As part of my role as team statistician for the Sudbury Wolves, my job description includes the preparation of weekly media notes, featuring various tidbits of information regarding upcoming games.

While these notes have generally been confined to circulating among media types and club officials, it seemed likely that fans of the local OHL team might also have an interest in the odds and ends that I might come across on a weekly basis.

Following their home games this Wednesday (vs Soo Greyhounds) and Friday (vs Windsor Spitfires), the Sudbury Wolves close out the 2023-2024 regular season with five of their final seven encounters on the road – so yes, these next two outings are pretty darned important.

The final of the six meetings between the northern rivals means that the only way in which Sudbury and the Soo would meet prior to the 2024-2025 campaign is if they were to reacquaint in the OHL final. Last weekend, both teams handled the Sarnia Sting with ease, and both lost to the Oshawa Generals – make of that what you will.

While a win versus the Hounds would technically even the six game set at three wins apiece, the Wolves could secure a second straight season edge by virtue of the fact that two of their losses came in overtime and a shootout. The Wolves hold the upper-hand at home, all-time, with a record of 84-72-13-5-4 when facing Sault Ste Marie.

Interesting Stat: Not only are the Wolves and Greyhounds deadlocked in GF and GA in the cumulative totals from the five game set to date (21-21), they are also dead even in terms of the split in games played in Sudbury (8-8) and Sault Ste Marie (13-13).

Come Friday night, the Sudbury Wolves would love nothing more than to erase the stench from one of their worst losses of the year, an ugly 11-7 setback to the Windsor Spitfires on the road on January 13th. That, however, was not the highest scoring game the teams had contested in the Rose City, that dubious distinction coming on October 2nd (1985) when Windsor edged Sudbury 11-10.

The Spitfires win did mark their 71st win in regulation against the Wolves in their season series’ that date back to the 1975-1975 OHL season – the exact same number of regulation wins that the Wolves have chalked up against the Spitfires.

Heading into a Thursday night encounter with the North Bay Battalion, the Spitfires have lost four straight while the Wolves have dropped three of their last four as they prepare for the visit from the Greyhounds.

The Sudbury Wolves and North Bay Battalion still have to do their part, but countless are the fans that we have talked to who would love to see a second round Eastern Conference matchup of two teams who have treated everyone to boatloads of excitement in every encounter this year.

Sunday in North Bay, the teams wrap up their eight game season series, with some pretty compelling numbers to date: 1) six of the seven games to date have been decided by just one goal, with three games decided either in overtime or a shootout (ironically, Wolves have won all three of those games); 2) Sudbury currently leads the season series 4-3 – but with North Bay earning a single point in three of those wins, the Battalion sit on the verge of capturing the season series