With their season on the line, the Powassan Voodoos spotted the Timmins Rock a 2-0 first period lead in game seven of the NOJHL East Division final - yet found a way to claw back and eliminate their northern rivals 4-3 back on April 16th.
With the Greater Sudbury Cubs holding a three games to one lead in the best of seven league final Thursday night at the Countryside Arena, the Voodoos again spotted the home side a 2-0 first period lead.
Again they battled back, up 3-2 heading to the third.
This time around, however, there would be no fairy-tale finish for head coach Peter Goulet and company, the late game heroics falling in favour of the Cubs.
The door opened for Sudbury just a couple of minutes into the final frame when a rare misplay by goaltender Daniel Dirracolo allowed a relatively harmless looking shot from Ethan Larmand of the Cubs to knot the contest at 3-3.
From there, both teams had chances until the dying minutes when Marshall McCharles came steaming down the left wing with a crowd of more than 900 sitting on the edge of their seats.
"In game three, I did that exact same shot and it went in, so I figured why not try it again," said McCharles, the 17 year old Wolves' prospect who propelled his team to a Centennial Cup appearance with just 1:07 to play in game five, the final scoreboard reading: Sudbury 5 Powassan 3.
The shot that McCharles referenced would target a very small hole just above the right shoulder of Dirracolo, just a few inches of opening between the talented young goaltender and the crossbar.
In a contest that featured a couple of notable momentum swings, this was the ultimate deciding factor.
It certainly did not look like it was going to come to this as Nolan Newton (7:18) and Marshall McCharles energized the home crowd, folks on hand sensing a victory early as the Cubs looked in full control through a period and a bit, with Sudbury netminder and playoff MVP Noah Metivier stopping everything that came his way.
In a span of 42 seconds, that all changed.
Tucker Shields was able to breathe some life into a listless-looking Voodoos bench, connecting on the power play at 5:23 of the second. By the time that Sudbury coach Darryl Moxam called a time out with the clock reading 6:05, the damage had been done.
Markers from Zach Turner and Carson Ricci stunned and silenced the assembled throng, with the visitors pushing hard for a fourth goal in the ensuing ten minutes or so of play, with Metivier forced to come up big.
A very solid shift to finish the second game Sudbury something to build on and the rest, as they say, is history.
"They were throwing everything at us and we, quite honestly, fell asleep a little bit," said Moxam. "That's a heck of a hockey club (Powassan), but I will give our guys credit - they stuck to it."
McCharles echoed those thoughts, claiming that the second period admission address from their well-respected coach properly prepared their team for their biggest period of the year.
"Mox came in and basically said to stay level-headed," noted McCharles, a native of North Bay, as fate would have it. "We've been in this position before. We just had to stick to it and play our game because we know we're the best team - and we proved it."
While that might sound a tad cocky, the reality was one which most NOJHL observers had come to realize: on paper, if not on the ice at most times, the Cubs boasted the deepest lineup with no less than seven players with OHL experience.
It was the kind of lineup that allows a coaching staff to know that the pieces are in place for a comeback.
"We got in a little bit more on the forecheck late in the second and started having some O-Zone time again," said Moxam. "I think getting the two goal lead early started to play with some of our guys' heads a little bit and we sat back a little bit."
In the end, the cushion of a three games to one series lead would play particular dividends.
"It wasn't the be all and end all to finish it tonight," said Moxam. "Honestly, we could take some chances to try and finish it and we have some guys on the ice who have that ability to create some magic on their own and find a way to win."
"I had no issue with putting those guys on the ice."
Quite fittingly, captain Oliver Smith added an empty net insurance goal as the Cubs outshot the Voodoos 46-40.
As NOJHL champions, the Greater Sudbury Cubs will now make their first appearance at the Centennial Cup since 1991 when the event was hosted in the nickel city. The 2007-2008 Kal Tire Sudbury Jr Wolves were the last team in franchise history to claim the league title but they would fall at the 2008 Dudley-Hewitt Cup in Newmarket, dropping three straight games.
The 2024 Centennial is slated for May 9th to 19th in Oakville.
