Wolves Advance to Gold Medal Game

Press Release

Perhaps it was the attendance of 1972 TEAM CANADA Captain PHIL ESPOSITO at the game, but whatever it was, the Sudbury Wolves found inspiration and advanced to the GOLD MEDAL GAME of the second annual JUNIOR CLUB WORLD CUP by upsetting TEAM BELARUS by a score of 5-2 in the semi-final game. The win, combined with a shoot-out win by TEAM USA will mean that TEAM CANADA/WOLVES will go head-to-head with TEAM USA/WATERLOO HAWKS and make the Championship final a North American event.

The Wolves jumped out to a 3-1 first period lead on the strength of a power play goal by JUSTIN SEFTON at the 3:52 mark. BELARUS tied the score less than two minutes later before MICHAEL KANTOR scored two consecutive goals in a seven minute span to give the Wolves the lead that they would not relinquish. Shots on goal in the first period were 10-10.

The Wolves two European Import picks DOMINIK KAHUN and DOMINIK KUBALIK then combined on a perfect 2 on 1 situation and made no mistake with KAHUN scoring his first official goal as a Sudbury Wolf. The speedy Europeans gained some revenge as they combined to score a goal earlier in the period but the goal was called back by the official. Shots on goal in the second period were 16-11 for TEAM BELARUS.

In the third period, it was all Belarus. Their offensive turned it up a notch as they fired shot after shot at Wolves' goaltender JOHN CHARTRAND. The Barrie native held his ground despite allowing a goal to Belarus just past the five minute mark of the period as Belarus closed the gap to 4-2. With Belarus pressing the Wolves and hemming them in their own zone, the Wolves relieved the pressure when JOSH LEIVO made no mistake in flipping a shot into an empty net with just over three minutes remaining on the clock. Shots on goal in the third period were 21-5 for Team Belarus.

JOHN CHARTRAND was named the game star for the Wolves with MICHAEL KANTOR receiving the second star. JOSH LEIVO was the game's 3rd star and now leads the tournament in scoring with 10 points. KANTOR and LEIVO had three points each. CHARTRAND made 45 saves in preserving the win. Both teams finished 1 for 6 with the man advantage. Total shots on goal were 47-26 for Belarus.

"The boys really competed hard in this one" said a relieved Head Coach Trent Cull at a post-game media conference at the Omsk Arena. "I thought we really held our ground when they turned it on. They have an older team with lots of skilled forwards and I thought our team responded well and played a good smart team game. John Chartrand was solid in goal for us and he made some big stops particularly in the third period when Belarus was playing desperation hockey. The line of Kantor, Leivo and Pancel had a real good game and I was pleased with our overall defensive play. It is great to get the win and advance to the gold medal game but we will have our work cut out for us against a very good Waterloo team in the final."

TEAM USA narrowly advanced by scoring with less than two seconds on the clock to tie the game against TEAM SWEDEN. TEAM USA then won the game in a shoot-out to defeat the previously unbeaten Swedes. Sweden and Belarus will play for the bronze medal tomorrow prior to the SUDBURY WOLVES and the WATERLOO BLACK HAWKS going head to head in the championship final game.

The game is being televised on the internet on the KHL's YOUTUBE channel - free of charge. The Wolves will play at 8:30 a.m. Sunday morning, Eastern Standard time. GO WOLVES GO!


Link to KHL's YOUTUBE Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/KHLofficialvideo/feed

(Nathan can be reached at nathanfournier@mainehockeyjournal.com)