The Sudbury Wolves look to get back in the win column this weekend as they host an Eastern Conference contender and a Western Conference non-contender in a pair of games.
Sudbury takes on the Windsor Spitfires on Friday at Sudbury Arena at 7:30 p.m. The Wolves then square off against the Kingston Frontenacs on Saturday at 7 p.m.
The games mark the first time this season the Wolves play either squad. See the sidebar for info on the teams.
Sudbury goes into the weekend with a record of 5-22-1, good enough for last in the Eastern Conference. The Wolves are 2-7-1 in their last 10 games.
Head coach Paul Fixter said his squad needs to come out and impose their will from the opening face-off and give the goalies some support if another win is going to be earned.
“One thing we need to do for sure is have a better start to the game,” he said. “We can’t have another bad start. It cost us last weekend. We also have to cut down the goals against (because) we are not going to score a lot of goals. We have to be diligent.”
Going into the weekend, the Wolves will be without the services of forward and captain Brody Silk, who is in the midst of serving an eight-game suspension for a head-checking incident on Nov. 28. Silk returns Dec. 30.
The Wolves welcome back forward David Zeppieri, who missed a couple of weeks due to a back injury. Fixter expects him to play in Friday’s game.
Enemy lines
Windsor
The Spitfires are in a major revamping process this season with plenty of player changes and deals that have really shaking up the roster.
The Spitfires are 10-16-1, which has them in last place in the Western Conference. Windsor plays Thursday against North Bay. The Spitfires have done some big deals so far this season.
In late August, they shipped away six draft picks, including three second-round selections, to Niagara for prospect forward Logan Brown, the sixth overall pick in the 2014 OHL Priority Draft. Brown had six goals and 13 points in 21 games.
During the season, the team also traded away two top point producers — sending Josh Ho-Sang to Niagara for Hayden McCool and three second-round draft picks. Windsor also dealt Chris Marchese to Guelph for a third-round pick.
McCool had six points in 17 games with Niagara prior to the trade, and has rung up seven points in nine games with the Spitfires.
Kingston
The Frontenacs are in the middle of the pack of Eastern Conference teams, and are playing solid hockey in recent weeks.
The Frontenacs have won two games in a row, and gone 5-3-1-1 in their last 10. They’ll get a boost this week as players Lawson Crouse and Jacob Graves, and head coach Paul McFarland, return from suspensions.
Crouse and McFarland got two games each stemming from a fight versus Sarnia on Nov. 30. Graves received two games for a fight versus Belleville on Dec. 5.
Leading scorer Spencer Watson is out long-term, recovering from a broken ankle suffered against Kitchener in late November. Watson had 13 goals and 28 points in 22 games at the time of his injury.
