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Wolves' new blood light it up at 2015 Gold Cup

It was an up and down weekend in Kitchener for the Sudbury Wolves rookies, but one thing is for sure, these boys can light it up. The 2015 OHL Gold Cup ran for three days, ending Sunday.
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The Sudbury Wolves play their final home double-header this weekend when the Peterborough Petes visit on Friday night, followed by the Mississauga Steelheads on Sunday. File photo
It was an up and down weekend in Kitchener for the Sudbury Wolves rookies, but one thing is for sure, these boys can light it up.

The 2015 OHL Gold Cup ran for three days, ending Sunday.

It was an opportunity for 160 young men born in 1999 to show Hockey Canada why they should represent Canada at the 2015 Under-17 World Challenge.

“The players are getting a pretty unique experience and a chance to showcase themselves for the Canadian Under-17 team, to get invited to the national camp, get exposure and get experience,” said Blaine Smith, Sudbury Wolves president and general manager.

Nine Wolves rookies attended the camp, including eighth-round pick Jake McGrath, the first Pack goalie selected in the 2015 OHL Priority draft.

On route to a 6-2 championship game win, McGrath started in three games for the Greater Toronto Hockey League Blue Team. During the final against Team Alliance, he shut down several Wolves picks — including second rounder Shane Bulitka, third-round pick Owen Lane and sixth-round pick Donovan Cowen.

Lane had a pretty outstanding tournament, scoring a hat-trick in his first game and tallying six points during the round robin.

Another Sudbury pick, MacAuley Carson (second-round), who suited up for the Ontario Minor Hockey Association Navy Team, finished his five games with five points.

It wasn’t the best tournament for the Wolves first overall selection, David Levin. The Israeli teen failed to find the score sheet in all five games, but did rack up four penalty minutes.

Smith said Levin might have been kept off the scoreboard, but was playing very well.

“When I look at all the players, they played five games each,” Smith said. “They had some great games and some not-so-good games, and I think that’s pretty typical being the time of year and being with new players.”

Other Wolves on ice were Ben Garagan (Greater Toronto Hockey League Blue Team), Conor Ali (OMHA Navy Team) and Declan Hilton (Hockey Eastern Ontario), who had four points.

Smith said the tournament might be a great opportunity, but it comes at kind of an inconvenient time for players.

“I think players, at this stage of the year, are kind of burnt out, Some of them have played upwards of 80-90 games. A lot of these guys still have injuries from the hockey season,” he said. “I think this is a tough tournament because you are playing five games and 20 minutes periods.”

The purpose of the Gold Cup is to fill the three teams Canada sends to the Under 17 World Hockey Challenge. In its second year of a new format, the country sends three teams to represent Canada: Team White, Team Red and Team Black.

The roster will be cut down to 22 players per team over the course of the summer.

The Northern Ontario Hockey Association also took part in this year's Gold Cup, winning just one — it's last game — 6-1 over Hockey Northwestern Ontario.

Leading the way for the squad were two Sudbury Wolves Minor Midget players, Karter Renouf and Nick Chokan.

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