As part of my role as team statistician for the Sudbury Wolves, my job description includes the preparation of weekly media notes, featuring various tidbits of information regarding upcoming games.

While these notes have generally been confined to circulating among media types and club officials, it seemed likely that fans of the local OHL team might also have an interest in the odds and ends that I might come across on a weekly basis.

The Sudbury Wolves have a “building up to the big game” three-game weekend in reverse on tap as they prepare for a home matchup with the Western Conference leading Windsor Spitfires before taking to the road on Saturday to face the Peterborough Petes (#4 in the East) and the Oshawa Generals (dead last in the league) the next day.

Some of the highest scoring affairs in the thirty year history of matchups between Sudbury and Windsor have taken place in the past two seasons and while the Wolves are riding a three-game home winning streak against the Spits into the encounter on Friday, it’s highly unlikely a run and gun affair would do them much good against a team tied for second in league scoring this year.

The Wolves would be well-served by a contest that resembles their 2-1 win over the Spitfires on home ice back on January 2nd (2004), a game that tied the record for fewest combined goals when these teams meet in the nickel city. With Patrick Ehelechner turning aside 34 of the 35 shots that he faced, Sudbury overcame a 1-0 deficit heading to the third, pulling out the win thanks to snipes from Sean Langdon and Rafal Martynowski in the final ten minutes of play.

And for as much as it is equally unlikely, coach Scott Barney and company would clearly be ecstatic with revisiting a 3-0 whitewashing of Windsor that took place on December 12th (2014), one of only two home shutouts the locals have registered versus the Spits in 77 battles to date. On that evening, Troy Timpano enjoyed one of his best ever outings with the Wolves, recording a 43-save shutout as Chad Heffernan, Matt Schmalz and Danny Desrochers took care of the offense.

Saddled with a 4-1 loss against the Peterborough Petes when they last visited the Lift Lock City just one week ago, the Wolves should have some motivation on their side. The team found themselves trailing 1-0 just over a minute in and were down 3-0 when J-C Lemieux drilled home what would be their only goal of the game late in the second period of play.

For the record, the centerpiece of the trade that sent Nathan Villeneuve and Alex Pharand to Windsor in early January has delivered and then some since his arrival in Sudbury. Lemieux has racked up 15 points in 11 games to date with the Wolves, including five multi-point affairs.

Now if you happen to be the betting type, perhaps throw a wager against the Petes taking the clash in a shootout. In the 229 head to head tilts to date in this series, Peterborough has won in the penalty shot showdown only once, and that came in Sudbury. Eric Cornel provided the heroics in the eighth round of shots, lifting the visitors to a 5-4 win. The prolonged affair actually featured five goals netted in the shootout as the likes of Matthew Campagna and Frank Corrado (Sudbury) played tit for tat with Peterborough shooters Brett Findlay and Jonatan Tanus.

As Sudbury continues to battle Brampton for the final playoff spot in the East, one has to think that having three of your four games against the worst team in the league squeezed into the final six weeks of league play is a blessing. But not only did Oshawa beat Sudbury in their one and only matchup to date (6-3 win in Sudbury in December), they have also knocked off Brampton twice in the past three weeks.

In fact, since the 4-1 Oshawa triumph on January 18th over the Steelheads, the Generals have posted a record of 3-3-0-0, with all three losses coming by just a single goal. Of course, should the Wolves need any reminding not to take this opponent for granted, one win in their last eight meetings might be enough to jog their memories.

A 5-3 scoreboard in favour of Sudbury last March was highlighted by two goal efforts from both Hudson Chitaroni and Quentin Musty. The Wolves last victory in Oshawa came on December 18th (2022) when Kocha Delic exploded with a four-goal outburst, leading the visitors to celebrating a 7-1 stat-line as the final buzzer sounded.