The Sudbury Wolves not only recorded a pair of home ice wins over the weekend, but they produced said victories in vastly different fashions.
A wild affair on Friday saw the team rally from a 6-2 deficit before taking down the Owen Sound Attack 7-6 in a shootout.
A much more subdued encounter on Sunday saw fans treated to one of the best defensive efforts, as a team, as Sudbury stopped the Brampton Steelheads 5-1, pulling to within five points of both Brampton and the Niagara Ice Dogs in the battle for eighth place and the final Eastern Conference playoff spot.
“Our defensive structure was huge for us, the attention to detail in the “D” zone,” noted head coach Scott Barney. “I think we’ve been hard on them (our defensemen) at times, but usually, it’s a five-man group on the ice. I thought we were tracking back really well and that gives our D the ability to hold lines a lot better.”
Brampton had spent Saturday in Sudbury after dropping back to back 4-3 matchups to both the North Bay Battalion (in OT on Thursday) and the Soo Greyhounds (on Friday).
Yet it was the Wolves who came out guns a blazing, opening the scoring less than three minutes in (first OHL goal from Patrick Ula) and building a 4-0 lead early in period two before slamming the door, limiting the visitors to just 14 shots through forty minutes of play and 26 in total.
And for as much as he wasn’t tested with a multitude of quality scoring chances, starting netminder Bjorn Bronas came through with a couple of key saves and looked extremely solid on all others, beaten only on a deflected puck from William Eggleton.
Offensively speaking, one needs to look no further than the team’s scoring stats to understand the Wolves’ reliance on the tandem of Kieron Walton (43 pts) and Nathan Villeneuve (36 pts), as well as blueliner Artem Gonchar (third in team scoring with 19 points, including 16 in his past 12 games).
Much like Friday, when Rowan Henderson and Gavin Ewles were key secondary contributors on the attack, goals on Sunday from Patrick Ula (on a great feed from Gonchar), Daniel Berehowsky, Jan Chovan and Trevor O’Dell point to the possibility that there is more to come from all facets of this lineup.
With his first OHL goal in 85 games, the O’Dell tally featured an absolute bench explosion in the background. “Everybody has been talking about the celebration when I score for a long time,” O’Dell confessed, post-game. “When it came, they definitely help up to their standards. I think they celebrated more than I did.”
“I was a little bit in shock; I’m not going to lie.”
That said, it was the two-way play of both the Trevor O’Dell – Luca Blonda pairing as well as Gavin Ewles – Artem Gonchar that was particularly noteworthy, with blocked shots, deflected pucks (on attempted passes) and consistently solid D-side coverage that helped stifle a Brampton side whose success is often driven on outworking their opponents.
“I love playing with him (Blonda),” said O’Dell. “We’ve been building this relationship for a while now. We live together. It’s good because he’s got the offensive ability but he’s not afraid to make mistakes as I am there on the defensive side. I think it helps his game.”
“I know my role,” added O’Dell, who was named first star of the game. “I keep it simple out there. I’m not a points guy. I’m full defense, block shots, help keep it out of our net.”
The Wolves will close out their pre-Christmas schedule with a trek south to face the Barrie Colts on Thursday before returning home to welcome the Guelph Storm to town next Friday. And for as much as those are two more big games, Scott Barney is not about to lose his very healthy perspective on the game.
“Christmas is a time for family – and family is always the most important,” he stated. “We stress that to our players all the time. It’s a big commitment for these kids, spending eight months here. They don’t get weekends off like people their age.”
“We appreciate all of the hard work they do – and it’s starting to pay off here.”
