Wolves play wait and see with three on three overtime

Sudbury Wolves Head Coach Dave Matsos said it’s going to create another challenge in game planning.

“It’s one more thing we have to add to practice now,” he said. “You’re going to have to sit and be faced with what you want to do — do you want to two forwards, one defence? There are a lot of things you’re going to have to sit and think about.

“There’s going to be more openness, getting scoring chances. It’s definitely something we have to get our guys accustomed to, it will be something we add to practice all September so we’re ready for it.”

Matsos said he isn’t worried about how to play the overtime period, but about how hard his guys will work.

“I don’t think there’s structure,” he said. “I think guys have to be committed to being a harder worker than the guy coming out against him, because there’s no D-zone coverage, there’s no layers of defence like when you play five on five. There’s so much ice, so if you miss your assignment, that guy is probably going to get a quality scoring chance, or have a lot of time and space to make a play.”

The move brings immediate thoughts of pick-up hockey, a style of play for the skilled offensive players who can showcase their moves on the open ice much like they would schooling their friends in the cold confines of an outdoor rink.

But like Matsos said, who do you put out there, and how will it effect the defensive side?

Wolves defenceman Kyle Capobianco doesn’t seem to concerned.

“I love that, playing summer league three-on-three hockey growing up, being able to skate well really benefits you, so we will see what happens.

“It’s going to be really fast paced with a lot of up-and-down chances.”

There is one guarantee it’s going to be a lot of fun for forwards, but what about the goalies, who will face constant odd man rushes?

“You play summer league as a kid, and it’s three on three, the odd-man rushes are to be expected, it’s going to be interesting for sure,” said goalie Troy Timpano.

But Timpano did raise a good point that it could benefit certain goaltenders.

“As a goalie, the biggest thing is puck handling. I’m fairly confident in my puck handling abilities, so having that to our advantage will be huge.”

General Manager Barclay Branch said the league wants to limit the number of games decided by a shootout.

“It will work to take out a large part of the shootout component that has kind of worked it’s way into the game. I know there has always been the discussion that it doesn’t seem right to have a team game decided by an individual, in a very specialized type component.

“With the three of three, not only are you going to be possibly getting away from the shootout more, but you’re also going to be putting on display a lot of speed and skill, which the game is based upon now.”

The Wolves have already started to implement the three on there into training camp, so the team would be ready if their first exhibition game on Sunday with North Bay at the Sudbury Arena goes into overtime.