In terms of pure playoff drama, there might be very few local sport traditions that are quite as compelling as the Sudbury Lady Wolves playdowns, especially in divisions where the local crew and North Bay are extremely well matched.
With the (North Bay) Jr Lakers (15-4-4 = 34 pts) and the Lady Wolves (14-6-3 = 31 pts) running neck and neck at the top of the U18 BB Central Division standings this year, game one of the four point playdown matchup Tuesday night at Cambrian Arena promised to be a good one.
Isabelle Lanteigne redirected a centering pass from Gabriella Massimiliano to open the scoring in the first for the home side before North Bay pulled even in the second, a point shot from Abigail Fry somehow finding its way through a maze of bodies and past Sudbury netminder Macey Gaudin.
All of which set the stage for what was to come with just over five minutes to play in the third.
“Their defense in front of the net was watching my centre, Reese (Williamson),” noted forward Nyssa Solomon, now in her final year with the U18 rep hockey program. “I was wide open and I saw Izzy (Lanteigne) in the corner – and we kind of know where each other are.”
“I had the feeling that she was going to pass back,” said the proud member of the Sagamok Anishnawbek band, who had settled into the high slot. “I usually try and aim for the top corner but most of it was just hoping it would go in.”
Given some very close battle with their Highway 17 rivals followed by a 4-1 loss in mid-January, settling down and simply playing the game was going to be a bit of an issue.
"When we first showed up at the rink, we were nervous," said Solomon. "But during the warmups, we started hyping each other up before the game so that we're in a comfortable mood before going on the ice, ready to play."
Perhaps nowhere is this more critical than with the last line of defense for the Lady Wolves.
"It's difficult; whenever you make a mistake, it costs the team," noted 16 year old netminder Macey Gaudin. "I've had playdowns pretty much every year I've played Lady Wolves, so you kind of get used to it - but it's still hard."
Thankfully, having at least some familiarity with your opponent helps out, at least in knowing exactly what to watch for in their specific plan of attack.
"They shoot for rebounds," said Gaudin, a grade 11 student at Collège Notre-Dame. "They look to put shots off my pads to try and get the rebound off me. I like to try and keep my stick really close to my body."
"The puck might bounce out a little bit, but it's usually at a length where I can reach it, where I can dive out and control the puck."
Looking to finish the series off with a sweep on back to back nights, the U18 BB Lady Wolves travelled to North Bay on Wednesday but faced a desperate Jr Lakers team which evened the set at 1-1 with a 4-0 whitewashing of the SDGHA reps.
Game three will take place in early March as both Sudbury and North Bay are also in the midst of their league playoffs (which are separate from provincial qualifiers), with the Lady Wolves heading south this weekend for a pair of games against the Central York Panthers.