Distant howl in Wolves country
After two long winters with barely a whimper, a distant howl can be heard as the Sudbury Wolves seek a return from the Ontario Hockey League wilderness.
Really, there is no where to hide for the Wolves.
Sudbury has missed the playoffs in each of the past two seasons, finishing 20th overall in 2014-2015 and 19th overall in 2015-2016 in the 20-team OHL.
Predictably, attendance has been way down the past two seasons and the Wolves have had two of their worst financial years since the Burgess family bought the franchise back in 1987.
But as the Wolves prepare to celebrate their 45th anniversary as a member of the OHL, there should be a return to better days in 2016-2017.
Barclay Branch is about to enter his second season as Wolves general manager and the former long-time assistant GM of the erstwhile Belleville Bulls has been given the go-ahead to make moves to bring in serviceable players at the expense of future draft picks that can always be re-acquired.
Make no mistake about it, if the fans are to return in bigger numbers, the Wolves need to be a competitive team that at least flirts with a .500 record and they need to make the playoffs this coming season.
To be sure, there is some good, veteran talent for Wolves head coach David Matsos to work with as he gets set for his second full season on the job after replacing the forgetable Paul Fixter midway through the ’14-15 campaign.
30-goal scorer Dmitry Sokolov returns, as does Ryan Valentini, who produced 11 goals in 39 games for the Wolves in ’15-16 after Branch gave up a second-round pick to the talent-rich London Knights in return.
Forward David Levin, the first overall pick at the 2015 OHL draft, is ready for a big step up and forward Michael Pezzetta has plenty of potential that he should be able to realize in his third OHL season.
Seasoned rearguards Kyle Capobianco and Reagan O’Grady will anchor the Sudbury defense and Branch has trade chips in a pair of 19-year old goalies, Troy Timpano and Zack Bowman.
Meanwhile, Branch made another trade with the Memorial Cup champion Knights during this off-season, getting overage defenseman Aiden Jamieson in exchange for multiple conditional draft picks.
The 6-foot-2, 187-pound Jamieson has considerable OHL experience from his three seasons in London.
In all, Jamieson suited up for 137 regular-season games, 31 playoff matches and six Memorial Cup contests while on the Knight shift.
And those in the know say Branch made an impact move at the 2016 Canadian Hockey League import draft with the selection of Jachym Kondelik from the Czech Republic.
Kondelik, a 6-foot-6, 207-pound left winger, scored 23 goals, 46 assists, 69 points in 44 games with the HC Ceske Budejovice under-18 team in ’15-16. If he reports to Sudbury, this is a potential coup for the Wolves.
Glancing at what the other nine teams have, the Wolves should not only make the Eastern Conference playoffs in ’16-17 but contend for sixth place.
Which should be good enough to at least signal the start of the return of thousands of fans who have stayed away from venerable Sudbury Community Arena the past two years.
I agree with the majority of the Article RR including we have great fans here who will support a Team that is competative that’s all we expect.
I say …. Keep Timpano! Not his fault that he has played behind 2 brutal teams the past 2 years. Really playing for a bad Wolves’ team probably kept him from getting drafted by the N.H.L. this year. Timpano and McGrath will be a 1 – 2 tandum in the Nets. So trade Bowman to the Sault or NB or Kingston that need a goalie and go with Timpano and McGrath.
We’ll be just fine in goal. We don’t need Bowman.
If you were to ask me Most of the negative – ism towards the Wolves is from the “gloom & doom” Sudbury Star Sports Dept who clearly does not want the “home team” to do well – MY OPINION.
In my opinion, since I arrived in Sudbury from the Soo 15 years ago, the Sudbury media is the least critical, most compliant group of stenographers err…reporters and columnists I’ve ever read. It’s outright PR in comparison to other markets around the league. Nothing against the kids but the Wolves management have gotten the velvet glove treatment for decades of mediocrity and ineptitude.
Timpano to North Bay is all but a done deal Rayside …,
NB Battalion DS16:
If the Woofers trade Timpano that would be a mistake.
My Vote is keep Timpano {and McGrath} and trade Bowman. Don’t let the Battalion screw us by getting Timpano who will then come back and beat us 6 times LOL.
I do feel as though the Wolves will contend for a Play-Off spot as long as they get good goal-tending along with the improve over-all play that a lineup with more veteran player’s will bring.
Niagara and Kingston are both rebuilding and Missy and Peterboro are not far ahead of where the Wolves are.
Sudbury fans are definately among the most passionate of any fans in the ‘O’ and it won’t be long before the old barn is rockin again. Just one thing I wish is that Branch would stop over paying for Londons extra players.
I agree about keeping Troy Timpanio and also yes I think that London are sucking Branch in for “over paying” for spare parts.
Maybe build a new arena in Sudbury because it’s the second-oldest OHL arena. Kitchener is the oldest, and Peterborough is third oldest. Both arenas in Kitchener and Peterborough managed to get overhauled big time. Why not Sudbury? It’s not up to OHL standards. No box seats, no video scoreboard and still looks like an old OHL barn.