OSHIE'S TRICK IS A WINNER

Hempstead, NY- Coming off of a 1-1 tie to start their 5-game road trip on Saturday against the Victoria Ronin, the Thunder Bay Timberwolves traveled across the continent to New York to take on the Long Island Express on Monday.

>>>Marc Savard opened the scoring for his 2nd of the season from Patrick Sharp and Marian Gaborik at 6:15 to make it 1-0 for the visiting Timberwolves.

>>>The Express would answer the bell with two of their own within 2 minutes of Savard's tally off the sticks of Eric Nystrom and Michael Del Zotto.

>>>But the Timberwolves would explode with goals from Mike Fisher, Antti Miettinen and two from TJ Oshie (pictured) for the horn to close out the 1st period to make it 5-2 Thunder Bay.

>>>Long Island would score first in the 2nd period with a breakaway goal from veteren Kirk Maltby at 2:30.

>>>Timberwolves rookie defenseman, Carl Gunnarsson answered :25 seconds later with his first career goal from Simon Gagne and Nick Schultz.

>>>Express captain, Sidney Crosby had had enough at this point and scored two goals himself within 5 minutes of each other to close out the second period to make it 6-5 Timberwolves.

>>>Less than a minute into the final period, Ryan Callahan tied things up 6-6 at the :50 mark.

>>>TJ Oshie would net the hat trick at 4:31 for his 6th of the season and what would end up being the game-winner as Simon Gagne iced the game for his 3rd on the year and finish off the Express with a 8-6 final.

>>>Next game for the Timberwolves will be in Denver on Wednesday against the Spurs.

>>>

>>>3-STARS

>>>

>>>*TJ Oshie (THU) - 3 goals (Hat trick) off of 3 shots

>>**Sidney Crosby (ISL) - 2 goals and an assist

>***Antti Miettinen (THU) - 1 goal and 2 assists

LONG ROAD TRIP AWAITS STRUGGLING WOLVES

Thunder Bay, ON- After starting the season without a loss in six games, the Thunder Bay Timberwolves have now suffered two in as many games.

>>>Wednesday's loss to the Portland Owls was one of too many early goals against, but a sign of resiliancy by ending it closer than it should have been.

>>>Friday's loss against the Karlstad Killers? Not even close.

>>>Brian Elliott did not look sharp on Wednesday. Thus, Jonas Hiller made his second start of the season against the Killers. The result would not change.

>>>Karlstad opened the scoring and by the end of the first period had the Timberwolves doubled up 2-1. Not a overall bad start for Thunder Bay, but the team as a whole seemed lacking.

>>>In the second period, both teams played a safe game. But Karlstad's Alexander Semin notched another goal for the Killers and it was 3-1 going into the third.

>>>Derek Roy made it 4-1 early into the final period, only to be countered by a Timberwolves goal from Patrick Sharp (pictured) moments later to cut the lead in half. But the momentum of Sharp's goal provided nothing and the Killers would run away with two more goals to finish off Thunder Bay 6-2.

>>>"For whatever reason, and there shouldn't be any, we just weren't in it," said Timberwolves captain, Keith Ballard. "We were well rested, thought the practises and the morning skate went well. All the guys seemed in the zone. But we were not there today. Karlstad is a very good club, don't get me wrong. But we should've been closer than that."

>>>One line in particular that was torn apart by the Killers was Matt Duchene's second line with Simon Gagne and Ales Hemsky, and the third defensive pairing of Nick Schultz and Carl Gunnarsson. All five players were a -4 and the only minus players for the Timberwolves.

>>>"Obviously they got lit up today," said Timberwolves interim head coach, Ryan McGill. "The matchup wasn't in our favour all game and it's disappointing that when they scored it was that group out there. Couple rookies there (Duchene and Gunnarsson), but that's no excuse. We were outplayed, overmatched and got our butts kicked. No time to dwell on it. We move on and prepare for the next one."

>>>The next one is on the road against the Victoria Ronin, who beat the Timberwolves in the pre-season 5-4 in overtime.

>>>Victoria is the first a five game road trip over the next ten days. An excursion that will burn alot of jet fuel. After Victoria, it's on to Long Island, Denver, Havana and then Copenhagen. A logistics nightmare.

>>>"We'll have clean uniforms and extra players sent to Denver for the puddle jumping to the Caribbean and up the hill to Denmark," said Timberwolves GM, Blake Wendt who will not be with the club in Victoria, but will join them on the way to New York and the remainder of the trip.

>>>

>>>3-STARS

>>>

>>>*Alexander Semin (KRL) - 2 goals and an assist

>>>**Peter Regin (KRL) - 1 goal and 2 assists

>>>***Patrick Marleau (KRL)- 1 goal and 2 assists

WOLVES CANNOT OVERCOME OWLS ONSLAUGHT

Thunder Bay, ON- Icing the same lineup that shutout the defending CCHL Cup champs on Monday, the Timberwolves could not overcome an early thumping from the Portland Owls on Wednesday.

>>>The visiting Owls took a 3-0 lead after the first period and added a fourth half way through the second without any response from the unbeaten Wolves.

>>>"To put it lightly, we came out flat," said Thunder Bay centre, Marc Savard. "To put it bluntly, we played like complete sh**."

>>>All was not lost and with a little less than half a game remaining, the Timberwolves awoke with a thunderous point shot from Erik Johnson (pictured). The Bloomington, Minnesota-native's first goal in more than eighteen plus months.

>>>Marian Gaborik cut the Portland lead in half with his eighth of the season at 16:52 in the second. Mike Fisher drew the home team within one at 18:39 to make things intersting going into the final period.

>>>In the third period, the weary Owls played a trap game early. But the nifty Gaborik snuck in deep and recieved a feed from Johnson and beat Ty Conklin to tie things up at 9:37.

>>>But two minutes and two seconds later, Portland took advantage of a poor shift change by the Timberwolves and Joel Ward made it 5-4. That would end up being enough and Thunder Bay suffered their first loss of the season.

>>>"We simply gave up too much without countering," said interim head coach, Ryan McGill. "We showed alot of resilience to even things out. The offense is here. No doubt. But we have to show up early and be more prepared. As the coach, that's my job and we'll be ready the next game."

>>>The Timberwolves next game is Friday against the Karlstad Killers at the Canadian National Gardens. The Killers are coming off a 6-4 loss against the Havana Moon.

>>>

>>>3-STARS

>>>

>>>*Ryan Kesler (POR) - 2 goals and an assist

>>**Erik Johnson (THU) - 1 goal and 2 assists

>***Paul Martin (POR) - 3 assists and a +3

ELLIOTT SHUTS OUT DOMINATING RENS -- WOLVES ONLY UNBEATEN

Thunder Bay, ON- The Timberwolves welcomed the defending CCHL Cup Champions to the Canadian National Gardens on Monday after coming home from a very successful road trip (2-0-1).
>>>The Renegades came out swinging, puting shot after shot on Timberwolves, Brian Elliott. The sophomore goaltender was sharp and looked more determined than he has looked so far this season after taking the starters keys in the pre-season over last season's team MVP, Jonas Hiller.
>>>Despite the visitors efforts, a minor to Nicklas Backstrom proved costly as Thunder Bay would go on top early off the stick of Ales Hemsky with the man-advantage at 1:15 into the first period.
>>>Simon Gagne doubled the score with his second of the season at 1:29 from Hemsky and rookie blueliner, Carl Gunnarsson. The 2-0 would hold going into the first intermission. Elliott stopped all twenty-two shots he faced.
>>>"The Renegades are an explosive team," said Gagne during the break. "Thought we did a good job at opening up all their shots on Ells (Elliott), so he could see most of them. Too many shots, but he did an excellent job and we felt like we could push our game more with having solid goaltending behind us."
>>>At 1:38 into the middle period, River Cities' Jeff Carter took an ill-advised tripping minor and sat for two. With three seconds left on the power play, Marian Gaborik made it 3-0 Timberwolves with his sixth of the season.
>>>Elliott shut the door again, stopping all twelve of the Renegades shots.
>>>The Renegades were getting desperate and taking themselves out of position to makes hits in the third. Shane Doan decided to check Gaborik before the winger took a pass from Marc Savard, and Doan ended up with a interference call at 6:42 into the third.
>>>Like Carter before, Gaborik made Doan pay and again with three seconds left in the man-advantage made it 4-0 Timberwolves at 8:39.
>>>With the game out of reach, River Cities decided to not pull Tim Thomas. But that did not matter much to TJ Oshie who took a break-away in on the former Timberwolves goalie and scored his third of season at 19:59. Something that is not likely to have gone over very well in the Renegades dressing room.
>>>"We preach to these guys to not give up and sit back on anything," said Timberwolves interim head coach, Ryan McGill after the game. "I'm sure they weren't happy with that, but I'm not going to fault our guy for doing what he's being told to do from day one."
>>>The 5-0 shutout is Brian Elliott's first of his career. After facing forty-six shots, the Newmarket, Ontario-native acknowledged it wasn't easy.
>>>"The guys did a great job in front of me and clearing out those shots," said Elliott. "I got lucky a couple times and I didn't see the shot and it just hit me. But otherwise, I clearly seen their shots. That's huge when playing a team like that that unloads alot of shots. This shutout goes to this entire team."
>>>Just across the Boundary Waters in Winnipeg, the Calgary Chinook lost to the Ferrets 3-1. Making the Timberwolves the only unbeaten team in the CCHL at 5-0-1.
>>>The news of this accomplishment was met with not much more than a smile from the Timberwolves players and coaches.
>>>"It's a wonderful start for this hockey club," said Timberwolves GM, Blake Wendt. "It's a very small portion of a long season. But it's a very rewarding small portion. The key is to keep this going for eighty-two games and beyond. We're going to lose eventually. But we have to keep that mentality that we will win every game. Right now we have that mentality."
>>>The Timberwolves next game will be on Wednesday back at CN Gardens against the Portland Owls.
>>>
>>>3-STARS
>>>
>>>*Brian Elliott (THU) - 46 saves in first career shutout
>>**Marian Gaborik (THU) - 2 power play goals
>***Simon Gagne (THU) - 1 goal and an assist

LATE CHINOOK GOAL KEEPS THINGS EVEN

Calgary, Alberta- The un-beaten Timberwolves closed out their first road trip of the season at the un-beaten Chinook on Friday only to remain... well, un-beaten for both clubs.

>>>The first period would remain scoreless, Thunder Bay with an edge in shots, 19-10.

>>>The second period saw Sean Bergenheim light the lamp first for Calgary. Thunder Bay's Mike Fisher who is on fire answered less than four minutes later for this eighth of the young season.

>>>Simon Gagne (pictured) scored his first goal as a member of the Timberwolves at 7:17 from Nick Schultz and Matt Duchene.

>>>But Mikko Koivu would tie things back up less than a minute later at 7:58 making it 2-2. A score that would hold into the third period.

>>>Jason Pominville made it 3-2 Calgary at 6:59 in the third. But as almost expected, the Timberwolves tied things up again off a power play tally from John Tavares at 10:37.

>>>Antti Miettinen put the visiting Timberwolves back on top 4-3 at 12:21. But Thunder Bay could not hold that lead and lost it at 17:41 off the stick of Milan Hejduk.

>>>Overtime solved nothing other than guaranteeing both hockey clubs kept a zero in the loss column.

>>>"Obviously both teams are very evenly matched, " said Timberwolves interim head coach, Ryan McGill. "We knew that going in. But we left alot out there. We scored back-to-back twice, but couldn't find that finishing grip on them. Credit Calgary for their resiliance. But we are better than this."

>>>One area that was a glaring advantage to the Chinook was in the face-off circle. Calgary led that stat 52-24.

>>>Next game for the Timberwolves will be Monday back at Canadian National Gardens when they welcome the defending CCHL Cup Champion, River Cities Renegades to Thunder Bay.

>>>3-STARS

>>>*Simon Gagne (THU) - 1 goal, an assist and 10 shots on goal

>>**Mikko Koivu (CAL) - 1 goal and an assist on the game-tying goal

>***Milan Hejduk (CAL) - Game-tying goal

ROOKIES SHINE IN BIG WIN

Reykjavik, Iceland- Volcanoes weren't the only thing erupting in Iceland on Wednesday--the Timberwolves were in town.

>>>The red hot Thunder Bay Timberwolves came to the Icelandic capital with a 3-game winning streak that they weren't going to give up easily to the Puffin.

>>>Things were chippy early as Timberwolves captain, Keith Ballard took exception with Puffin defenseman, Kimmo Timonen's after whistle shot on the Thunder Bay goal. Gloved punches were thrown and the combatants sat for two. Nine seconds in, and the tempo was set.

>>>Marian Gaborik put the Timberwolves up first with his fifth of the season from Marc Savard and Erik Johnson on the power play.

>>>Erik Cole evened things out to close out the first period for the Puffin.

>>>Reykjavik scored early in the second with a howitzer from Matt Greene at the point at 2:49.

>>>The Timberwolves not looking to be down for long, tying things back up forty-one seconds later off the stick of Patrick Sharp from Savard and Gaborik.

>>>Almost midway through the game, the rookies showed up for the Timberwolves. Matt Duchene (pictured) took a rare two-on-none breakaway with linemate Ales Hemsky and scored his first career CCHL goal on Michal Neuvirth at 8:21.

>>>John Tavares, having scored his first a game earlier wouldn't settle for just the one on this road trip. Tavares scored his second of the season at 11:58 from Sharp and rookie defenseman, Carl Gunnarsson. The Swedish reargard's first CCHL point.

>>>Devon Setoguchi would close out the scoring in the second for the Puffin. Making it 5-3 Timberwolves.

>>>Thunder Bay would score two more in the third from Mike Fisher and TJ Oshie to close things out with a 7-3 Timberwolves win.

>>>"Big win for the guys for sure," said Timberwolves GM, Blake Wendt after the game. "They were relentless and didn't give up much out there. I'm really happy for Matty Duchene getting his first goal and to see JT (Tavares) and Gunnarsson doing their part. We're really clicking right now, but we can't too far ahead of ourselves. We have a long plane ride and a superb opponent in two days."

>>>The Timberwolves took off immediately after Wednesday's game and will return to Thunder Bay for a little rest and clean uniforms, then get right back on the plane for Friday's game against the 4-0 Calgary Chinook.

>>>

>>>1st edition of THREE STARS

>>>

>>>* Patrick Sharp (THU) - 2 goals and an assist

>>** Marc Savard (THU) - 4 assists

>*** Marian Gaborik (THU) - 1 goal and 2 assists

TAVARES NETS 1ST IN WOLVES WIN

Wisborg, Sweden- The Thunder Bay Timberwolves traveled across the Atlantic for their first road trip of this young season, and skated out of Sweden with their third win in a row to start the season.

>>>Rookie, John Tavares opened the scoring at 2:07 in the first for his first career CCHL goal from Douglas Murray and Erik Johnson. Tavares streaked in front of Wisborg's Tuukka Rask and tipped Murray's shot five hole before the Finnish tender could close his legs.

>>>"It's been a good start for this entire team," said Tavares. "I knew my chance would come and wasn't really pushing the issue. It's a wonderful feeling."

>>>Milan Michalek answered for the Donuts at 4:25 to tie things up.

>>>Both hockey clubs would exchange another set of goals from Thunder Bay's Marc Savard and Wisborg's Scott Gomez to close out the opening period tied 2-2.

>>>Mike Fisher opened up the second period scoring with his fifth of the season from TJ Oshie and Antti Miettinen at 4:17.

>>>But once again, Wisborg answered back with some slick stick work from Sam Gagner that fooled Brian Elliott at 15:07.

>>>The 3-3 tie would hold throughout the third period and the game went to extras.

>>>With the Donuts pinching off what looked like a botched line change by the Timberwolves, Elliott stoned the chance and his rebound was pounced on by Erik Johnson and carried to the red line where TJ Oshie and Mike Fisher took the puck in on a 2-on-1 where Fisher faked a pass back to Oshie and scored the game-winner at 2:16 into overtime.

>>>"We made too many mistakes, but countered nicely tonight," said Fisher after the game. "We never really took control of the game like we had intended, but it's nice to be on the back-end of a goal-for-goal game. Good win, but we need to clean things up against Reykjavik."

>>>The Timberwolves boarded their plane immediately after the game for the roughly three hour flight to Iceland where they will play the 2-1 Puffin on Wednesday.