The Wild are on a roll; Eight wins in last 10 games
By Bill Rea

Have the King Wild turned a corner for real?

Their latest record would indicate they have, with eight wins in their last 10 starts.

The team is riding a fivegame winning streak early in the new year, and it seems their last win, Saturday night, was the poorest outing of the bunch. They were able to post a 7-6 win against the Toronto Canada Moose, but Coach Sheldon Friske was not terribly pleased, believing the game was closer than it needed to be.

"Everybody was goalhungry," he commented after the game. "Everybody wanted to score goals rather than play defence."

The goal scorers included Matt Marchese, who put in three, Dan Douglas with a pair and singles from Mark Fortin and Tom Coukos. Jon Adams led the way in the assist department with three, Derek Long had a pair, while Douglas, Luke Fortin, Anthony Simone, Marc Fortin and Brandon Beadow each drew one.

The Moose are several points behind the Wild in the Greater Metro Junior A League standings, and Friske thought that might have been part of the problem Saturday, as the players seem to have trouble putting up their best game against weaker clubs. "We play to who we're playing," he remarked, "not to our potential."

Despite that, he agreed a win is a win.

"I'll take the two points," he said. "They definitely didn't earn the two points tonight."

That performance came on the heels of one of the team's most solid wins of the season. They hosted the Douro Dukes Thursday evening, and sent them packing after blanking them 10-0.

It was a case of the Wild completely dominating the match, as they outshot the Dukes 89-24.

Brandon Garbowsky, Marchese and Matthew Salituro were two-goal men for the Wild that night, while Adams, Steve Wicklum, Marc Fortin and Beadow drew singles. In the assist department, Andrew Beattie and Douglas had two apiece, while Michael Garvie, Luke Fortin, Marchese, Simone, Adams, David Manning, Wicklum, Coukos, Marchant, Marc Fortin and Beadow each notched one.

"It's been slowly coming along," Friske remarked after the game, reflecting the team was having trouble scoring a couple of weeks ago. "Once we got a couple, it kept coming."

He was especially pleased with the work of the line of Garbowsky, Garvie and Beattie. "They finally broke through tonight and got a few goals," he remarked.

The Wild marked the end of 2007 with another substantial win New Year's Eve. In this outing, they hosted the Tamworth Cyclones, and handed them a 8-1 thumping.

Adams got two of the goals for the cause, while singles were collected by Douglas, Luke Fortin, Marchese, Marchant, Manning and Wicklum.

"We're starting to get a full team out," Friske remarked later, pointing out the team was playing according to the system they had been working on.

The recent wins have moved the Wild up a couple of notches in the league standings. They are now in eighth place in the 13-team loop with 31 points, just three back of the Richmond Hill Rams and four behind the Innisfil Lakers.

They will have the chance to draw even closer to the Lakers this Friday night, when they travel north to Innisfil for a 7:30 p.m. start.

The Wild will be home Saturday night to host the Espanola Kings, who currently are in ninth place with 24 points. That game will get started at 8:30 p.m.