Posts tagged ‘Sudbury Wolves’

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April 13, 2011

Majors overpower Wolves

By John Langdon

The Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors took a commanding 3-0 series lead in the OHL Eastern Conference Semifinal with a 6-3 win over the Sudbury Wolves Tuesday night at the Hershey Centre.
Jordan Mayer led the Majors with 2 goals and 1 assist while earning the game’s first-star selection.
Corey Bureau, Maxim Kitsyn, and Rob Flick each recorded 1 goal and 1 assist, while Justin Shugg also scored for Mississauga.
Joshua Leivo led the Wolves offensively with 1 goal and 1 assist, while Eric O’Dell and Frank Schumacher contributed the additional goals for Sudbury.
O’Dell leads both teams with 4 goals in the series and has pushed himself into second place in league scoring with 6 goals this post-season.
The services of Alain Valiquette were relied upon once again Tuesday night as the Wolves netminder faced 44 shots while turning aside 39. Valiquette has seen plenty of rubber this series while facing 104 shots over the past two games.
JP Anderson continued his solid play between the pipes for Mississauga by recording his seventh consecutive win this post-season while maintaining a remarkable 1.57 goals against average and a .929 save percentage in the playoffs.
The 2011 Memorial Cup hosts have now won 17 consecutive games which includes a 10 game win streak during the final stretch of the regular season, dating back to February 27.
While the Majors will look to execute their second straight series sweep these playoffs, the Wolves will be fighting for survival when the teams meet in Game #4 on Wednesday night at Sudbury Community Arena. Game time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

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April 11, 2011

Wolves fall to Majors, trail series 2-0

JP Anderson makes a save on Andrey Kuchin in OHL playoff action Sunday night. Photo by Andy Veilleux.

By John Langdon
Despite a 60 save performance from goaltender Alain Valiquette, the Sudbury Wolves failed to pull out a win at home Sunday night as the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors stormed back with three unanswered goals to take a 2-0 series lead in the OHL Eastern Conference semifinal.
While being outshot 24-6 in the third period, the Wolves squandered a 2-1 lead after Michael Sgarbossa took an undisciplined penalty which lead to the equalizer from Mississauga’s Stuart Percy. Then with 5:02 remaining in regulation, Mika Partanen buried the game-winner to give the Majors a 3-2 road win in front of 4, 574 fans at Sudbury Community Arena.
Justin Shugg also scored for Mississauga, who remains undefeated so far this post-season.
Sudbury was led by forward Eric O’Dell who registered one goal and one assist in the losing effort.
Wolves captain Marcus Foligno recorded his first goal of the playoffs by opening the scoring on the power play early in the second frame after St. Michael’s forward Maxim Kitsyn was sent off for interference.
Mississauga netminder JP Anderson made 22 saves to register his sixth straight win this post-season.
The Wolves will look to avoid falling into a 3-0 series hole when Game #3 takes place Tuesday night at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga at 7:00 p.m.

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March 30, 2011

Wolves take stranglehold on series

Mike Lomas was mobbed by his teammates after scoring the game-winning goal to put the Wolves up 3-0 in their series against the Ottawa 67's. Photo by Andy Veilleux

By John Langdon

The Sudbury Wolves are on the brink of upsetting the second seeded Ottawa 67′s after Mike Lomas scored the game-winning goal 33 seconds into overtime of Game #3 to give the seventh seeded Wolves a commanding 3-0 series lead in the OHL Eastern Conference Quarterfinal.

Lomas buried a shot from within the left circle past 67′s goaltender Petr Mrazek to give Sudbury a 5-4 overtime win while sending 4, 427 fans into eruption at Sudbury Community Arena.

“That was my biggest goal of my OHL career for sure,” Lomas said.

Immediately after the puck found the back of the net, Lomas dropped to his knees while looking skyward and yelling out of excitement as his teammates mobbed the overtime hero.

“I honestly can’t even tell you what happened, it happened so quickly,” he said. “I know we had a good forecheck there and I got a good pass and just shot it and it went in. Before I knew it, everyone was piled up on top of me.”

It seemed as though the 67′s were just seconds away from pulling themselves back into the series, until Josh McFadden scored with just 16.6 seconds remaining in the third period to force overtime and the hometown faithful into a frenzy.

The Wolves defenceman stepped up his game by registering a hat-trick in the win, including two power play goals in the third period.

“The first two games of the series weren’t really my best games so I knew I had to step up tonight,” McFadden said. “It felt really good to get three goals. We have the best fans in the OHL. So, to score three goals at home, especially that last one, it was great.”

After blowing a 2-1 lead and trailing 4-2 in the third, the Wolves gave a big assist to their fans in the dramatic win.

“The fans here are unbelievable,” Lomas added. “When we were waiting to go out for the overtime, they were cheering. We heard them in the hallway. We looked at each other and we just knew that we had to do it for them, for us, and they were behind us.”

The loss was a tough pill to swallow for the 67′s. Ottawa Head coach Chris Byrne was left shaking his head after the game.

“It was a tough loss,” Byrne said. “I thought our guys played very hard and competed hard all night and did what we asked of them. But it’s tough to win a game taking five minors in the third period. That was our undoing. A couple of tough ones there where we put ourselves down and their power play got rolling.”

After Wolves forward Eric O’Dell opened the scoring at 11:35 of the first period from a beautiful play by Frank Schumacher, Ottawa’s Steven Janes evened the score just over two minutes later.

Sudbury regained the lead at 17:19 when Michael MacDonald placed a perfect pass in the slot for McFadden who hammered a one-timer past Mrazek, giving the Czech netminder little chance of stopping.

Trailing 2-1 after the first, the 67′s offence found its form by scoring three goals in the second period. First, Sean Monahan jumped on a loose rebound after Wolves goaltender Alain Valiquette failed to control a shot from Ottawa captain Thomas Nesbitt. Five minutes later, Janes recorded his second point of the game by setting up Ben Dubois in close. The visitors extended their lead with a power play marker from Marc Zanetti, after Wolves captain Marcus Foligno was sent off for tripping.

Looking to reply, the Wolves fired 14 shots on Mrazek throughout the second period, but the Detroit Red Wings prospect had an answer for each one, as the Ottawa netminder bailed his team out on a number of occasions.

Sitting just 20 minutes away from making it a 2-1 series, Ottawa hurt their chances by taking five minor penalties in the final frame which allowed Sudbury to climb back into the game with two power play markers from McFadden.

After a delay of game call was handed to Dubois for firing the puck over the glass in his own zone, Dalton Smith put the 67′s in a deeper hole by taking a double-minor for high sticking. It didn’t take long for the Wolves power play unit to capitalize when McFadden demonstrated his cannon of a shot for the second time by blasting home a shot from the point to bring the Wolves within one.

The Wolves found themselves on the power play for the fifth time in the final frame when Adam Sedlak was sent off for interference at 17:52. Wolves Head coach Trent Cull elected to pull Valiquette with 30 seconds remaining giving his team a 6-on-4 man advantage. It seemed as though Ottawa was seconds away from earning a hard fought road win until McFadden fired a laser wrist shot from inside the blue-line with just 16.6 seconds remaining.

Lomas wasted no time putting the game to an end, as the Wolves forward scored on the first shift of overtime.

Sitting with a 3-0 stranglehold on the series, the Wolves aren’t celebrating just yet.

“You never know what can happen in the playoffs,” Lomas said. “They’re a great team. We just can’t get ahead of ourselves. We’re going to have to go back to their barn which is a hard place to play and we know they’re not going to give up. So, we just have to come out that much harder.”

The Wolves will look to complete a first round upset when they travel to the nation’s capital on Thursday for Game #4. Game time is scheduled for 7pm at Ottawa Civic Centre.

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March 29, 2011

Wolves sink teeth into 67′s

By John Langdon

After drawing first blood in their playoff opener, the Sudbury Wolves have put the Ottawa 67′s in a hole by defeating them 5-3 on Monday night and taking a 2-0 series lead in the OHL Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.
The Wolves were lead by Andrei Kuchin who earned the first star selection after recording 2 goals and 1 assist in the win.
The Russian-born forward now has 8 points in two games and leads the league with 5 goals in the playoffs.
“I feel amazing today,” Kuchin said. “I’m so happy right now.”
Kuchin, along with linemates Michael Sgarbossa and Joshua Leivo continued their offensive production on Monday by generating a combined three goals and eight points for Sudbury. The trio have combined for 10 goals and 24 points in two games this post-season.
“We’re taking what Ottawa is giving us,” Sgarbossa said. “We’re playing well down low as a unit, we’re cycling, we’re going good off the rush, and we want to keep it rolling.”
Ottawa goaltender Petr Mrazek was phenomenal between the pipes as the Czech netminder made 48 saves, including several spectacular stops to keep his team alive.
“We saw tonight why their goalie is one of the best in the league,” Wolves Head coach Trent Cull said. “He’s a real solid goalie. He made some huge saves for them.”
The 67′s often found themselves quarantined within the defensive zone at the hands of the Wolves’ relentless attack as Sudbury outshot Ottawa 53-18 throughout the contest.
“As a team, I liked our overall performance,” Cull added. “But I liked our team defence as well. There’s always room for improvement, but we got pucks to the net and we got rewarded for it.”
Wolves defenceman Charlie Dodero scored the game-winning goal on a penalty shot after being held on a shorthanded breakaway. The Illinois native made no mistake as he ripped a quick wrist shot past the left side of Mrazek causing an explosion from the 3, 960 fans in attendance at Sudbury Community Arena.
Ottawa tallied two shorthanded goals in the game. OHL regular season scoring leader Tyler Toffoli registered his third goal of the post-season by beating Wolves goaltender Alain Valiquette on a shorthanded breakaway and later set-up Marc Zanetti on another shorthanded opportunity.
The Wolves will look to take a commanding lead in the best-of-seven series when they host the 67′s in game #3 Tuesday night at Sudbury Community Arena. Game time is scheduled for 7:30pm.

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February 13, 2011

Wolves edge Generals

By John Langdon

Just five days after the Sudbury Wolves were handed a 5-4 road loss at the hands of the Oshawa Generals, the two clubs collided for the second time in a week on Friday night when the Wolves hosted the Generals in a hard-fought contest.
After battling for sixty minutes and being outshot 46-24, the Wolves got a taste of revenge by edging the Generals 6-5 in front of 3, 490 fans at Sudbury Community Arena.
Wolves Head Coach Trent Cull commented on his team’s hard-fought win in a game where the momentum was up and down.
“We knew what we had to do and then we found some ways to not do what we had to do, but we came out with a great penalty kill at the end and then found a way to win,” Cull said.
Michael Sgarbossa registered two goals for Sudbury and goaltender Alain Valiquette backstopped the Wolves to victory by making 41 saves.
Oshawa was lead by forward Christian Thomas who put on a phenomenal individual performance by netting 4 goals in the loss.
“Four goals, it’s always nice,” Thomas said. “I had a lot of chances today. Every opportunity I have I just try to score and it worked out today.”
Thomas, the son of former NHL player Steve Thomas, now has 41 goals this season and doesn’t have any plans of slowing down.
“Beginning of the year, my goal was always 50 (goals),” the New York Rangers prospect said. “Those four goals really helps out.”
Despite the individual display, Thomas focused on the game’s final result.
“First ten minutes, we were down 3-0. That really didn’t help us,” he said. “We got some bad bounces, took some penalties and they were really good on the power play. But you know what? Next time, we gotta get these guys.” The Oshawa forward added.
The Wolves opened the scoring at 6:28 of the first period when defenceman Ryan Hanes executed a beautiful display of puck carrying as the veteran blueliner went coast-to-coast, circled the Oshawa net and placed a perfect pass to Andrey Kuchin who buried a shot passed netminder Kevin Bailie.
Hanes, who recorded one goal and one assist in the win, talked about setting up the game’s opening goal.
“I just tried to get around the guy and I noticed Kuchin coming in the slot,” Hanes said. “So, I just decided to throw it out and he made a great shot and put it into the net.”
After a pair of power play goals from Sgarbossa chased Bailie from the Generals net, Oshawa climbed back into the game with two power play goals of their own.
First, Thomas buried his first of the night with a bullet one-timer from the point that gave Valiquette little chance of stopping. Then just 42 seconds later, a shot from Andy Andreoff found it’s way into the Sudbury net to cut the Wolves lead to 3-2.
Early into the second stanza, the Wolves powerplay struck for the third time after Hanes blasted a slap shot past the left pad of Peter Di Salvo, who replaced Bailie midway through the first period.
Following the Hanes power play marker, the Generals forecheck increased, which yielded several scoring chances, including a great opportunity for Thomas at 8:38 of the middle frame, but Valiquette stood tall to maintain the two goal lead.
With the momentum shifting, the Wolves netminder was called for delay of game after firing the puck over the glass in his own zone. However, Sudbury’s penalty killing unit made the best of the situation when a speedy Greg Jambrosich jumped on a loose puck in the neutral zone, walked in all alone and beat Di Salvo on a shorthanded breakaway to put the Wolves ahead 5-2.
After Thomas buried his second of the night, the Generals pressure mounted as the visiting team relentlessly hammered pucks on the Sudbury net during a 5-on-3 power play in the final minute of the period. Valiquette held off the attack with some stellar goaltending.
The Wolves looked to bounce back heading into the third, after being outshot 17-6 in the middle frame, and Josh Leivo got his team off to the right start when he buried his seventh goal of the season on a pass from Mike Lomas. The goal came at 4:17 of the third and it seemed like it was going to be smooth sailing for Sudbury for the remainder of the game.
Oshawa’s leading goal scorer had other things in mind, however, as Thomas completed the hat-trick not even two minutes later by grabbing his own rebound off of Hanes’ skate and fired home a shot to pull the Generals within two goals.
Then just 47 seconds later, the New York Rangers 2nd round draft pick buried his fourth goal of the game with a laser wrist shot beautifully placed in the top-right corner past Valiquette’s glove to make it a 6-5 game.
As the Generals pressed for the equalizer, the Oshawa bench was called for too many men in the final minute of play after the extra man hopped onto the ice before Di Salvo could get to the bench, squashing the visitors chances of tying the game.
The win snapped the Wolves two game losing streak and pulls them within 3 points of sixth seeded Brampton in the OHL Eastern Conference Standings.
The Wolves will look to build off their win when they return to action on Saturday night when they host the Peterborough Petes at Sudbury Community Arena. Game time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

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January 31, 2011

Wolves fight through Storm

Wolves forward Mike MacDonald scores the short-handed, game-winning goal against Guelph's Brandon Foote in OHL action Saturday night in Sudbury. Photo by Andy Veilleux.

By John Langdon

Sudbury Community Arena was the place to be in the Nickel City on Saturday night where the hometown Wolves clashed with the Guelph Storm in a game that delivered great goals, great fights, great saves, and an unbelievable finish.
After giving up a two goal lead in the third period and being called for a penalty in the final minute of a 6-6 game, it seemed as though the Sudbury Wolves were staring into the barrel of a gun and it was just a matter of time before Guelph’s power play unit pulled the trigger.
However, Wolves forward Michael MacDonald had other plans.
As frantic action transpired within the Sudbury zone in the dying seconds and Guelph players pressed for the go-ahead goal, MacDonald stole the puck at his own blueline, broke into the Storm zone on a breakaway and beat goaltender Brandon Foote to put the Wolves ahead 7-6 with only 2.8 seconds remaining.
“It was definitely my biggest career goal [as a member of the Sudbury Wolves],” MacDonald said.
The Thunder Bay native leaped into the glass and was mobbed my teammates at the Wolves bench after scoring the game-winning goal. It’s fair to say it was a special moment for MacDonald and his teammates to win in such dramatic fashion.
“It was one of those feelings in hockey you can’t describe,” MacDonald added. “It’s like what you grow up dreaming of, even though it’s just a regular season game. Scoring a goal like that is always one of the best feelings in hockey.”
While the Wolves bench exploded out of joy and excitement, the Guelph bench exploded for entirely different reasons. As MacDonald entered the Storm zone, he momentarily lost control of the puck near the blue line and possibly put himself offside. The linesmen allowed play to continue which caused an uproar from the visiting team.
Guelph Storm Head Coach Scott Walker expressed his disagreement with the non-call but didn’t hold the officials accountable for his team’s loss.
“It was definitely offside but that’s besides the point,” Walker said. “Guys shouldn’t get a breakaway on a penalty kill. We got guys trying to do spin-o-ramas out there on the power play with under ten seconds left.”
MacDonald also shared his thoughts on the play.
“It did occur to me that I possibly could have [been offside] because the puck seemed to stop right on the line,” the Wolves forward said. “I wasn’t sure what the call was going to be, but obviously it was called onside and it gave me a good chance to get in there and score.”
After second period goals from forwards Josh Leivo and Eric O’Dell put Sudbury ahead with a commanding 5-2 lead, the physical tone elevated which resulted in fisticuffs being thrown between Wolves defenceman Justin Sefton and Storm forward Michael Latta. Minutes later, Brody Silk and Cody McNaughton dropped the gloves in a heated exchange.
The Wolves were in the driver’s seat heading into the final frame with a 5-3 lead. However, the Storm turned the tide by scoring two quick goals early in the third. First, Guelph leading scorer Taylor Beck buried his second goal of the game by finishing a nice passing play from linemates Latta and Richard Panik to pull within one. Then just 51 seconds later, Scott Kosmachuk fired home a shot past screened Wolves goaltender Alain Valiquette to even the score.
With the momentum shifting in Guelph’s favour, the Storm silenced the home crowd by taking the lead at 16:42 of the third period. Francis Menard found himself alone in front of the Sudbury net and beat Valiquette.
The lead would be short-lived, however, as Greg Jambrosich flew into the Storm zone and hammered a hard slap shot past Foote just 12 seconds later to tie the game 6-6.
It appeared as though overtime was on the horizon until Guelph was awarded a late power play with just one minute remaining. Wolves captain Marcus Foligno was called for a retaliatory slash.
However, reliable goaltending by Valiquette allowed his team to weather the storm while an opportunistic MacDonald capitalized on the shorthanded breakaway to give the Wolves a 7-6 win.
MacDonald and Foligno each found themselves playing with new linemates on Saturday. MacDonald was moved to the top line playing alongside Michael Sgarbossa and Mike Lomas, while Foligno found himself on a line with O’Dell and Andrey Kuchin.
“I wanted to add a little bit of a spark and change things up,” Wolves Head Coach Trent Cull said. “MacDonald’s a good player for us but I want him doing better, and I know Marcus is a good leader. He’s going to play with anybody.”
The move by the Wolves bench boss proved to be wise as both MacDonald and Foligno registered 1 goal apiece and a combined 5 points.
Guelph goaltender Garret Sparks was pulled midway through the second period after the rookie netminder allowed 5 goals on 17 shots and was replaced by the veteran Foote.
Valiquette turned away 37 shots between the pipes for Sudbury to earn his 18th win this season.

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January 29, 2011

Bulls charge past Wolves

Wolves Defender Josh McFadden battles with Belleville forward Brendan Gaunce in OHL action Friday night. Photo by Andy Veilleux.

By John Langdon

By winning six of their past eight games, the Sudbury Wolves have climbed into the playoff race by pushing themselves into seventh place of the Eastern Conference and leap frogging the Belleville Bulls in the standings.
So, with Belleville sitting in Sudbury’s rear-view mirror, the Wolves looked to carry the momentum into Friday night when they hosted the Bulls at Sudbury Community Arena.
What began on a positive note for the Wolves, failed to result in the same manner as the visiting team capitalized on four scoring chances in the first period to earn a 5-3 win and climb two points closer to Sudbury in the standings.
“I was really happy with our first 5 minutes,” said Wolves Head Coach Trent Cull. “I thought we came out with the start that I wanted.”
After jumping out of the gates at the beginning of the game, the Wolves carried the momentum early by moving both their legs and the puck quickly.
They were rewarded with an early goal on their first shot of the game when a point shot from defenceman Frank Corrado was redirected off a Bulls player and past Belleville goaltender Malcom Subban at 1:24 of the opening frame.
Sitting with an early lead, the Wolves began to make mental mistakes which eventually turned the game around in favour of the Bulls.
The Sudbury bench was called for too many men on the ice at 5:17, giving Belleville an opportunity to even the score. The Bulls did exactly that when Luke Judson redirected a point shot past Wolves goaltender Alain Valiquette for his first of the night.
“That’s almost inexcusable at that point,” Cull said in regards to the too many men penalty.
“Even on the (penalty kill) we had an opportunity to get those pucks out. After that I thought we got a little bit out of character. We started to play a little bit more selfish,” Cull added.
Just 31 seconds after the tying goal, the Belleville captain netted his second goal of the game after the Wolves lost focus in the defensive zone which allowed Bulls forward Carter Sandlak to make a nice play behind the Sudbury net and find an open Judson who buried a laser shot for his team-leading 21st goal of the season.
The Bulls added to their lead not even four minutes later on a well executed play which started in their own zone and ended in the back of the Wolves net when forward Scott Simmonds broke into the Sudbury zone on his off-wing and fired a backhand shot past Valiquette. Forwards Braeden Corbeth and Dylan Corson provided the assists.
Poor defensive zone work on the Wolves’ part proved to be vulnerable once again when Belleville’s Andy Bathgate managed to slide a pass through three Wolves players and find Austen Brassard in the slot for a one-timer to give the Bulls a comfortable 4-1 lead heading into the first intermission.
Stephen Silas also contributed an assist on the play for his second helper of the game.
The Wolves capitalized on a power play opportunity in the second period when Michael Sgarbossa won a draw back to Corrado who set up defensive partner Josh McFadden for a blast from the point which beat Subban to make it a 4-2 game.
However, as the game progressed, things wouldn’t get any easier for Sudbury as Sgarbossa dropped the gloves with Bjorn Krupp, resulting in the Wolves’ top goal scorer being handed a combined 27 minutes in penalties to end his night.
Wolves captain Marcus Foligno was ejected from the game with a 10 minute misconduct at 7:16 of the third period after expressing his disagreement with a minor hooking call.
The Wolves head coach admits it was a tough night to keep emotions in check, but said his players should know better.
“You can’t have that lack of discipline at that juncture, especially from Marcus,” Cull said.
“It’s a frustrating night though, I admit, being part of that. That’s the worst game I’ve seen here so far with my experience in the league with officials.”
After Belleville reestablished a two goal lead in the final frame, Sudbury’s Eric O’Dell buried a loose puck to make it 5-3 but that’s as close as the Wolves would get as Subban held off a late surge to help lock up a road win for Belleville.
Subban registered 22 saves in the win, while Belleville outshot Sudbury 34-25 in the game.
The Wolves will look to bounce back from the loss when they return to action on Saturday night as they host the Guelph Storm at Sudbury Community Arena. Game time is scheduled for 7pm.

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