WOLVES THUMP RONIN FOR FIRST IN '11

Head Coach Hartsburg returns to bench in 7-1 victory over Victoria
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Thunder Bay, Ont- This was just what the doctor ordered to start the new year for the Timberwolves.
>>>With head coach Craig Hartsburg back behind the bench and an enthusiastic, capacity crowd at Canadian National Gardens on Sunday ready to start 2011 with a win, the Wolves did just that in dominating fashion over a struggling opponent in the Ronin (10-20-3).
>>>Thunder Bay's Matt Duchene scored the first goal of the game just 19 seconds in for the rookie's 3rd of the season from Marian Gaborik and Patrick Sharp. The Haliburton, Ontario-native made the best of his time on the club's top line. Two more tallies from Ales Hemsky and Gaborik closed out the first period scoring.
>>>It was a great start for Hartsburg, behind the bench for the first time since the pre-season after undergoing heart surgery, and exactly what the Timberwolves needed to close out a 5-game homestand and immediately start a 3-game road trip.
>>>"Despite Victoria's record, we wanted to set the tone early and not give them any momentum in this game," Hartsburg said between periods. "The guys did a great job of executing the first thing on our 'to-do' list."
>>>Mike Fisher made it 4-0 in the third period after no scoring in the middle 20 minutes of play. A single tally from Victoria's Ryane Clowe did nothing more than end Henrik Lundqvist's shutout bid at 3:45 in the third. Another from Duchene and Hemsky and final, 7th goal from Carl Gunnarsson sealed the deal for a 7-1 victory for the Thunder Bay Timberwolves.
>>>"It's a big win from the standpoint of looking at the score alone," said Hartsburg after the game. "We played very well and did alot of thing right. We didn't let up and that's the biggest thing. But we killed an opponent we should've killed. So we can't get too high on this win. It's a win. It's two points. We enjoy it and we move on to the next one."
>>>Despite the coach's nonchalant praise, with the win and a Copenhagen loss, the Timberwolves move into first overall in the CCHL. At least for a day.
>>>After the game there was no time to celebrate much. Within 90 minutes of the final horn the club was on their plane departing Thunder Bay International for Karlstad, Sweden and tomorrows game against the Killers (20-14-0)
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>>>3-STARS
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>>>*Matt Duchene (THU) - 2 goals
>>**Ales Hemsky (THU) - 2 goals
>***Marian Gaborik (THU) - goal and 2 assists