Steve Somerville photo
Newmarket's Todd Hosmer (far left) goes stick on stick against Sudbury's Brandon Labelle and Charles Carre during opening night action at the Dudley Hewitt Cup tourney in Newmarket Tuesday.STAFF PHOTO/STEVE SOMERVILLE
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April 23, 2008 08:49 AM
Coach wasn't sure 'which team would show up' for Dudley Hewitt Cup
By: John Cudmore, Staff Writer
It took the Newmarket Hurricanes a while to get rolling. That was to be expected after a seven-week layoff leading up to the Dudley Hewitt Cup.
Once the host side found its footing, however, it was lights out for the Sudbury Wolves.
Newmarket spotted the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League champions a one-goal lead before storming back for five unanswered tallies Tuesday night to score a 5-1 victory in the opening tournament game for both teams at the Ray Twinney Complex.
The victory sends the Hurricanes into Wednesday’s second day of play in the four-team tournament against the Dryden Ice Dogs on a winning note and with a chance to play for a huge day off later in the event. The Superior International Junior Hockey League champions fell 5-1 earlier in the day at the hands of the Provincial Jr. A Hockey League champion Oakville Blades.Game time is 7:30 p.m.
The other game slated for Wednesday is a 2:30 p.m. tilt between the Blades and Wolves.
A win in hand is no small thing for a team in the Hurricanes’ position. Particularly so in a short tournament in which only three of the four teams will advance to the playoff round starting Friday.
“We still have to do it back to back,” said Hurricanes’ head coach Brian Perrin. “It takes more than one game in a tournament like this. You want to get on a roll and play well all week.”
Perrin, like his players, was anxious to see how his team would respond after sitting on the sidelines since losing a division semifinal round playoff series to the Aurora Tigers in late February.
“There was tons of anxiety,” said Perrin. “You don’t know which team is going to show up; if it’s the team that played so well in the regular season or the team which didn’t compete well in the playoffs.”
After a sluggish first period in which Sudbury scored the lone goal when Wolves’ leading scorer Scott Restoule pounced on a rebound from a Jordan Cheechoo shot on a two-on-one rush, the Hurricanes came to life in the second period.
Five straight power plays, including a 90-second stint with a two-man advantage, helped the Hurricanes build momentum.
Captain Scott Voisin started the onslaught by sliding a shot past a screen of players in front of Wolves’ netminder Joey Delwo on a power play in the fourth minute of the second period.
Adam Martinez converted a long-bomb breakaway pass from Brian Soso by slapping a shot past Delwo to put the Hurricanes ahead at 14:10.
In the third, defenceman Jake McClelland’s point shot squeezed through Delwo before Josh McQuade wrapped up the scoring with a pair of late tallies.
Getting a win out of the way quickly doesn’t guarantee the Hurricanes a playoff berth, but it sure makes the task a bit simpler. One win might get the hosts to Friday’s semifinal. The team which finishes first, however, would avoid having to play five games in as many days.
“We were a little nervous,” McQuade said. “But that first win is always the biggest. We hope we can get another one. Having Friday off would be a nice break for us. So we’ll see now if we can get two wins.”
Wolves’ coach Dave Clancy vowed his team would be better in its next outing.
“We started the game well but we got off our game plan,” Clancy said. “We’re a good defensive zone coverage team and we didn’t do that tonight.”
Clancy pointed to recent DHC history in a bid to bolster his club’s spirits.
“We were in the same position two years ago (in Thunder Bay),” he said. “We lost the first game 6-1 but made it to the final. I’m confident in them.”