King Wild take back second place in standings in five-point week
By Bill Rea

Alex Pozderowski was on the fly in Sunday's contest against West Nipissing.

The King Wild had to play three games in as many nights last week, but they were able to pull five points out of the action and put themselves back into second place in the Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League standings.

And the team came close to making it a perfect week, but some ill-timed penalties (and a couple of infractions the referee managed to miss) disrupted their effort Sunday at home against the West Nipissing Alouettes. As a result, the Alouettes were up 2-1 until Jordan Gidaro tied things with about 20 second left in the third period. Kurt Zdrillich and Brendon Farrugia drew assists on the play. Previously, Marc Fortin picked up a rebound about 20 feet in front of the Nipissing net and fired the puck through a maze of players into an upper corner. Matt Bereton and Matt Marchese assisted on that marker.

But the home side often let their frustration get the better of them. In one third period incident, Sean Pollard was assessed a 10- minute misconduct after protesting a tripping penalty a few moments after stopping a West Nipissing elbow with his jaw, an infraction the referee missed.

The Wild ended up playing most of the fiveminute over-time frame a man short, but they were still able to outshoot the Alouettes 8-3 in the period.

This issue had to be settled in a shoot-out, which West Nipissing won 2-1 for a 3-2 final score. Gidaro connected for his mates in the shoot-out.

Despite the loss, Head Coach Paul Hampton wasn't critical of his men, pointing out three games in as many nights was a tough order.

"It's been a big weekend for us," he said. "I knew it was going to be a tough battle."

But he was tough on the officiating, stating it's been throwing the team off their game.

"If you're noticing the officials, they're not doing their job," he remarked.

Things went better for the team Friday night when they played the Alouettes in Sturgeon Falls, winning 6-2.

They were on the road Saturday night, playing in Thornhill and winning 5-3 against the Toronto Canada Moose. Gidaro was a threegoal man in that outing, with singles being notched by Pollard and Marc Zanette. Fortin got two assists on the evening, while Matt Dickens, Kyle Baulne, Pollard, Dan Douglas and Marchese collected one apiece.

The Wild now have 46 points in the standings, one better than the Richmond Hill Rams. The Bradford Rattlers are still well out in front with 62.

The Wild will return to Sturgeon Falls Saturday night to face the Alouettes, starting at 8 p.m.

Sunday will be a tough assignment as they host the Rattlers, starting at 5:45 p.m.