KNIGHTS OUTDUEL HOUNDS

LONDON -- It was a classic goaltenders' duel here Thursday at the John Labatt Centre with Chris Houle of the London Knights playing just a bit better than Adam Munro of the Soo Greyhounds. The overage goalies put on a strong showing in front of more than 5,800 fans at the state-of-the-art JLC with the Knights edging the luckless Hounds 2-1. Houle made 29 saves in earning the game's first star. Munro stopped 31 shots and was named the game's second star. The game was televised live on Sportsnet Ontario and the Hounds deserved a better fate. Houle made the save of the game with 10 seconds to play in the third period when he stopped Hounds' captain Trevor Daley point blank. The Hounds trailed 1-0 after the second period and were close throughout. Danny Bois and Dennis Wideman scored for London, while Sean Stefanski replied for the Soo. The game featured a pair of owner/coaches in Dale Hunter of London and John Vanbiesbrouck of the Soo. Both purchased part of their Ontario Hockey League teams after long and illustrious careers in the National Hockey League. Like Vanbiesbrouck, Hunter had never coached when he took over the Knights early last season. Under his direction, the Knights snuck into the eighth-and-final playoff spot in the Western Conference on the last weekend of the regular season before shocking the first-place Plymouth Whalers in the opening round of the playoffs. The Hounds, meanwhile, swung a conditional trade with the Kitchener Rangers on Thursday, getting suspended overage winger Mike Amodeo from the Kitchener Rangers for a flip of European picks next year as well as a fifth-round selection in the main draft. Amodeo is nearing the end of a 25-game suspension handed down to him by iron-fisted commissioner David Branch for his part in a nasty incident during the Rangers' first-round playoff series vs. the Guelph Storm last season. Amodeo has two games left on his sentence. A native of Hamilton, the 6-foot-1, 220 lb. Amodeo had 13 goals, 22 points and 194 PIM in 61 games with the Rangers last season. Before making the move to acquire Amodeo, the Hounds were at the three-overage maximum with Munro and forwards Matt Herneisen and Adam Chapman. All were acquired in separate deals by Vanbiesbrouck..