BY SCOTT HUNTER HADDOW
The Sudbury Wolves are set to howl for 68
regular season games in 2005-06.
The Wolves schedule was announced recently
and fans are anxiously awaiting the start of the new
season.
Here's a few points of interest about the
Wolves' 2005-06 regular season schedule, training camp and
their exhibition match ups.
Training camp officially opens on Sept. 1,
with player registration. Practices and scrimmages commence
Friday, Sept. 2, and run until Sunday, Sept. 4.
The Wolves first exhibition game occurs
Saturday, Sept. 10, when they host the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies
from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey league (QMJHL). Game time
at the arena is 7 pm.
The Wolves round out their exhibition games
with a home-and-home series against Northern rival Sault Ste.
Marie, with game one, in Sudbury, Friday, Sept. 16 and game
two, in the Soo, Sunday, Sept. 18.
The real season for the Wolves starts Friday,
Sept. 23, when the local boys host 2005 NHL first-round draft
pick Ryan O'Marra and the Erie Otters. (O'Marra was selected
15th overall by the New York Islanders).
The Wolves second game is against the Ottawa
67's on Sunday, Sept. 25. The game marks the first time the two
clubs will meet since their controversial second-round playoff
series from last season. (Controversy was raised after Wolves'
tough guy Kyle Musselman decked 67's player Mark Mancari,
resulting in Musselman's ban from the OHL).
The 67's bounced the Wolves from the 2005
playoffs in six games thanks, in large part, to the goaltending
heroics of Lively native Danny Battochio, who has been invited
to the Chicago Blackhawks training camp for a tryout.
Hockey fans interested in John Tavares, the
first pick overall in the 2005 OHL Draft, might get to see the
youngster in action, provided he makes the club, at the Sudbury
Arena on Friday, Sept. 30 when the Wolves host the Oshawa
Generals. The OHL made a special ruling allowing Oshawa to
select the 14-year-old Tavares earlier this year. Tavares has
been labelled as the next star hockey prospect.
The first of the Northern rivalry between
Sudbury and the Soo occurs Tuesday, Oct. 18 at the arena. Game
time is 7:30 pm.
The Soo won the series last season, but not
by much, taking three games and losing two. The other game
ended in a 3-3 draw.
The defending OHL champion and Memorial Cup
champion, London Knights, return to the Nickel City on Friday,
Jan. 13.
The Knights will be a completely revamped
squad after going for the Memorial Cup and trading young stars
for proven veterans last season.
Sudbury was the first team to beat London
last year, halting their CHL-record 31-game unbeaten streak
with a 5-2 win in London.
Season tickets are still available by calling
the Wolves' office at 675-3941.
