BY SCOTT HADDOW
The Sudbury Wolves are answering all
challenges and pounding all challengers right now after a
convincing 6-2 thrashing of the Mississauga IceDogs on Sunday
at the Sudbury Arena.
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Devin DiDiomete and the Sudbury
Wolves smacked Mississauga 6-2 on Sunday for their
third straight win.
More photos>> |
It was the Wolves third straight win, but
more importantly, their third straight victory over a
divisional opponent. (The Wolves dumped Toronto 4-3 last
Thursday and Brampton 4-2 last Friday.)
The wins have allowed Sudbury to keep pace in
the tight Central Division. The locals remain in fourth spot
with 48 points, one point behind Toronto for third and four
points behind Brampton for second place.
Kevin Baker lead the charge against the
IceDogs with two goals and three points. Marc Staal, Gary
Friesen, Ben Pouliot and Mike Mills also scored for Sudbury,
who are 22-19-1-3 on the season.
Chris Lawrence scored both goals for
Mississauga.
The game had Wolves head coach and GM Mike
Foligno spreading around some extra credit to a crazy man with
a trumpet. (The Happy Trumpeter, Claude Scott, was at both
Wolves home games this past weekend delighting fans with his
unusual brand of off-beat humour.)
"We would like to find a way to take the
Happy Trumpeter with us on the road and have him stick around
for all the rest of the games...He has always brought us good
luck," said Foligno. "He gets the crowd going...And I think our
players get involved to. We had a few laughs on the bench with
some of the antics he was carrying on with."
Needless to say, any win over a divisional
rival, especially one fighting for a playoff spot, is
key.
"It was a big game for us," said Foligno.
"Everyone is contributing and that's one of the biggest
reasons we're back on the winning track."
The game was tight and hard hitting, until
the Wolves blew it wide open in the third period with three
goals.
"We have really come together and it's
showing," said Baker. "All the new guys are getting used to us.
Everyone is working hard and we're coming out on top
because of it."
Despite the success, the Wolves know they
can't let it get to their heads.
"We have to keep doing the simple things,"
said Friesen. "If we do that, our talent will take over and
help us win more games. It's taken a few games for all us
new guys to gel, but it's happening. We're still taking
too many dumb penalties and it has to stop. When playoffs come
around we have to play a perfect game with not a lot of
penalties."
The Wolves are back in action on Tuesday
night as they take on the Belleville Bulls in another intense
conference battle. Game time at the Sudbury Arena is 7:30
pm.
