Sudbury advances to Telus Cup

The Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves didn’t need much more motivation heading into Sunday’s title game at the 2012 Central Region Midget AAA Championship but they got some anyway on Saturday night.

The Wolves found out that former defenceman Liam Kirkwood died on Saturday evening after a lengthy battle with leukemia. Kirkwood joined the team in September 2008, the year after the team won the Telus Cup but his older brother Kyllian was on the national championship winning team.

“We found out (Saturday) night on our way to the hotel after dinner,” said Wolves coach Peter Michelutti Jr. who coached Kirkwood with the Wolves. “It’s definitely another motivation we had. We have a wall of pictures of people we’re playing for and this morning we added his picture to the wall. I’m sure a lot of the guys played to win for Liam for sure.”

With Kirkwood’s death still weighing on the minds of many, the Wolves went out and beat the London Jr. Knights 4-3 on Sunday to win the 2012 Central Region Midget AAA Championships. With the win, the Wolves will now head to Leduc, Alberta for the Telus Cup, which kicks off on Apr. 23.

The 2012 Wolves will have some big shoes to fill as three of the last four central region representatives have medals, including the 2008 Wolves who beat the Winnipeg Thrashers 6-4 in the championship game of the tournament. The 2010 Mississauga Rebels and 2011 London Jr. Knights each placed second at the national level.

On Sunday, Ryan Erickson was the hero as he scored the eventual game winning goal at 15:59 of the third period. The goal game under three minutes after the Knights had tied the game at three. Charlie Venedam, Josh Moore and Brandon Jones also scored for the Wolves in the win.

“London and us have probably become the two best teams throughout the week,” said Michelutti. “They came out and took it to us in the first period. We weathered the storm and as he game went on we got better and finally buried a few chances.”

Chris Lindner, Cody Filson and Conor Carson scored for the Knights in the loss.

“We weren’t even supposed to be here,” said Knights coach Chuck Dufton. “It was expected to be Waterloo out of our league. Our boys worked hard. This was our second provincial final in a row.

“Our players did everything we asked of them this year,” added Dufton. “I can’t say anything bad about our boys. I told them to never forget (getting to this tournament).”

Following Sunday’s championship game, the tournament committee announced the tournament award winners:

• Most Sportsmanlike: Max Vorenneau, Ottawa
• Top Scorer: Zach Fung, Mississauga
• Top Defenceman: Eric Cimino, London
• Top Forward: Peter Poulin-Roy, Sudbury
• Top Goaltender: Nik Dampier
• Telus Cup Scholarship: Conor Carson, London