HOUND TALES: Maccarone shipped to Sudbury

The Soo Greyhounds were busy on Thursday as the team completed an Ontario Hockey League trade and celebrated the selection of two players to an OHL select team competing against Russia.

The Hounds finished the day by sending 19 year-old centre Matt Maccarone to the Sudbury Wolves in exchange for 17 year-old centre Brett Connolly.

Maccarone was acquired by the Greyhounds in a deal with Oshawa, which also saw Kevin Druce head north and the Hounds send Ryan Kitchen to the Generals. In 16 games, Maccarone scored four goals and two assists for six points.

Connolly, standing at six-foot-two and 190 pounds, was the Wolves first round selection in the 2002 OHL draft and has recorded two goals and two assists in 12 games this season. Last season, he notched five assists in 51 games.

Connolly will make his debut on Friday night as the Greyhounds entertain the Saginaw Spirit at 7:30 p.m. at Memorial Gardens.

Sudbury, meanwhile, made another trade on Thursday acquiring holdout defenseman Eric Larochelle from Guelph in exchange for a fifth round pick in the 2005 OHL draft.

Larochelle scored two goals and 21 points to go with 138 penalty minutes and a team best plus-26 plus/minus rating last season with the Storm.

*** GET IN FREE!!!

The Soo Greyhounds are offering free admission to all kids wearing their Halloween costume to Friday night's game against Saginaw.

In addition, the first 200 kids entering the building through the Queen St. Entrances will receive a free bag of candy courtesy of Pino's Get Fresh, Tim Hortons and Hostess-Frito Lay.

The Greyhounds are also offering a family special for Sunday's game against the Plymouth Whalers at 2 p.m.

Fans can purchase two adult and two child tickets along with four small popcorn and four small pop for $39.95. The team will also offer the special on December 14 when they host the Owen Sound Attack.

*** MOE SPIRIT:

The Saginaw Spirit will have a new look when they come to town on Friday as Moe Mantha will be behind the bench for his first game as coach of the Spirit.

Mantha was named coach on Wednesday replacing Dennis Desrosiers, who was fired last Wednesday. Mantha stepped down as coach of the USA Under-18 National Team to accept the position.

With USA Hockey, Mantha won two international gold medals as coach of the Under-17 team. Previously, the 13-year National Hockey League veteran coached professionally for two years in the East Coast Hockey League and six years in the American Hockey League.

*** CARTER, DRUCE SELECTED:

Greyhounds captain Jeff Carter and goaltender Kevin Druce were selected to Team OHL which will play a pair of games in November against Team Russia in the 2003 RE/MAX Canada/Russia Challenge.

The Hounds issued the following news release this afternoon:

************************************************************ Two Greyhounds named to Canada/Russia series roster

The Ontario Hockey League announced today that two members of the Soo Greyhounds will participate in the 2003 RE/MAX Canada/Russia Challenge that will be held in six Canadian Hockey League centers in November.

Hounds captain JEFF CARTER and goaltender KEVIN DRUCE will play for the OHL in two games of the series.

The first game will be played at the John Labatt Centre in London on Monday November 17th while the second match will be hosted by Sarnia Wednesday November 19th at the Sarnia Sports and Entertainment Centre.

Both Greyhound players have been outstanding in the first month of the season.

Carter, a first-round draft pick of the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers leads the Hounds in scoring with 8 goals, 8 assists and 16 points in 14 games.

Druce, acquired in an off-season trade with Oshawa has played in 13 games this season and is among the league's top goaltenders with a goals against average of 2.59 and a .927 save percentage.

The other two major junior hockey leagues in Canada will also host games in this challenge series.

The Quebec League will host games in Halifax on November 20th and Rimouski on November 24th while games in the West will be staged in Calgary November 26th and Brandon on November 27th.

All six games will be broadcast nationally on Rogers Sportsnet.

The Re/Max Canada/Russia Challenge will be an integral part of the identification process for Canada's National Junior Team final selection camp.

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