Revamped Wolves tracking Troops
BRAMPTON, Ont. – While the Brampton Battalion has seen the Sudbury Wolves three times in this Ontario Hockey League season, the Troops may have trouble recognizing their Central Division rivals Sunday.
Sudbury sent centre John McFarland and defenceman Ben Chiarot to the Saginaw Spirit on Dec. 9 in a trade for centre Michael Sgarbossa, left winger Alex Racino and defenceman Frank Schumacher.
Centre Eric O’Dell, the Wolves’ leading scorer in 2009-10, has returned after missing 29 games following offseason heart surgery, but Sudbury will be without left winger Marcus Foligno, who’s with the Canadian national junior team.
“We know they don’t have McFarland anymore, but Sgarbossa is a good player,” centre Sam Carrick said Saturday as the Battalion prepared to host Sudbury in a 2 p.m. start. The fourth of eight season meetings, it marks the final game for both teams before the Christmas break.
“We can’t take them for granted,” said Carrick. “We’ve seen what they can do on any given night. We need to go in and outwork them. We can’t worry about the break until the game is over.”
The Battalion has won two of the three meetings thus far, all at Sudbury, including a 3-2 decision Dec. 3 that snapped a seven-game road losing streak. The Troops edged the host Erie Otters 2-1 Friday night to improve their won-lost-extended record to 13-14-5 for 31 points, third in the division. Sudbury, which was to visit Erie on Saturday night, is fourth in the division at 11-20-1 for 23 points.
“We need these two points,” said Battalion coach Stan Butler. “Our goal heading into the break is to have as many wins as regulation losses.”
Said Carrick: “We don’t want to give them any life. They’re a few points behind us in the standings, and beating them will only help us down the road as we get closer to the playoffs.”
For the second time in less than a week, the late-game heroics of Carrick and right winger Barclay Goodrow were instrumental in a Battalion victory. They skate on a line with left winger Ian Watters.
Against the visiting Oshawa Generals last Sunday, Goodrow slammed home a Carrick feed to tie the game at 19:08 of the third period, and the Troops went on to a 3-2 overtime win. At Erie, Goodrow tipped home a Carrick shot for the winner at 18:37 of the third. Watters assisted on both goals.
“We never give up; we’ll fight to the last minute,” said Goodrow, who also scored the winner at Sudbury on Dec. 3. “We had lots of chances throughout the game and just couldn’t bury them. But Carrick took a shot that deflected off my stick and went between the goalie’s legs. That was a lucky break for us.”
Carrick said the play was reminiscent of the goal he scored in a 4-2 road loss Thursday night to the Peterborough Petes. Against the Petes, Carrick carried the puck into the left-wing circle and snapped it over the glove of goaltender Bryce O’Hagan. At Erie, he moved into the same spot and aimed a little lower.
“The Otters’ defence gave me a lot of room, so I skated out and fired a shot. In Peterborough I went high to the glove side. In Erie it was a shot under the blocker. Goodrow was where he was supposed to be, and he made a nice tip. He’s a big body with great eye-hand coordination. He’s a good guy to have on a line.”
Goodrow, 17, has nine goals and nine assists for 18 points in 32 games in his second OHL season.
“Stan keeps telling me to go to the front of the net and stay there, because that’s where guys get most of their goals. That’s what I’m trying to do, and it’s been paying off.”
