BY SCOTT HUNTER HADDOW
The Sudbury Wolves are away from the friendly
confines of the Sudbury Arena this weekend for their first
three regular season road games.
The Wolves square off against the Ottawa
67's tonight in the Nation's capital, followed by games
against the Peterborough Petes on Saturday night, and the
Kingston Frontenacs on Sunday afternoon.
The road trip will be important, as the
Wolves look to continue their winning ways, and further
establish a strong bond amongst teammates.
Wolves' head coach and general manager
Mike Foligno will have his troops ready for war on the
road.
"There will not be much change to our game,"
said Foligno. "Our game is going to be all about speed. We will
have to make sure we're executing very quickly, especially
against some of the teams we're going to face. Playing in
their rinks, they're going to try to slow us down. We
can't have any of that. We have to keep the tempo up for
three periods in each game."
Even if opposing teams slow the Wolves down,
it could prove to be a benefit for the Wolves.
"If we force them into situations where they
try to slow us down, and maybe they get some penalties, it
opens up room for our power play, which has been clicking well
so far," said Foligno. "When you're playing on the road,
you get fewer power play chances, so we have to make sure we
capitalize on those opportunities"
Last season, the Wolves fashioned a
less-than-stellar road record with only seven wins, and the
whole team is determined to make the Wolves into true road
warriors.
"Last year's record stems from having a
young defense and being on the road for the first time, and
everybody going through it," said Foligno. "You can only battle
so hard, but only experience and time will heal the problem.
This year, the defense is the strength of the club, and success
will come with a real pride in our team defense on the
road."
The Wolves will use the first road trip of
the regular season to cement bonds within the team.
"This is a great group of guys," said
Foligno. "We're getting along, and we want to show that
cohesiveness on the ice. It's important we play a unified
game. We want to be physical , intense and control our
discipline."
The Wolves beat the 67's 3-1 in the
season opener last Friday, and followed with a 6-1 thrashing of
the Erie Otters.
OHL notes as of Northern Life press
time.
The 67's have a wicked one-two scoring
punch up front in San Jose Sharks' 2004 first round draft
pick Lukas Kaspar, who has three goals in two games, and Jakub
Petruzalek, who has three assists in two games.
The Kingston Frontenacs are led by Florida
Panthers 2003 first round draft pick and World Junior star
Anthony Stewart.
The Wolves' leading scorers so far are
Ben Pouliot with three goals and four points, and Ryan
McDonough with one goal and four points.
