BY SCOTT HUNTER HADDOW
The Sudbury Wolves host two key Central
Division opponents this weekend, and it could mean a move up in
the standings if the Wolves get the job done right.
On Friday, the defending Eastern Conference
Champions, the Mississauga IceDogs, storm the Elgin Street
barn.
Game time at the Sudbury Arena is 7:30
pm.
The IceDogs feature a dangerous bunch of
forwards, led by Patrick O'Sullivan, that can put the puck
in the net.
"We're looking for this team to respond,"
said head coach Mike Foligno. "We have some tough rivals coming
in, and we have to take advantage of the opportunity to move up
the ladder in our division."
The Wolves have to avoid the run-and-gun
style game and stick to the basics for success.
"We can't get caught up in run-and-gun
games," said Foligno, alluding to the recent 7-3 blasting the
Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds laid on the Wolves on Tuesday night
at the Sudbury Arena. "When we have played our best games,
it's been really solid defence. It's something we have
to get back to. That's the key for hockey club with the
goaltending, defence and forwards that we have. Three or four
goals should be enough for us to win games. We don't want
to get into a run-and-gun game against Mississauga, especially
when they have players like O'Sullivan. We just have to
play a physical, very defensive style of hockey right
now."
This is the second meeting between the two
clubs. The IceDogs won the first game, 4-3 in overtime, on Oct.
11. Bobby Chaumont had two goals, while, Ben Pouliot scored the
other goal.
As of Northern Life Thursday press time, the
Wolves sit in third spot in the Central Division, with a
8-7-2-1 record.
They play the Barrie Colts tonight, in
Barrie.
Last season, after 18 games, the Wolves only
had 10 points. So far this season, the Wolves have 19
points.
A much younger team than last year, Foligno
doesn't think his troops are under-achieving despite all
the pre-season hype.
"We are a lot younger than we were last year,
so there's going to be mistakes made," said Foligno. "The
key is to learn from those mistakes quickly. We are going to
have our setbacks, but we have to make sure our setbacks
don't take over the team and hurt the good things we are
doing. We have a good home record, and now we want to develop
our road game and get it back to where it should be."
The secret of winning isn't hard to
figure out, but it takes plenty to carry it out.
"We have to show up every game and play as
hard as we can,"said Foligno. "When we do that, we can compete
against anybody in the league."
The Wolves return to defend their honour on
Sunday afternoon against the Toronto St. Michael's Majors.
Game time is 2 pm.
This marks the first time Toronto has played
in Sudbury since they put the Wolves out of the first round of
the 2003-04 playoffs in seven games.
This will also be the second meeting between
the two teams. Toronto won the first match, 4-3. on Oct. 10.
Kyle Lamb, Chaumont, and Stefan Blaho scored for the Wolves
that day.