News in the land of the Greater Sudbury Cubs includes both current team members as well as recent alumni.
With the start of regular season play now exactly one month away - the Cubs play host to the Soo Thunderbirds on September 12th - the team has begun the process of inking returning veterans and promising newcomers, with some of their roster sure to be affected by what happens at OHL camps and such.
To date, the Cubs have signed goaltenders Noah Beaulne and Matthew Vahramian, defencemen Mason Chitaroni and Brady Bouchard and forwards Noah Kohan, Ryan Rubic, Ben Harris, Mateo Signoretti, Mason Walker, Tannen Iserhoff and Aiden McCartney.
The Cubs, defending NOJHL champions, open training camp on August 26th.
One of those who will definitely not be returning - partly because he has aged out, and partly because he will be half a world away - is 2023-2024 co-captain Oliver Smith who leaves this month for a hockey overseas adventure.
Smith has signed on with the Unterland Cavaliers of the Alps Hockey League in Italy, some 30 minutes south of Bolzano and right in the heart of one of the most picturesque parts of the country (if not the world).
“I am not ready to hang up the skates just yet,” said Smith, who graduated this spring from the Electrical program at Cambrian College and is fully prepared to make a career in that field – when the time is right.
“That winning feeling last year – I’ve never really had that feeling before,” said the 21 year-old forward who finished third in NOJHL scoring in 2023-2024, registering 45 goals and 57 assists in 58 games. “I want to have that feeling again – and doing this gives me that opportunity - which I am very grateful for.”
“That’s what keeps me in the game.”