WOLVES DEVOUR OWLS

Francois Beauchemin

Thunder Bay, Ont.- Gearing up for their outdoor tilt on Saturday, the Timberwolves downed the visiting Portland Owls on Wednesday by a 2-1 score at Canadian National Gardens.
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Grinder, Antti Miettinen netted the only Thunder Bay goals in the game, with Sidney Crosby and Francois Beauchemin each getting a helper. Beauchemin adding three more blocked shots to place third overall in the league in that department with 41 on the year thus far.
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Something that adds to the aura of the steady blueliner that his coaches hold in high regard.
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"Beauch has been great for us since he came over [acquired on 11/11/11 with Mikko Koivu for Brayden Schenn, Shawn Horcoff and John Carlson from Calgary]," said assistant coach Dean McAmmond. "He's a versatile guy that we have played in all situations and just does everything at a high level."
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"He's just one of those guys that you have no worries about in his game," said head coach Craig Hartsburg. "A maintenance free player if you will."
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Beauchemin is an unrestricted free agent and unfortunately for the Timberwolves, will be on the open market this summer. But expect his current team to be at the front of the line when it comes to bringing back this prized defenseman.
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"Absolutely we want him back," said a matter of fact general manager Blake Wendt. "I'm probably jacking the price up for him, but I'm not going to hide the fact that we want Francois Beauchemin to stay here. We'll make the appropriate moves to make that happen."
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The Timberwolves have another home game at CN Gardens on Friday before they take on the Winnipeg Ferrets on Saturday in the inaugural Heritage Classic to be played in an outdoor rink at the Northwood neighbourhood recreation fields.
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"It's going to be an amazing experience," said Wendt. "This isn't going to played in some huge baseball or football stadium in front of 40, 50, 60 thousand fans. It's a standard rink in a working class Thunder Bay neighbourhood with seating for 500 and a pine-covered mountain as a backdrop. It's going to be magical for everyone involved, and something I hope we can do every year with Winnipeg."
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3-STARS
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*Antti Miettinen [THU] - 2 goals
**Francois Beauchemin [THU] - 1 assist and 3 blocked shots
***Henrik Lundqvist [THU] - 1 goal against and 25 saves