BY SCOTT HUNTER HADDOW
The Sudbury Wolves were all business this
past weekend, winning both of their games and taking a huge
leap back to respectability.
 |
| name="valign"
top >
Wolves' tough guy Gerome
Guidice squares off with Brett Oilphant of the Barrie
Colts.
More photos >> |
On Friday, Oct. 14, the Wolves lambasted the
Central Division-leading Barrie Colts 7-1 at the Sudbury Arena
in front of a rowdy crowd of 4,315.
Devin DiDiomete continued his solid play by
scoring two goals to lead the Wolves to a much-needed payback
victory over the Colts, who had demolished Sudbury two weeks
ago 9-3 in Barrie.
On Sunday, Oct. 16, the Wolves traveled to
Brampton and disposed of the Battalion 3-1 for their first road
victory of the 2005-06 season.
Goalie Kevin Beech was spectacular, thwarting
39 shots fired his way by Brampton shooters.
With the two weekend wins, the Wolves bumped
their record up to 4-5-0-1, good for nine points and third spot
in the Central Division.
Last Friday, the Wolves proved to be too much
for the Colts.
Barrie opened the scoring quickly when Bryan
Little pounced on a defensive miscue by the Wolves and scored
just 1:01 into the first period.
The Wolves answered right back just over a
minute late.
The Wolves scored two goals in just 22
seconds when Anton Hedman (power play goal) and DiDiomete
managed to bulge the twine and take the wind out of the
Colts' sail.
From then on, it was all Wolves as they
executed their power play to deadly perfection.
The Wolves potted three more power play
goals, from Kevin Baker, DiDiomete and Kyle Hope, to finish the
night 4-for-10 with the extra man.
Jonathan D'Aversa and Jeff Christison
rounded out the Wolves scoring.
The Wolves penalty-killing units also got the
job done, keeping Barrie off the score sheet with the man
advantage seven times.
Goalie Beech was solid, making 19 saves for
the win.
Wolves head coach and GM Mike Foligno praised
his team's effort and applauded the boisterous home town
crowd.
"We like playing in this arena, the fans are
tremendous to us and it brings out the best in the players,"
said Foligno.
"A lot of guys had a lot of energy out there.
It was a real good effort and a gutsy effort because we are
missing a couple of guys (Nick Foligno and Alex Eaton). A lot
of other guys had to pick up their socks and everyone did. It
was good to see."
Foligno was happy to get some great
goaltending.
"Beech was solid and probably his best game
of the year," said Foligno.
D'Aversa continued his fine play, scoring
a goal and two assists, while also fighting Jordan Shine, one
of Barrie's tough guys, to a draw.
"Johnny's been one of our big leaders
right from the start of the year," said Foligno. Even when Marc
Staal wasn't here. Jonathan's doing more than his share
to help out. He's been a pleasant surprise. He's really
picked up his game."
The win was much needed.
"It's a big deal to this team," said
D'Aversa. "We all started rolling tonight and all four
lines were going great. Beech stood on his head and played
great. If we can keep it up we should keep winning."
Beech pointed out his team's overall
defensive play as the reason he was able to shut down the
Barrie snipers.
"The guys played good hockey both offensively
and defensively," said Beech. "They made my job easy because
they had great defensive zone coverage."
DiDiomete was ecstatic to help his team win,
especially since it was payback, avenging a crushing 9-3 loss
to the Colts back in September.
"It was a huge effort from everyone on the
team, not just one guy working," said DiDiomete. "We needed
this win. We went into their barn and they beat the snot out of
us and then they come to our barn and we kick the snot out of
them. It shows a lot of character by our team. Scoring two
goals to help the team win feels awesome."
Colts head coach Mart Williamson made no
excuses for his team after the whipping.
"Sudbury played a really good game and we
didn't show up," said Williamson. "We hung our goalie out
to dry in the first period. We haven't played too many bad
games, but this one was. It was a disappointing effort. I knew
this team was going to come out with a big time effort. When
you get beat 7-1, you can't make excuses - we got
outplayed."
Check all the great pictures from the
Sudbury-Barrie game at northernlife.ca
The Wolves then beat the Battalion on Sunday
afternoon 3-1 in Brampton.
Staal, Hope and DiDiomete all scored for the
Wolves, while Beech was impressive, making 39 saves.
There's no rest for the Wolves as they
get right back into action when they welcome the Sault Ste.
Marie Greyhounds on Tuesday night at the Sudbury Arena. Game
time is 7:30 pm.
