If the goal of heading to any tournament is to receive outstanding, well-matched competition, the Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves can't complain, despite posting a 1-2 record at the Midget Kiwanis International Tournament of Gatineau recently. The Wolves dropped the puck on tournament play last Thursday, edged 5-4 by the Don Mills Flyers.

The Wolves spotted the Flyers a 3-0 lead, stormed back to move ahead 4-3 in the third before surrendering a pair of goals in the see saw battle. Brandon Jones, Kyle Stasiuk, Jacob Bonin and Steven Johnston scored for Sudbury, with Josh McInnes turning aside 28 of the 33 shots directed his way.

A chippy affair in game two sees James Dent score the game-winning goal with just 25 seconds remaining as Sudbury sneaks past the Ottawa Senators 2-1. Catlin Cargill opened the scoring for the Wolves, netting the only goal of the first period, while Mitchell Herlihey answered for the Sens in the second.

Playing four on four hockey late, Dent nets the game winner to keep the Sudbury playoff round hopes alive. Netminder Adam McKibbon made 24 saves in picking up the win for head coach Bob Johnston. Needing a tie to stay alive, the Nickel Capital Wolves are once again victimized by a slow start, trailing the Rothesay Riverhawks 3-0 heading to the third before goals from James Dent and Tyler Shaw make things a little more interesting.

Unfortunately, that was as close as the local "AAA" midgets would get, falling 3-2 to the Riverhawks as McInnes takes the loss in net for Sudbury, kicking out 21 shots. The finals on Sunday afternoon will pit the Ottawa 67's against the York Simcoe Express. The Wolves resume Great North Midget League action on Tuesday with a trip to Sault Ste Marie, facing the North Stars before returning home to host the Timmins Majors on Saturday night.

Sudbury sits third in GNML standings, five points back of the New Liskeard Cubs but with four games in hand. The Nickel City sons trail the Wolves by three points but are also only three ahead of Timmins as the teams continue to jockey for playoff position, with the final regular season games set to run on Sunday, February 7th.