BY SCOTT HUNTER HADDOW
If the opening game of the Bell Challenge Cup
proved one thing, it was the annual series for Northern Ontario
bragging rights between the Sudbury Wolves and Sault Ste. Marie
Greyhounds is going to be a long, hard-fought series.
On Friday night, at the Sudbury Arena, the
two teams battled to a 3-3 draw.
The Greyhounds rolled into town with the
worst record in the OHL, but were riding high with new head
coach Craig Hartsburg at the helm.
The game was a tough, physical,
tight-checking game from start to finish.
"It was a hard-fought game," said head coach
Mike Foligno. "We had the lead three times. The discouraging
part was that we gave it up three times in our building. They
worked harder, and had one of their best games. (Craig)
Hartsburg has made a difference over there. Obviously he has
them channeled in the right direction.
"We didn't have as many guys on board as
we normally have. It was disappointing because we had to cut
the bench down. We will take the point, but we will not be
happy about letting the other one go."
The boys wasted no time getting the Northern
Ontario rivalry charged up.
Wolves' captain and Sudbury native Zack
Stortini and Greyhounds' assistant captain and Soo native
Jordan Smith dropped the gloves just five seconds into the
game.
The two heavyweights threw a series of
violent haymakers, before Stortini got Smith's jersey over
his head and pummeled him with punches.
The Wolves opened the scoring when Jonathan
D'Aversa made a nice play and swatted the puck into the net
from the slot on the power play at 8:36 of the first
period.
The lead held until early in the second
frame.
Soo's Jeff Carter parked himself in front
of Patrick Ehelechner, picked up a rebound and shoveled a
backhand shot past the Wolves goaltender to tie the game at
2:36 on the power play.
The Wolves regained the lead, again on the
power play, when D'Aversa unloaded a big shot from the
point, that slipped through heavy traffic, and past goalie Kyle
Gajewski at 9:06.
Once again, Carter would come to the rescue
for the Hounds on the power play.
The slick centre jumped on another loose puck
in the slot and popped it over Ehelechner to tie the game at
12:42.
The Wolves would counter before the period
ended and again it was on the power play.
Stortini grabbed the puck by the Soo net and
charged in hard from the side, slamming home the Wolves'
third goal at 14:19.
The back and forth battle continued in the
third period.
Soo's Tyler Kennedy broke free from the
Wolves, while short-handed, chased down a loose puck, skated in
on Ehelechner, and slipped a weak shot through the goalie's
legs to tie the game at 5:24.
Overtime settled nothing.
The Wolves went 3-9 on the power play, while
the Soo went 2-7.
Ehelechner stopped 33 shots, while Gajewski
managed 37 saves.
The Wolves now sit fourth in the Central
Division with a 6-5-2-1 record, good for 15 points.
The Wolves next game is Wednesday against the
same Greyhounds in Sault Ste. Marie. Game time is 7 pm.
Their next home game is this Friday, against
the Peterborough Petes. Game time is 7:30 pm.
