Skyhawks claw past the Wolves (updated)

Traffic jam! Skyhawks goaltender Ian Wilson get attacked by hungry Wolves. Photo by Michelle Baril.

Story by Michelle Baril

Two weeks after the Sudbury Wolves came to town, the Junior Wolves headed to the Gardens to face the Skyhawks in NOJHL action. After playing two games in two days, the Hawks were looking to shutdown Sudbury in their third game of the weekend. Hawks forward Dustin Fummerton proved to be the hero in this match-up receiving the games third star and netting the shootout winner behind Sudbury goaltender Alain Valiquette. The 4-3 victory gave North Bay their third win in as many nights and enabled them to collect 7 of a possible 9 points over the weekend.

Showing no signs of fatigue, Skyhawks goaltender Ian Wilson replicated the stellar moves of the Dominator to keep the Hawks in the game by allowing a mere 3 goals on 36 shots and obtaining the games first star.

“Well when you play three games in three nights, obviously physically you get pretty tired but mentally you get more and more into it,” Wilson said.

“He’ll be the first guy on the ice at Tuesday's practice and he’ll be the first guy up doing off ice afterward. I think when you have a goalie that knows he’s number one and he’s still out there trying to improve his game. I think its says a lot about his character,” said Skyhawks head coach Darren Turcotte of Wilson.

Fummerton scored 8 minutes and 57 seconds into the first, assisted by David Norkum and Kolton Brown, to put the Hawks up early in the game. In the third, Darren Mann went in alone and snapped a wrist shot past Valiquette to cushion the Hawks lead at 2-0. The third frame brought a Skyhawks defensive lapse and the Wolves scored three quick goals to take the lead; Cyr was quick to shut the Sudbury bench up when he notched the tying goal from AJ Shiverdecker and Fummerton late in the third to send the game to overtime. In the shootout it was Wilson who shined stopping all Sudbury shots and Fummerton scoring the winner.

“We played like a team that’s played three games in three nights with about 14 hours of bus travel in between against a team that hasn’t played all weekend. Wils came up with some big saves and we got two points and they got one. So we came out of the weekend with 7 of a possible 9 points. So we’re happy with the way the weekend went and we’re looking forward to Wednesday,” Turcotte said.

The Skyhawks travel to Sudbury on Wednesday to once again face the Junior Wolves.

Meet the Skyhawks tomorrow night at Don Cherry’s for a free autograph signing.