The Sudbury Wolves got their first taste of exhibition hockey on Thursday when they played the RED ARMY JR TEAM in Moscow.

With only two practices under their belt, the Wolves dropped a 4-2 decision to the top junior team in the country.  The Wolves led 2-1 after the first with two power play goals by DEREK SCHEONMAKERS.   JUSTIN SEFTON, NICK BAPTISTE, MATT CAMPAGNA and BRODY SILK had assists.  JOHN CHARTRAND started the game in goal for the Wolves and allowed two goals on 18 shots.  Rookie TAYLOR DUPUIS made his rookie debut for the Wolves and allowed one goal on six shots.  The Wolves outshot the Red Army team by a count of 30-24.

The Wolves enjoyed four consecutive power plays in the third period but couldn't beat the RED ARMY goaltender.

The Wolves and Red Army were tied 2-2 after two periods, but an early goal in the third period on an odd-man rush was all that the hosts needed.  RED ARMY salted the game away with a short-handed empty netter with just 16 seconds remaining on the clock.

The game was an intense affair with several roughing and physical penalties.   The Wolves players withstood the early onslaught by Red Army who had dropped a 5-2 decision to Team USA the night before.  Red Army outshot Sudbury 14-9 in the first period.  JOHN CHARTRAND made a number of good saves for the Wolves.  The 19 year old netminder was making his debut as a Sudbury Wolf after being acquired in the off-season from the Belleville Bulls.   A number of Wolves veterans sat-out the contest including:  FRANK CORRADO, JOSH LEIVO, JOEL VIENNEAU, NATHAN PANCEL and JEFF CORBETT.  A number of new players made their debut for the Wolves including: CHARTRAND, DUPUIS, DOMINIK KUBALIK, DOMINIK KAHUN, FRANCESCO VILARDI, CONNOR BURGESS, CONOR CUMMINS and EVAN de HAAN.  Overall, the Wolves were 2 for 10 on the power play. 

The Wolves allowed one short-handed goal, one power play and two even-strength goals.

After the game, the Wolves made their way to the Moscow airport and flew to Omsk, Siberia.  The Wolves will make the OMSK arena their new home and settle in to their dressing room in preparation for the 2012 WORLD JR CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP which the Wolves will open on Sunday against TEAM FINLAND.  

HOCKEY CANADA representative DARRYL BOYNTON will address the Wolves team tomorrow and officially award the Wolves TEAM CANADA status for the event.  Sudbury will also play TEAM SWEDEN, TEAM LATVIA and TEAM DENMARK in the B Division of the event.