Game Preview: Sudbury Wolves at Guelph Storm
The Guelph Storm welcome the Sudbury Wolves to the Sleeman Centre Sunday afternoon at 2:00pm to wrap up their 3 in 3 weekend. After the game, the Storm will host their annual Skate with the Storm with family and friends for FREE!
The Storm won Friday evening against the Erie Otters 7-5 but lost to the Niagara Icedogs 5-4 in a shootout on Saturday night. The Wolves are also wrapping up their 3 in 3 weekend after winning 4-2 against the Colts on Friday night but losing to the Owen Sound Attack 4-1 on Saturday.
Get tickets for Sudbury vs. Guelph
Guelph Storm
The Guelph Storm finished in 4th place in the Western Conference with 90 points last season heading into the post-season. The Storm finished off the Kitchener Rangers in 4 games in the opening round of the playoffs by outscoring the Rangers 22-6. In the 2nd round, Guelph fell behind 3-0 to the London Knights before the Storm were able to win 4 straight games and win the series in game 7 in London. Guelph and Saginaw faced-off in the Western Conference Finals with Saginaw taking a 3-1 series lead before the Storm once again came back to win the series in 7 games. In the OHL Championship Series, the Ottawa 67’s took a 2-0 series lead, but the Storm battled back and won four consecutive games to win their fourth championship in team history.
The Storm have a few returning players from last season’s championship team including captain Cam Hillis, Keegan Stevenson, Cedric Ralph, Pavel Gogolev, Ty Collins, Owen Lalonde, Zack Terry, Daniil Chayka, Fedor Gordeev and goaltender Nico Daws.
This season, the Storm will begin their rebuild, as they have half of their former roster moving on from junior hockey, which will lead to an increase of rookies in the lineup.
Newly drafted players in the lineup include Danny Zhilkin (1st Round), Andrei Bakanov (1st Round – Import Draft), Jacob Maillet (2nd Round), Marko Sikic (3rd Round), Cooper Walker (5th Round), Clark Hiebert (9thRound – 2017) and Owen Bennett (4th Round – 2018)
Also, forwards Ben McFarlane and Matthew Papais and defencemen Luka Profaca return to the Storm lineup after playing some games last season with the Storm. Defencemen Colin Campbell made the roster as a free agent, Eric Uba joins the Storm via trade with Flint and Josh Wainman was acquired from Hamilton via trade in September.
Guelph has two players that have been drafted to NHL clubs including Cam Hillis (MTL – 3rd Round) and Fedor Gordeev (TOR – 5th Round, Traded to MIN)
Sudbury Wolves
The Sudbury Wolves finished 4th in the Eastern Conference last season with 91 points and faced the Mississauga Steelheads in the opening round of the playoffs. The Wolves swept the Steelheads to move on the second round by outscoring Mississauga 17-8. Sudbury took on the Ottawa 67’s in the second round of the playoffs but got swept 4-0 and were outscored 25-12.
Sudbury is returning this season as a strong team in the Eastern Conference being led by NHL grade A prospect Quinton Byfield who is expected to be taken as a lottery player in the upcoming NHL draft. Other veterans such as David Levin and Carolina Hurricane prospect Blake Murray are alongside Byfield in leading the Wolves to another post-season.
The Wolves have a couple new faces in their lineup that include recently drafted Landon McCallum (1st round, 2019), Chase Stillman (2nd round, 2019), Ethan Larmand (2nd round, 2019), Nathan Ribau (4th round, 2018) and Giordano Biondi (14th round, 2018).
HEAD TO HEAD
| 2019-20 Regular Season | |
|---|---|
| SBY 0-0-0-0 | GUE 0-0-0-0 |
| 2018-19 Regular Season | |
|---|---|
| SBY 2-0-0-0 | GUE 0-1-0-1 |
| Last Five Years | |
|---|---|
| SBY 6-1-1-0 | GUE 2-4-0-2 |
| Last Five Years At Sudbury Wolves | |
|---|---|
| SBY 3-0-1-0 | GUE 1-1-0-2 |
| Last Five Years At Guelph Storm | |
|---|---|
| SBY 3-1-0-0 | GUE 1-3-0-0 |
| Previous Meetings This Season |
|---|
TOP SCORERS
| Sudbury Wolves | Guelph Storm |
|---|---|
LAST 5 GAMES
| Sudbury Wolves | Guelph Storm |
|---|---|
|
1 – 4 L @ Owen Sound (2019-10-19)
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4 – 5 L @ Niagara (2019-10-19)
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4 – 2 W v. Barrie (2019-10-18)
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7 – 5 W v. Erie (2019-10-18)
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3 – 7 L @ Kitchener (2019-10-14)
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1 – 4 L @ Erie (2019-10-12)
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4 – 2 W @ Mississauga (2019-10-13)
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1 – 7 L v. Sault Ste. Marie (2019-10-11)
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4 – 5 L v. Oshawa (2019-10-11)
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5 – 3 W @ Sarnia (2019-10-06)
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MATCH UP
| Sudbury Wolves | Guelph Storm | |
|---|---|---|
| Season Record | 7-5-0-0 | 3-3-1-2 |
| Last 10 Games | 7-3-0-0 | 3-3-1-2 |
| Streak | 0-1-0-0 | 0-0-0-1 |
| Last Game | 4-1 L @ Owen Sound (2019-10-19) Final | 5-4 L @ Niagara (2019-10-19) Final SO |
| Home Record | 4-1-0-0 | 2-1-1-1 |
| Away Record | 3-4-0-0 | 1-2-0-1 |
| Goals For | 52 | 29 |
| Goals Against | 48 | 32 |
| Power Plays | 12/50 (24%) | 5/33 (15.15%) |
| Power Plays – Home | 7/26 (26.92%) | 1/19 (5.26%) |
| Power Plays – Away | 5/24 (20.83%) | 4/14 (28.57%) |
| Penalty Killing | 14/49 (28.57%) | 6/34 (17.65%) |
| Penalty Killing – Home | 7/20 (65%) | 2/20 (90%) |
| Penalty Killing – Away | 7/29 (75.86%) | 4/14 (71.43%) |
| Leading Rookie | Stillman (5-3-8) | Bakanov (2-2-4) |
| Most Penalty Minutes | Quinton Byfield | Eric Uba |
| Team PIM/GM | 12.9/12 | 8.3/9 |
Players to Watch
Guelph Storm
Cedric Ralph is heading into his overage season as a veteran leader for a young Guelph Storm team. Cedric has scored 2 goals and 4 points in 5 games played this season and will be an important mentor for a young team going forward.
Sudbury Wolves
Quinton Byfield finished his rookie season with 61 points in 64 games played and added another 8 points in 8 playoff games for the Wolves. Byfield is rated as an A grade NHL draft prospect and is expected to go in the top 3 for the upcoming NHL draft.
Upcoming Games
The Storm head to Erie for a Wednesday afternoon game against the Otters before heading home to take on the North Bay Battalion on Friday October 25th at 7:30pm at the Sleeman Centre.
