London (CP) - The Werewolves of London shutout the Detroit Mustangs today and ran their unbeaten streak at 13. Backup goalie Manny Fernandez had a shutout in the 2-0 win, Sergei Fedorov scored both goals for the 'wolves. "Manny stood up tall for us tonight against the Mustangs and allowed us to play a calculated game. Sergei just seems to love it here in London. We debated about bringing him back this season, and he wanted to come back so we figured why not, and now he has 10 goals in 13 games", stated coach Don Cherry. The Werewolves now play the expansion Philadelphia Bulls next. "We can not take them lightly, we must go out and play them like every other team."
Owner and GM Mark Wendling was not at the game, he took in the Ontario versus Quebec game at the World Under 17 Challenge that is being held in London this year. When asked about the tournament Wendling had this to say, "Many of my colleagues are tied up watching the World Under 20 Tournament over in the Czech Republic right now, but with this in our backyard, I sent some scouts to watch those games, and I wanted to see these 16 year olds produce and see who will be in the draft classes of 2010, 2011 and 2012. I like what I see." When asked whether or not he saw anyone he liked. "Well there are some kids we have identified, for example a kid out of Kirkland Quebec really caught my eye today. I have not seen a defenseman with the confidence and the foot speed at that age since Paul Coffey, he was very impressive. Unfortunately Kavanaugh is listed as five foot, seven inches tall, and that will hurt him. So many small guys that have hearts you would love to transplant into these monster kids. Hopefully he can grow a bit. Another great play today was the penalty shot awarded to David Gilbert from Quebec, and he beat Michael Zador of the Team Ontario. Zador has looked not bad considering the injuries he has had since September with the London Knights. It is great to see what a kid can do against his peer group. "
Wendling was asked about comments made by both Portland Owner Pete Morrison and New England Robert Dumont.
"First off, I have no beef with Pete. I have a problem with a player that is signed to an unrestricted free agent contract then traded before a game is played with that team. No player is going to sign a long term contract knowing he will be traded immediately. If a team wanted him then they should have provided him with an offer. If Pete says it is legit, I will believe him, but regardless this loophole in the rules needs to be looked at."
Wendling was not so kind in regards to Dumont. "I am now convinced this guy either has a "man crush" on me or he is just stalking me. What is this Dumont's 2nd or 3rd team in the league now, and he wants to keep bringing up Alaska at any chance he gets. When we saw the opportunity to build a team from scratch, we took it. We wanted that challenge, and evidently it has been successful. It is not something new, Alberta (Dick Poelker) at the time wanted to do the same, Philadelphia (Jim Danila) did it this year in leaving St. Louis, and Suffolk split their management this year and Pete Dallara went to Winnipeg. The only one who keeps wanting to talk about is Dumont. "
Wendling gave some advice to fellow owner Dumont, "If he wants to talk about me and the issues then stick to it, I hear he is making comments about George Bush, about taking drugs, beating kids, the guy needs to focus on hockey. It is evident he is looking to grab an even bigger audience by insulting everyone. I am actually surprised he was not ran out of Winnipeg with his comments about Brett Hull, in the town the great Bobby Hull made his own. The last piece of advice that I have for Mr. Dumont is that he should take that man crush he has on me somewhere else because I am happily married with kids, and do not play for that team."
As Wendling was leaving the game, he was reminded that the Werewolves played the Sharks in the semi-finals last season. "See how memorable playing his team is."
-reported by Blob Mackenzie
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