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Wolf Tracks: Big opportunity for Wolves to prove themselves

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It’s difficult to imagine a more challenging road trip.

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Whatever bridges and border crossings they choose, the Sudbury Wolves will definitely be passport-carrying hockey players this weekend, as they embark on their longest and toughest roadie of the 2019-20 season. 

The Wolves cross the border into Michigan to start their weekend against the drastically improved Flint Firebirds on Friday night — a perpetual cellar-dweller that’s off to a 7-3 start backed by the goaltending of 2018-19 OHL champion Anthony Popovich, formerly of the Guelph Storm. The local juniors then make the short trip north to Saginaw for a date with the 8-4-1 Spirit on Saturday night.

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From a hockey perspective, Saginaw features highly touted 2020 NHL draft-eligible forward Cole Perfetti, as well as captain Damien Giroux of Hanmer, who is off to a rip-roaring start with 12 goals and 20 points in 13 games, placing him second in the OHL in goal scoring and top 10 in points.  

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The trip concludes with a hop back across the border and a 2 p.m. start in Windsor on Sunday afternoon against the 7-3-1 Spitfires.

It’s a long trip to get to Michigan, of course. But the travel in between games is actually not that bad on this trip. Flint to Saginaw is under an hour, and somewhere along the way, they’ll possibly hear either a Christmas tune or Highway Tune — given that they come fairly close to the famous city of Frankenmuth — home to the world’s largest Christmas store and birthplace of the popular young rock band Greta Van Fleet.

But I digress.

It’s only October, and three games before all the leaves are off the trees won’t make or break your season, but this weekend will give coach Cory Stillman a much better sense of whether his club is a true OHL contender, or merely a good team trying to find its way. 

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A solid, if not spectacular, 8-5 record so far suggests they may be closer to the latter. Promising, yes. But championship calibre? Maybe, but there’s not enough evidence to say that just yet.

They’re capable of winning all three, but could easily come home empty-handed, too. It’s a real litmus test.

Powered up front by Quinton Byfield, who has spent the early part of the season as the OHL’s scoring leader, and overage David Levin, who is putting up points at a similar pace, the Wolves are a team that can absolutely score with anyone. But their three Western conference opponents this weekend have also averaged more than four goals a game.

The teams that defend the best are likely to walk away with victories. Flint, Saginaw and Windsor haven’t exactly lit the world on fire defensively, either.

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Goalies Mitchell Weeks and Christian Purboo stepped up and were steady last weekend, backstopping the Wolves to winning two of three. They’ll need to be good again. But this is about team defence, from the goalies to the forwards. They’ll need full efforts top to bottom to have success.

Again, it’s early and one weekend does not a season make. But harvesting a couple of wins or at least scratching out three or four points would send a message that the Wolves are for real. And we know from experience that OHL teams often start swinging deals in November that establish them as buyers and sellers, long before the trade deadline in January.

So, to call it a critical road trip might be an exaggeration. But significant would not be a stretch.

Jeff Giffen’s Wolf Tracks column runs weekly during the OHL season.

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