Update: I just spoke with GM Kyle Raftis and Kalvyn Watson and Tyler Savard will be in the lineup tonight….BUT overager Cole MacKay will be sitting in the press box due to an injury sustained during the last Hound game against the Kitchener Rangers.

With games in the OHL and other leagues being postponed here and there, Hounds and Wolves fans are praying to the Gods that the game between the foes will not be cancelled as per C19 protocols.

On another note; regarding the upcoming OHL trade deadline which is only about 14 days away or so (Jan 10), a  writer from Guelph made a great point in an article that he wrote recently.

How are GM’s are going to approach it?

It can get ugly if a team for instance throws everything including the kitchen sink into a trade to run for it this year, and WHAM !! the season gets cancelled like we have seen in the last 2 years.

Are trades going to have more conditional or “not withstanding” clauses in the event of such a thing ?

It is going to be a very icy road to walk this year. No team wants to be robbed of a run at the prize and watch as his team is mediocre over the next couple of years as he gave away top draft picks etc.

Anyway; I have reached out to Kyle Raftis to inquire on his thoughts and will update you in the game summary on Thursday.

Now back to the game.

Tale of the Tape

SUDBURY WOLVES

Coach Craig Duncanson

GM Rob Papineau

Record 8-13-1

Offensively the Wolves have to scratch, claw, and bite for every goal they get. The chemistry is not there so far this year as they are dead last in the OHL with only 65 goals scored.

The interesting part is that a defenseman leads the team in points ala Jack Thompson (19) and the two kids behind here are rookies.

Evan Konyen and fellow freshman Quentin Musty sit tied in second with 17 points.

The wolves are also dead last on the power play (13.3%) so the Hounds penalty killing (73.5%) issue so far this year will not be a factor if bad penalties are taken.

Sudbury is 3-7 in their last 10 games and head to head the Wolves and Hounds are even with one win apiece.

 

SOO GREYHOUNDS

 

Coach John Dean

GM Kyle Raftis

Record 15-9-2

Over the most recent practices I anticipate that the penalty kill was worked on as the Hounds have lost more than a few games this year due to their inefficiency to stall the opposing power play. They have only a 75.3% efficiency with a man down so let’s hope that this will get better.

Going in to the game tonight, that will not be as much of a concern as I mentioned that Sudbury has a hard time burying the puck in the back of the net.

Scoring goals for the Hounds is not a problematic issue as they are second in the league with 113 and are only 3 less than the Hamilton Bulldogs (116) who have played 2 more games.

Leading the Dogs will be Rory Kerins (44pts), Tye Kartye (34) and Cole MacKay (29) who should be in the lineup as there has been no news that I can find regarding his leaving the game injured against Kitchener on Dec 17.

The Hounds will be without Tanner Dickinson and captain Ryan O’Rourke who are at the World Juniors in Red Deer Alberta.

Tyler Savard and Kalvyn Watson have been on the injured list and it is unclear at the time of publication if they have healed and will be in the lineup; we can only hope. Tyler was on a tear when he got injured and Kalvyn has only played 6 games this year.

The Hounds have the trio of goaltenders in Tucker, Samuel, and Charlie to go with but it is unclear as per the rumors regarding Tucker and his twitter account tweets that the Hounds and OHL have been looking into.

We’ll see during warmup who gets the nod in net.

If all goes positive in the aforementioned, Charlie Schenkel will be shipped out very soon (in my opinion) as this young talent that I see having a very bright future with his unorthodox style, needs somewhere to play and not sit in the press box.

Go Hounds Go !