Toronto with his fine play. The plucky forward had one point in three games.
"He's also been steady for us," said Stefanski. "We've used him
in all kinds of situations...from the power play to penalty
killing, and he's responded well."
The majors made a move earlier this week, sending former 2005 second-round draft pick Adam Zamec to Kitchener for a third-round pick in 2008. Zamec had been sitting out, and last season, played 60 games, notching two goals and eight points.
Battle Report
The Sudbury Wolves do not plan on an encore of last weekend's
dubious results.
After dropping their home opener last week 10-4 to Mississauga,
followed by a tough 4-3 loss to Brampton, the Wolves are
looking to rebound into the win column tonight against the
Toronto St. Michael's Majors.
Game time at the Sudbury Arena is 7:30 pm.
Many hard lessons were learned during the losses. Head coach
and GM Mike Foligno hopes it sunk deep into his players' minds
and is stressing patience.
"There's a learning curve lots of guys are going through," said
the bench boss. "We weren't quite up to snuff. The number one
thing is we need to have better positional play. That hurt us
on the power play. We were better against Brampton...it's one
day at a time right now with all the new faces we have on the
club. It takes a little time."
Like in the past, penalties were costly for the Wolves last
weekend, as the team allowed seven power play goals against
during 17 chances.
"We took too many penalties...some, maybe, we didn't
deserve...questionable calls, but that's the game now," said
the GM.
Spirits were still up this week as the boys got back to
business at practice.
"We got a bit of confidence built up knowing we improved from
one game to the next," said Foligno. "We have to build off the
positives from the Brampton game...a game we deserved to win.
This group wants to do well."
No one pushed the panic button and the club remains stoic they
will turn things around quickly.
"You can't do that," said Foligno about pressing the panic
button. "We have a lot of changes from last season and we're
still missing some key players. Against Toronto...we will need
everyone on board pulling in the same direction to have
success."
The club got great news on Tuesday when it was announced the
Ottawa Senators has assigned Nick Foligno, last year's top
scorer, to the Wolves.
"It's great news for us...and he will help our cause," said
Foligno.
The Wolves weren't happy with themselves and want to make
amends.
"We improved, but we still have a long way to go," said
defender Adam McQuaid. "We took some positives out of the
Brampton game and the first two games were a learning
experience. There's no reason to doubt ourselves...we will need
to play harder."
Akim Aliu wants to see the team come alive tonight.
"We are getting better as a team...we just have to keep working
hard and things will turn around for us," said the
six-foot-three forward.
On the injury front, back up goalie Michael Swick is
questionable for tonight's game. He's nursing a lower body
injury. Alain Valiquette, 2006 draft pick, will serve as Kevin
Beech's back up if Swick is unable to go. Rugged forward Gerome
Giudice is also out with a shoulder injury.
Before the game, the Wolves' franchise will retire Ron Duguay's
#10 jersey during a pre-game celebration.
