WARM-UP OVER... LET'S PLAY HOCKEY!

Canadian National Gardens (Thunder Bay)- In their fifth and final pre-season game, the Thunder Bay Timberwolves looked good against an explosive Havana Moon club.
-Through the first period though, Havana looked to dominate with goals already from Jaromir Jagr and Alex Ovechkin and a third from Kris Beech.
-"We never backed down," said Timberwoves captain, Keith Ballard. "This team has some resiliency and heart, and it's going to be tough this season to keep us from having our heads high and attitudes up."
-At 12:15 of the second period, Thunder Bay native Patrick Sharp (pictured) opened up the scoring for the Timberwolves. His goal woke up the sold-out CN Gardens.
-"It was electric in this place," said Sharp. We were still down two goals, but they didn't care. Maybe they knew something."
-The fans must have. Because with four seconds left in the second, and shorthanded, Sharp took a feed from Loui Eriksson and beat Martin Biron five-hole.
-"To score that late in a period and feed off of it during the intermission is huge," said Sharp.
-Momentum was clearly in the Timberwolves' favour when the final period opened. Still down a goal, that didn't stop Thunder Bay or their rabid fans from pushing on.
-At 10:33, fourth-line grinder Tom Kostopoulos tied it all up with a breakaway goal.
-With less than three minutes remaining in the game, Dean McAmmond netted his first of the pre-season to win it for the Timberwolves.
-"Pre-season or not. This was a very big game for us," said Ballard. "We showed what we know we are capable of. Down 3-0 to a team like this. With all their skill and offense. And to come back and score four straight and win in regulation. Very big for us. A great way to finish out the pre-season and ready ourselves for the games that matter."
-Thunder Bay finishes the pre-season with a 3-1-1 record. Sharp led the way with four goals and two assists. Tom Preissing led the D with two goals and an assist. Josh Harding played the first three games, going 2-1-0 with a .867 save percentage and 4.33 GAA. Antero Niittymaki played the last two games, going 1-0-1 with a .935 save percentage and 1.92 GAA.
-"The lineup we had against Havana probably won't change much for Opening Night," said head coach Craig Hartsburg. "Might be a flip of the coin with who's in net though. Harding got lit up against Dayton, but otherwise looked good against Niagara and Denver. Nitty only allowed one goal against River Cities, and looked great against Havana. So I'm sure they'll rotate throughout the season unless one takes over and vastly out plays the other."
-The Timberwolves open up their 2008-09 season at home tonight against their divisional rival, Niagara Falls Thunder.