BY SCOTT HADDOW
The Sudbury Wolves, slipping in the OHL
standings thanks to a four-game losing streak, made two
significant moves over the weekend in an effort to jump start
the club.
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A poor effort last Friday night
against Plymouth resulted in an embarrassing 5-1 loss
for the Wolves. |
The Wolves lost 5-1 to Plymouth on Friday
night at the Sudbury Arena on Fan Appreciation Night. Sudbury
then lost 1-0 to Brampton on Sunday afternoon.
The uninspired play prompted Sudbury's
head coach and GM, Mike Foligno, to pull the trigger on two
trades.
On Saturday, Foligno shipped 2005 first round
draft pick (13th overall) Brett Parnham to Oshawa for 18 year
old grinder Gary Friesen. Parnham had been essentially a bust
since landing in Sudbury, scoring just four goals in 31 games
while having a -5 rating.
Friesen, a six-foot, 200-pound centre, had
six goals, 15 points and 71 penalty minutes in 35 games with
Oshawa.
Foligno then sent rookie Keaton Turkiewicz,
prospect Jordan Cheechoo and a second round draft pick in 2007
to Windsor for forward Akim Aliu.
The six-foot-three, 210-pound Aliu hadn't
played a game since Nov. 11, 2005.
Aliu was part of the hazing incident that
rocked Windsor at the start of the season. The power forward
ended up fighting with Steve Downie, who was his teammate at
the time, at a practice. Aliu left the team shortly afterwards
and Downie was transferred to Peterborough.
Aliu was the sixth pick overall in the 2005
OHL Draft.
The Toronto native had three goals and seven
points, along with 25 penalty minutes, in 18 games with
Windsor.
Turkiewicz had seven goals and 18 points in
39 games with the Wolves, but also had a -11 rating. Cheechoo
had played 14 games for the Wolves, recording zero
points.
With the two losses over the weekend, the
Wolves are clinging to the final playoff spot in the Eastern
Conference with a 19-18-1-2 record, good for 41 points.
They are tied with Belleville, which has a
game in hand.
The Wolves are 0-4 in their last four games,
and 3-6-0-1 in their last 10 games.
The Wolves are fourth in the Central
Division, one point behind Toronto, but now only eight points
up on ninth place Mississauga, who is climbing up the standings
with a 7-3 record in their last 10 games.
On Sunday, the Wolves lost 1-0 to the
Battalion in Brampton. Goalie Daren Machesney made 29 saves for
the shut out. Kevin Beech stopped 24 of 25 shots fired his
way.
Luch Aquino scored for the Battalion, who are
on a five-game winning streak and making a charge for first
place in the Central Division.
On last Friday night, in front of 4,316 fans,
the Wolves allowed the Plymouth
Whalers to dictate the flow of the game and
were whipped 5-1. The Whalers entered the game as easy
pickings, having just come from a battle with Barrie the night
before and being short-handed four players.
Evan Brophey, Jared Boll, Steve Ward, John
Vigilante and Andrew Fournier all scored for the Whalers.
Justin Allen scored the lone Wolves goal late in the third
period to spoil the shut out for goalie Justin Peters.
The Wolves mustered only 21 shots on Friday.
Beech was less than stellar, thwarting only 20 of 25 shots
pumped his way.
Sudbury went 0-11 on the power play, while
Plymouth went 2-10.
Needless to say, the lack luster effort
didn't have Foligno singing praises after the loss.
"It wasn't our best effort," said
Foligno. "We didn't play very well...the boys are
disappointed in their own game, we're disappointed
obviously and our fans are disappointed. It's not something
they see in this building regularly."
Whalers head coach and GM Michael Vellucci
was proud of his troop's efforts.
"We had a team meeting before...We made some
changes and got back to hard work," said Vellucci. "We've
been short staffed. Sometimes that brings the best out of a
team. We started out with the trap...But we scored a big first
goal on the power play and I think that changed the momentum of
the game."
The Wolves will look to bounce back into the
win column this Friday when they host the second best team in
the OHL, the London Knights. Game time at the Sudbury Arena is
7:30 pm.
