BY JASON THOMPSON
Following a tough weekend with two losses in
three games, the Sudbury Wolves are in playoff preparation mode
as they travel west to take on the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds
Wednesday night.
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Sudbury defenceman Nick Tuzzolino
will be back in the line-up Wednesday after serving a
two-game suspension for instigating a fight against
Owen Sound's Trevor Koverko Feb. 10. |
The Wolves' have three wins in four tilts
against the Greyhounds this year and if past results are any
indication, it's going to be a close game as all four contests
between the two teams have been won by a single goal.
Currently, the Wolves sit in seventh place in
the Eastern Conference, with a record of 26-23-1-4, three
points back of the fourth-place Toronto St. Michael's
Majors.
In tonight's game, the Wolves welcome
defenceman Nick Tuzzolino back into the line-up after his two
game suspension for instigating a fight with Owen Sound's
Trevor Koverko last Friday.
Sudbury head coach and general manager Mike
Foligno will also be back behind the bench Wednesday after
serving his two-game suspension, stemming from colourful
comments he made to on-ice officials during the Owen Sound game
for what the bench boss referred to as "questionable
calls."
"I went a little overboard," Foligno admits.
"Obviously I said some things that maybe I shouldn't have said
but I think it was something that needed attention and I felt
something needed to be done.
"At the same time, I didn't want to take a
suspension to take a point and that's the part that hurts more
than anything else. I'm anxious to get back and help our team
be successful."
Foligno said part of being successful is
finishing the season strong and putting yourself in a good
position to be successful in the playoffs.
"It's imperative now that we start playing
winning hockey and start doing the things on the ice that are
going to allow us to win consistently," he said.
With 14 games remaining of the regular-season
schedule, Foligno said he wants his players to think of the
rest of the season as a couple of seven-game playoff series,
perhaps taking a page from Darryl Sutter's playbook.
Sutter, head coach and general manager of the
NHL's Calgary Flames, employed a similar tactic with his team
in the weeks leading up to the 2003/2004 playoffs.
Coincidentally, the Flames advanced to the Stanley Cup final
that year, falling in seven games to the Tampa Bay
Lightning.
"You can't put a string of losses together,
you have to put a string of wins together to advance in the
playoffs," Foligno said. "That's what our mentality is, we want
to make sure we're putting our best efforts forward to
consistently win."
The Greyhounds meanwhile, are doing their
best to hold on to their playoff ticket as they sit in eighth
place in the Western Conference. The Greyhounds have record of
22-27-3-3 on the season.
"We've got to play our game," said head coach
Craig Hartsburg. "We have to focus on ourselves and can't focus
on what the other team has or hasn't and that's the way we've
approached our season."
Hartsburg said for his squad to be victorious
against a tough Sudbury team, and one of the league's biggest
defensive corps, they would have to outwork their opponents,
play strong defensively and make smart plays.
Catch all the game's action live on 790 CIGM
with Stew Kernan calling the play. Game time is 7 pm.
