Jeff Giffen

Advertisement 1 Share this Story : Wolf Tracks: Wolves delivering on hard-work promise Wolf Tracks: Wolves delivering on hard-work promise Article content Every hockey team at some point will talk about the need to work hard on the ice. Advertisement 2 Article content Wolf Tracks: Wolves delivering on hard-work promise Back to video When push comes to shove, however, some do and some don't. We're not even 10 games into the 2024-25 season, so declaring the Sudbury Wolves to be definitively anything is potentially premature, but judging by the early eye test, you would easily apply that hard-working tag to this group. was a shining example. Just ask seasoned 67's coach Dave Cameron, who remarked afterwards that his team got completely outworked and didn't compete at the level necessary to succeed in the best junior hockey league in the world. So what is it that makes one team show up, lunch pail in hand, on a regular basis and outwork its opponent? “I think it's a combination of a bunch of things,” said Wolves new head coach Scott Barney, after watching his pesky crew manhandle the home side for probably 55 of the 60 minutes in the nation's capital. “I think it's a combination of practice habits that lead into your game habits and that's a big thing that we've been stressing. It's a lot of video sessions and it's showing them how guys do it at the next level and how they need to do it to get there. Advertisement 3 Article content “Obviously, then, you get your leadership group that keeps everybody accountable and that's from our young guys right through our older guys and I think that's huge as well.” A leadership group that added a warrior to the lineup on Sunday in the form of Kraken prospect Nathan Villeneuve, who just seems to get it. There's plenty of skill in that kid, which will likely become more obvious this season. But he clearly understands that his path to Seattle starts by packing that lunch pail and giving the proverbial 110 per cent every time he steps on the ice. Sprinkle in a little Kocha Delic, a touch of Chase Coughlan and a dab of other veterans such as Alex Pharand and Kieron Walton and you've got a group of forwards that will hound the puck any given night. Advertisement 4 Article content The effort from this group stands out compared to previous seasons and the obvious difference would be the coaching staff. Coach Barney and assistants Drake Berehowsky and Andrew Desjardins have a team littered with rookies performing well to start the season. The OHL puts the rookie asterisk beside the names of seven players who have suited up in most if not all games — forwards Hudson Chitaroni, Rowan Henderson, Blake Clayton, Henry Doucet and Ethan Dean, along with defencemen Nolan Jackson and Luca Blonda. But you can throw in the likes of Lucas Di Giantommaso, Tayjon Street, Trevor O'Dell and goaltender Finn Marshall, as well — all rookies in the truest sense of the word, despite being over the age of 17 and therefore not considered to fit the criteria. Advertisement 5 Article content Barney, a rookie OHL coach himself, wasn't ready to take all the credit for the hard-working tag placed on his Wolves, and he's probably onto something. Coaching has to be a factor, but let's go back to 67's bench boss Dave Cameron for a second. He's the same guy that guided the pesky, hard-working St. Michael's Majors team to an upset playoff win over a much more experienced Sudbury Wolves team way back in the early 2000s. He has a track record of getting the most out of players. So while Barney and his staff definitely deserve some accolades for where this team is so far, it's probably a feather in the cap for general Rob Papineau and his scouting staff, too. Oh, and the rookies themselves that Papineau and the scouts selected. Advertisement 6 Article content For some of these kids, it appears to be in their DNA. It's only a handful of games and so much can change. The key will be maintaining this level of effort over a 68-game season. The Wolves have also had a fairly light schedule so far. They lost a pair of games to the Barrie Colts, but otherwise haven't faced most of the league's powerhouse teams to date. With so many rookies, there are bound to be some tough nights for this club. One of those came in Kingston on Friday — it was the second half of a back to back with travel, and the first game without captain Donovan McCoy, who sustained an injury in Thursday's 1-0 win at Peterborough. But a game that the Wolves kept close most of the way eventually got away from them in a 7-2 loss to the Frontenacs. Advertisement 7 Article content Those are the games where the leadership group will have to keep the team grounded, as noted by Coach Barney. By all accounts it's a high character, high compete collection of veterans, led by captain McCoy. They'll need to not only lead the way through their actions, but also bring the kids along with them. So far they've done exactly that, making for an entertaining product on the ice that is putting some Ws up in the standings. Any team can say it wants to outwork its opponent, but actually doing it is a whole other ball game. So far anyway, this Sudbury Wolves group is delivering on that promise and it has been a pleasure to witness. Jeff Giffen's Wolf Tracks column runs regularly during the OHL hockey season. Article content Share this article in your social network Share this Story : Wolf Tracks: Wolves delivering on hard-work promise Comments Join the Conversation Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information. Latest National Stories News Near Elliot Lake Featured Local Savings

If you'd told me before the season started the Sudbury Wolves would be the OHL's best defensive team 10 games into the season, I would not have believed you and I would not have been alone.

If you ask Donovan McCoy, you don’t gain any experience from having things go your way all the time

Advertisement 1 Share this Story : Wolves will learn from early ups and downs, captain McCoy says Wolves will learn from early ups and downs, captain McCoy says Article content Giving up three goals in the opening 10 minutes is never a good thing, but if you ask captain Donovan McCoy, you don't gain any experience from having things go your way all the time. Advertisement 2 Article content Wolves will learn from early ups and downs, captain McCoy says Back to video The 20-year-old blueliner was back in the lineup for two games this weekend after spending the last five on the sidelines with an injury. McCoy was part of an exciting 3-1 victory over the visiting North Bay Battalion on Friday at Sudbury Community Arena, as well as a tough 6-3 loss to the Ottawa 67's on Sunday afternoon. The Wolves dug themselves a hole early as the 67's scored 30 seconds into the game, made it 2-0 at the 3:27 mark and had leads of 3-0 and 6-1 before the Wolves made a late comeback attempt. The loss dropped the Sudbury to 7-5-0-0 on the season, but McCoy, who started last season as captain of the Peterborough Petes and this season with a C on his Wolves jersey, figures it's good to go through all of that sooner than later. Advertisement 3 Article content “I think we've kind of had those moments of the highs and the lows and I think it's good early on in the season to go through that, especially with some younger guys on the team,” said the 6-foot-1, 205-pound defenceman from Belleville. “I think for the older guys we've done a really good job of just making sure we're kind of even sailing through it all. We might win a couple of games in a row, we might lose a couple in a row. Whatever it may be, just making sure we've got the same mindset, and we've got to come to work every night, and I think we've done a good job so far.” The 67's got a hat trick from veteran winger Luca Pinelli on Sunday and some stellar goaltending from overager Collin MacKenzie, who finished with 42 saves. After Wolves starter Finn Marshall was chased from the net giving up three goals on four shots, Alex Pharand got one back for the Wolves on a nice individual play. But Ottawa led 5-1 after two periods and 6-1 midway through the third before Lucas Di Giantommaso potted a pair late to make it close. Advertisement 4 Article content Wolves coach Scott Barney found some positives in his team's response to a sub-par outing. “Obviously a tough start, you get down two early,” he reflected. “I actually really liked our character at the end of the game. The guys didn't quit playing, played hard. I don't know what the scoring chances were, might have been in our favour, but that's hockey, you've got to play 60 minutes. Sometimes, it goes your way and sometimes, it doesn't, and these are teachable moments where we become tighter as a team.” Captain McCoy has been doing a little teaching of his own this season, as almost an extension of the coaching staff. “A little bit, definitely, especially in practice, sometimes either pulling guys aside or them asking me small little questions,” said McCoy, who enjoys the opportunity to pass on some wisdom. “Back home in the summer, even when I'm even helping out my little siblings, it kind feels like that sometimes, but it's really cool, you know. Obviously, I've learned a lot from all my coaches I've had, I've learned a lot from our coaching staff here, so I can try to preach the same messages to our younger guys if they ever need anything from me.” Advertisement 5 Article content Sunday's game was McCoy's 200th in the OHL, a feat recently achieved by teammates Alex Pharand and Nick DeAngelis, as well. “It's a pretty cool milestone, I feel like a bit of an old man in the league now,” he laughed. “But it comes with it.” That measure of experience affords him words of wisdom to pass on to young blueline stars like 17-year-old Nolan Jackson, Sudbury's second-rounder from the 2023 OHL Priority Selection, and 2024 first rounder Luca Blonda, who won't turn 16 until Nov. 25. “Just try and keep it simple,” McCoy reasoned. “We're all going to have games — I've had games like that in my career — where it kind of gets out of hand a little bit early on. It's all right, you know, everyone's going to have those games so I just kind of kept reminding them to take it easy, don't try to do anything you wouldn't normally do, just play your game.” Advertisement 6 Article content Another excellent 15-year-old defenceman suited up on the other side of the ice on Sunday, as Manitoulin Island's Kohyn Eshkawkogan played in front of a huge contingent of his supporters who made the trip to Sudbury. Like Blonda for the Wolves, the 2024 first-rounder, 21st overall, is getting plenty of ice time already. Eshkawkogan was left off the scoresheet with the exception of four penalty minutes on Sunday, but he has six points in his first 12 OHL games. The Wolves have a real test facing them this weekend with three games in three days against teams at the top of their divisions. They visit the Kitchener Rangers (9-2-1-1) on Friday night, Brantford Bulldogs (6-3-2-0) at 4 p.m. on Saturday and the Niagara IceDogs (9-3-0-0) on Sunday at 2 p.m. Advertisement 7 Article content More opportunities to teach and learn from the perspective of the coach, who doesn't mind being on the road with this group. “We have guys that are going to work, and we have skill guys in the right spots,” Barney said. “Sometimes, you go on the road and it makes it a little less pressure. You want to play the top teams, that's what you gauge yourself against so it'll be an exciting weekend for us to see how we match up against those teams.” The status of goalie Nate Krawchuk will be of interest this week. He was hurt twice on Sunday in relief of Finn Marshall, who got pulled early. Krawchuk stayed in the game after two separate incidents, but was eventually called to the bench by the Wolves, despite making hand gestures indicating he was fine. Article content Share this article in your social network Share this Story : Wolves will learn from early ups and downs, captain McCoy says Comments Join the Conversation Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information. Latest National Stories News Near Elliot Lake Featured Local Savings

When he was introduced to local media back in July, new head coach Scott Barney was crystal clear about what the Sudbury Wolves would look like on the ice, with him standing behind the bench.

Advertisement 1 Share this Story : Wolf Tracks: Will the Wolves' best be good enough on tough trip? Wolf Tracks: Will the Wolves' best be good enough on tough trip? Article content When he was introduced to local media back in July, new head coach Scott Barney was crystal clear about what the Sudbury Wolves would look like on the ice, with him standing behind the bench. Advertisement 2 Article content Wolf Tracks: Will the Wolves' best be good enough on tough trip? Back to video Fast forward nearly four months, and his vision appears to be shaping nicely into reality. “We want to play an energy type game and we're going to be hard to play against,” Barney told local media at the time of his hiring . “To win hockey games, you have to be hard to play against in the tough areas of the ice and that's what's going to lead us to wins here down the road.” As a player, Barney was the rugged type, but one that also had the skill to play the game. The 6-foot-4 winger from Oshawa racked up 54 points and 110 penalty minutes in his draft year with the Peterborough Petes. After being selected in the second round, 29th overall by the L.A. Kings in 1997, he went on to score more than 40 goals in each of his final two seasons in junior. Advertisement 3 Article content The current Wolves roster isn't blessed with a lot of players in the 6-4, 220 range, but they are definitely proving to be hard to play against. As a group, they are relentless puck pursuers and put the body on you all over the ice. As a rookie head coach, the stamp Barney has applied to the 2024-25 edition of the Sudbury Wolves is that you better come to the rink with your work boots, because if not, this Wolves team will give you all you can handle. was, strangely, a great example. It wasn't the Wolves' best work, falling behind 3-0 halfway through the first period and trailing 6-1 at one point. They didn't have their A-game and were struggling to connect offensively, but the effort never stopped. Suddenly, Lucas Di Giantommaso potted a pair of goals to make it 6-3 and Nathan Villeneuve got a breakaway that could have made the score 6-4. Advertisement 4 Article content The 67's, who brought a better effort after being outworked by the Wolves in Ottawa , might have taken their foot off the gas for a bit being up five goals in the third and it let Sudbury back in. Taking a defeat in that game was an opportunity lost for the Wolves — a chance to improve to 8-4-0-0 on the season, which would have far exceeded the expectations of most fans. Instead, they enter a very challenging road trip this weekend with a record of 7-5-0-0. The Wolves head into the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium on Friday night to face one of the hottest clubs in the league. The Rangers, leaders of the Midwest Division, are off to a somewhat surprising 9-2-1-1 start, putting them second in the OHL behind the Windsor Spitfires, who hold down second place in the CHL Top 10 this week. Advertisement 5 Article content Despite their record, the Rangers were snubbed for the top 10 altogether. London is ranked fifth, Niagara eighth and Brampton 10th, despite having lower winning percentages than Kitchener. This means the Wolves are starting their road trip against a not only red hot, but also motivated club. Sudbury gets the team with the best winning percentage in the East Division on Saturday as they visit the 6-3-2-0 Brantford Bulldogs for a 4 p.m. start and finish the weekend against the aforementioned Niagara IceDogs on Sunday at 2 p.m. They lead the Central Division with a record of 10-3-0-0. To a fan or journalist, it looks like a real tough weekend where points might be very hard to come by. To his credit though, Barney referred to it as exciting and an opportunity to gauge yourself against top teams. Advertisement 6 Article content He's not wrong, but those of us who have followed this team for a long time are conditioned to think that those long bus rides and unfamiliar rinks are tough places to sneak points out of. The coach noted that sometimes when you get out on the road it's a little easier because the pressure is off — you don't have to perform in front of the hometown fans. He might be onto something, because going into this tough trio of weekend games, the Wolves are 4-2 on the road and just 3-3 at home. If there's one thing we seem to know about this group so far, it's whether they execute well or not, you'll get that proverbial 110 per cent effort. To Barney's point, it'll be interesting to see if that's good enough against some of the league's best teams. Wolf Tracks runs weekly during the OHL season. Article content Share this article in your social network Share this Story : Wolf Tracks: Will the Wolves' best be good enough on tough trip? Comments Join the Conversation Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information. Latest National Stories News Near Elliot Lake Featured Local Savings

There is not a single team in the OHL that has played fewer home games than the Sudbury Wolves to this point in the season. Article content

If you've watched the first 18 games of Rowan Henderson's OHL career, it won't surprise you that his first goal was the result of hard work and responsible defensive play.

If you’ve watched the first 18 games of Henderson's OHL career, it won’t surprise you that his first goal was the result of hard work

‘Chucky’ coming off another strong weekend in Sudbury Wolves crease