HATS OFF TO HEMMER

Thunder Bay, Ont- After having two days off the Timberwolves were looking for a statement-game to start off their grueling 3 games in 3 days schedule. Their first opponent on Sunday was the visiting Linz Black Wings.

>>>Derek Brassard made things difficult early for the Timberwolves when he scored his first goal at 4:50 into the game.

>>>At 10:11 though, and while on the power play, Czech sniper Ales Hemsky (pictured) tied things up for Thunder Bay for his 5th of the season from Carl Gunnarsson and Marc Savard.

>>>Hemsky was not done, and at 11:06 put his club on top. Again from Savard and Gunnarsson. The first period scoring would end there.

>>>"Hemmer (Hemsky) has been sharp in practise and I know I felt it in the warm up that he was going to light it up today," said Marc Savard at the intermission.

>>>The 2nd period started off bleak for the Timberwolves when Linz's Marco Sturm tied things up at 00:59. But Simon Gagne took the lead back at 2:53 for the Quebec-native's 7th of the season from Mike Fisher and Gunnarsson's third assist of the game.

>>>At 09:00, Ales Hemsky netted the 4th hat trick of the season for the Timberwolves (with Marian Gaborik, Mike Fisher and TJ Oshie), from you guessed it... Marc Savard.

>>>Marian Gaborik iced the game at 13:58 in the 2nd for the Slovak's team-leading 17th goal.

>>>The 3rd period would see the Black Wings score twice, but an insurance goal from Gagne finished things off with a 6-4 win for the Timberwolves.

>>>"Thought we did a good job of getting a lead and holding onto it," said Timberwolves coach, Ryan McGill after the game. "They (Linz) initially had the lead and came back once to tie it up. So credit the guys for taking it away from them and taking two points with us. Good win. But it's on to the next one."

>>>The Timberwolves had less than an hour from the final horn to wheels up on their plane for the nearly 9 hour direct flight to the Czech Republic for tomorrows game in Prague against the Piranhas.

>>>Like when they were traded a couple weeks ago, the Timberwolves' Rick Nash and Henrik Lundqvist are once again in a rush. This time going back to Prague for the first time since the deal.

>>>"It'll be nice to see some old friends," said Nash while taking off from Thunder Bay. "But we're heading there to win a hockey game and move on. I'm thrilled to be here with this club."

>>>

>>>3-STARS

>>>

>>>*Ales Hemsky (THU) - Hat trick

>>**Simon Gagne (THU) - 2 goals

>***Carl Gunnarsson (THU) - 3 assists and a +4