OHL: Sudbury Preps for 3-in-3

The Sudbury Wolves prepare for three games in three days this weekend, hosting Mississauga before traveling to Peterborough and Brampton in OHL action.

The Wolves currently hold fifth place in the Central Division and seventh place in the Eastern Conference, with an 18-16-2-5 record and 43 points in 41 games played. They haven’t lost in regulation in the last ten games, going 7-0-2-1 in that stretch, and have a combined 641 penalty minutes this season – most in the conference.

Sudbury is undefeated in 2013, having played twice so far this year. The team began the new year with a 4-3 win over Brampton on January 4 before defeating Mississauga 5-4 two days later.

Nicholas Baptiste, Dominik Kubalik, Frank Corrado, Joshua Leivo and Mathew Campagna scored for Sudbury in the win over Mississauga, and Joel Vienneau had 35 saves on 39 shots faced.

Prior to the OHL’s trade deadline, Leivo was the Wolves’ leading scorer, with 19 goals and 25 assists for 44 points in 34 games. Frank Corrado was also near the top of the ranks, with 27 points (6-21) in 41 games. Vienneau was the team’s main goaltender, having appeared in 34 games this season for Sudbury.

Now? All three of them are gone, shipped off to the Kitchener Rangers along with four draft picks in exchange for goaltender Franky Palazzese, defenseman Cory Genovese, forward Matt Schmalz and four draft picks.

This to say that it’ll be quite a different Sudbury team showing up for this weekend’s trio of games.

Genovese, a native of Hespeler, Ontario, had one goal, four assists and 56 penalty minutes in 37 games with Kitchener. Schmalz, a rookie, has one goal in 25 games this season.

Palazzese appeared in 20 games for the Rangers prior to the trade. He has a 2.10 GAA and .934 save percentage, top in the OHL in both statistics.

The weekend begins with a home game against Mississauga (20-15-0-4) at 7:35 p.m. on January 11. The Steelheads are coming off a 5-4 loss to Barrie on January 10 and a prior 5-4 loss to Sudbury on January 6. The team’s last win came over Niagara on January 4.

The next day, the team travels to Peterborough (12-24-3-2) for a 7:05 p.m. matchup before visiting Brampton (19-17-3-4) on January 13 for an afternoon tilt at 2 p.m. to close out the three-in-three.

The Petes are coming off a 3-2 victory over Kitchener on January 10. They’ll face off against Oshawa before hosting the Wolves on Saturday.

Brampton is coming off a 3-0 loss to Windsor, and the Battalion are looking for their first win in 2013. They’ll face off against Plymouth on January 11 before hosting the Wolves on January 13.

After this weekend’s trio of games, the Wolves begin a five-game homestand, beginning with a game against Barrie on January 18.