OHL North Bay Battalion

Wolski captures second consecutive OHL Player of the Month honours

Published on February 13, 2006 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
North Bay Battalion News Release


BRAMPTON, Ont. - Records and recognition keep piling up for Brampton Battalion centre Wojtek Wolski, who has been named the Ontario Hockey League's Player of the Month for January.

Wolski, who also received the honour for December, led the OHL in scoring in January with 10 goals and 17 assists for 27 points in 11 games. He had three four-point games and set a club record with seven points against the visiting Erie Otters on Jan. 22, being named Player of the Week for the period ending with that date.

More recently, in his continuing assault on the Battalion record book, Wolski scored two goals in a 5-3 win Saturday over the host Oshawa Generals to move past Raffi Torres into top spot on the team's all-time goals list with 112.

Wolski then earned two assists in a 4-2 loss Sunday to the visiting Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, giving him 50 for the season and eclipsing Jason Spezza's single-season club record of 49, set in the Battalion's inaugural campaign of 1998-99.

"I was happy to break those records," said Wolski, who opened the season with the Colorado Avalanche, which selected him in the first round of the National Hockey League's 2004 Entry Draft. Wolski had two goals and four assists in nine NHL games before rejoining the Battalion on Oct. 26.

"Torres and Spezza are great players who are having a lot of success in the NHL. Hopefully I can do the same."

Wolski, the third overall choice in the 2002 OHL Priority Selection from the St. Michael's Buzzers of the Provincial Junior A League, said he never contemplated setting records when he joined the Troops in 2002-03.

But he's garnered plenty, including all-time club marks of 279 points, 167 assists, 47 power-play goals, 69 power-play assists and eight shorthanded goals.

In his seven-point game against Erie, a 9-4 victory, Wolski scored four goals to tie a club record held by Jeff Bateman and Jay McClement. Wolski earned four assists in a 5-2 road win over the Peterborough Petes on Dec. 29, equaling a club record shared by McClement, Torres, Kamil Kreps and Michael Vernace.

"He's an extremely talented player and he's really stepped it up this year," coach Stan Butler said of Wolski, a Mississauga resident who turns 20 on Feb. 24.

"He'd be right up there with the best guys we've had here. Wojtek, Torres, Spezza and Rostislav Klesla would be the four players who came in and had an impact right away. Wojtek has played a key role for us right from the start."

Former left winger Wolski, who has 29 goals and 79 points in 41 games this season, credited his linemates in his rookie season, centre McClement and right winger Scott Rozendal, with helping him adjust to the OHL.

"There are a lot of great players in this league that you have to go up against every game, and they aren't going to make it easy on anyone," said Wolski, who scored one goal and had two assists in his OHL debut, a 6-0 win over the visiting London Knights on Sept. 20, 2002.

"But I had a great opportunity here playing with McClement and Rozendal. They gave me lots of chances to score and they took a lot of pressure off me every game because they were the guys who had the puck and were taking it to the net. I think I got a lot of goals that first year that I might not have if I wasn't playing with them."

Wolski scored 25 goals and added 32 assists for 57 points in 64 games as a rookie.

He credited the Troops' power play and his current linemates, left winger Aaron Snow and right winger Luch Aquino, with helping him better Spezza's mark.

"It's been pretty good so far this season. We've been good on the power play, so I've picked up a lot of assists there, and playing with Snow and Aquino gives me a chance to pass the puck to them. They're so quick, they play with so much speed and they can score a lot of goals."

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from February 13, 2006


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