ROOKS SHOW UP; STREAK EXTENDED

Thunder Bay, Ont- For two of the three Timberwolves rookies that made the club out of camp, it's been a tough season and a fight for ice-time for top-line-caliber forwards.
>>>John Tavares and Matt Duchene were draft #1 and #3 respectively in 2009 by Thunder Bay. Both spent the season following their draft year in Duluth, Minnesota with the Timberwolves minor-league club, the Pups. To no ones surprise, both made the big club this season. But what has been surprising to some is the lack of consistent production from the two and the amount of minutes both have not gotten. Even being healthy scratches for 5-6 games.
>>>"It's obviously not the ideal season statistically for them," remarked Timberwolves GM Blake Wendt prior to Sunday's home tilt against the Calgary Chinook. "But there's not alot of rookies that come in and dominate the CCHL right off the bat. JT and Dutch are no different. They are immensely talented and have shown flashes of it during stretches this season. We know we have two high-caliber studs for years to come. There are no worries here in that regard. It's more a numbers game they've been victims of. When we play high octane offenses, we insert defensive forwards to counter. We are in no position to expose our first-year players to that."
>>>After being down 1-0 through 20 minutes of play against the visiting Chinook, Duchene smartly intercepted an errant east-west pass from the Calgary defense and excelerated in on Carey Price to tie things up with his 5th goal of the season. The score would hold into the second intermission.
>>>In the third, the Timberwolves offense exploded for four goals, including a pair from Tavares and Marc Savard each, and another from Ales Hemsky to finish off the Chinook 6-3 in front of another capacity crowd at Canadian National Gardens. Extending Thunder Bay's winning streak to six games and points in the last eight.
>>>"Nothing comes easy here," Duchene said after the game. "Sometimes it's frustrating to not be contributing on the daily basis. But it's not fully unexpected for me or JT I don't think. We made the team knowing that the minutes would be scarce. It's a battle every practise and skate to do what we can to even earn a spot in the lineup. In the end I think that this is the best thing for us. It's great to be here in a winning enviroment where so much is expected of us. There's not alot of rookies in the league that get to enjoy the immediate success of their team in that first year."
>>>The Timberwolves are off on Monday before going back-to-back on Tuesday and Wednesday against Reykjavik and Wisborg.
>>>
>>>3-STARS
>>>
>>>*Marc Savard (THU) - 2 goals and an assist
>>**John Tavares (THU) - 2 goals
>***Ales Hemsky (THU) - Goal and an assist