Preds Drop Wolves, Take Out Rook

THUNDER BAY, ON, Canada- The Thunder Bay Timberwolves played a solid all around game against their appointed provincial rival. But the losing streak continues as the Hamilton Predators leave The Lakehead with a 3-1 victory.
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"We were simply beat by the better club," said Wolves head coach, Craig Hartsburg. "I'm pleased with the effort from the players. But obviously not the outcome of the game."
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The Timberwolves stayed with the Predators for two periods. Sheldon Souray opened up the scoring at 4:35 in the first with a cannon from the point that Antero Niittymaki did not see coming. Joe Pavelski evened things in the first, beating Dominic Hasek high glove side.
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Less than a minute after Souray's goal, he quickly became the most hated man in Thunder Bay when he drove rookie defenseman, Alexander Edler (pictured) hard into the boards face first. Edler had to be assisted by trainers and teammates off the ice and is done for the season. To further infuriate the crowd, Souray was only given a two minute minor. "He should of been given the boot," said Wolves defenseman, Keith Ballard. "It was as obvious an intent to injure as there is. To basically lineup a guy with his back to you, and hit him as hard as he did. It's just disgusting."
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Sheldon Souray was the target of not only the fans whenever he touched the puck. But also the Timberwolves players themselves. Souray was bullseyed for several big hits for the remainder of the game. None bigger than when Matt Walker drove Souray hard into the Hamilton bench to the delight of the Wolves faithful. Souray responded by slashing Walker as he skated away. The two players jawed at each other as the play continued on before finally dropping their gloves. It took only seconds for the two Alberta natives to each land thundering punches. But in the end the 6'3", 230 pound Walker, pummeled the 6'4", 230 pound Souray and took him down hard to the ice.
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"It's great to see the guys sticking up one another," said Hartsburg. "I would expect nothing less when you lose a guy like Edler in such an unfortunate way. If we could just put more goals in their net than they put in ours we'd be in a different situation."
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The Timberwolves have the next two days off before welcoming the Southwest Scorpions to the Canadian National Gardens on Saturday.
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Injury Update: Dustin Byfuglien will be in the lineup against the Scorpions. Loui Eriksson and Bill Thomas should be ready to go in a week or less. Zack Stortini, who has been skating hard in practice could be ready to play before the season ends. Stortini is still wearing a red "no contact" jersey in practice and has not been given a timetable from the trainers or coaches on when he can take part in full contact sessions. Alexander Edler is done for the remainder of the season.