Wild top Nipissing crew, then back off their game
By Bill Rea

Defenceman John Sturino was trying to advance the puck in Sunday's contest against the Deseronto Thunder.

A long trip to and from Sturgeon Falls Saturday night might have been a factor in Sunday's performance.

The King Wild had very little trouble handling the West Nipissing Alouettes up north Saturday, doubling them 4-2. But Sunday was a different matter. In what might have been one of their weakest performance of the year, the local junior A heroes fell 7-5 to the Deseronto Thunder.

"We didn't come to play," Head Coach Paul Hampton commented after the game. "We didn't want the puck. Everyone was looking for everyone else to do something."

"They out-worked us, they out-skated us, they outshot us and they out-scored us," he added.

But the coach was pleased with the effort his men turned in the night before, and while he stressed he was wasn't looking for excuses for Sunday's performance, he did point out it was a long trip, with the boys getting back to town at about 3:30 Sunday morning. "I'm tired and I'm not playing the game," Hampton remarked.

John Adams, Piero Petti, Brendan Farrugia and Jordan Gigaro scored Saturday, with assists being notched by Derek Long, Dan Douglas, Ryan Williamson, John Sturino (with two), Matt Marchese and Marc Fortin.

Gigaro got two goals Sunday, with singles being collected by Douglas, Kurt Zdrillich and Marc Zanette. Douglas earned two assists for the evening, while Sturino, Sean Pollard, Zdrillich, Zanette and Farrugia got one apiece.

Despite the rocky performance Sunday, the Wild are still in second place in the Greater Metro Junior A standings with 50 points, two up on the Richmond Hill Rams.

The team will be doing a bit of exploring this week. They will have a home game Friday, but with a bit of a twist, because it will be at the arena in Nobleton. They will be hosting the South Muskoka Shield, and the match is due to get stared at 7 p.m.

Then they will be travelling to Espanola (about 40 miles west of Sudbury) for a couple of matches with Rams from Richmond Hill; Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at noon.