There were 34 U18 AAA teams entered in the Big Nickel Hockey Tournament this past weekend and it’s a pretty safe bet that each and every one of them left the event with slightly different takeaways than the rest of the group.
Ranked second in the province, the Ajax-Pickering Raiders may have done enough to overtake the Waterloo Wolves (#1) in the next seedings, reeling off seven straight wins in capturing the championship banner in Sudbury. Goals by Jax Conklin and Cooper Bonnyman provided the support for netminder Malcom Rose as the Raiders recorded their fourth shutout in seven games, blanking the North Shore Whitecaps 2-0 in the final.
Closest encounter of the weekend for the champs was a 2-1 win over the Elgin Middlesex Canucks as Conklin netted the quarter-final overtime winner with just over a minute remaining in three on three hockey.
Sitting 13th in Ontario entering the 45th edition of the November AAA hockey classic in the nickel city, the Whitecaps finished with a record of 6-1-0-0, a run that included a 4-1 semi-final win over the Markham Waxers and head coach / former NHLer Dan Daoust.
“Our compete level has been great,” noted head coach Tyler Turcotte, his North Shore team in their second season as the amalgamation of the Oshawa Generals and Clarington Toros. “Every game, regardless of who we have played, we’ve battled. We’ve stuck to our systems and really come together this weekend as a group.”
Gifted with a very quick and skilled group on a team that returned only four players from the league finalists team of 2024-2025, the Whitecaps have bought heavily into a puck pursuit – puck pressuring style of play. “For us, it’s about our forecheck; the way that we get pucks behind their “D” and got to work,” said Turcotte.
“We’re a very physical team, very quick – but we’re also a very responsible team on our forecheck. We don’t give up a lot of odd man opportunities.”
The North Shore merger was just the latest in a province-wide trend that made the sustainability of two “AAA” systems in Sudbury very, very difficult. “The (new) organization has been successful at pretty much every age group,” said Turcotte. “I think this is the way of the future.”
“I think our league wants to condense, wants more parity in the league. Previously, there was a wide gap from top to bottom.”
Ranked 26th in Ontario at the moment, the Peterborough Jr Petes are hoping to close the gap with the provincial elite by the end of the year, to be sure. As host team to the 2026 Telus Cup (national U18 AAA championship), the team certainly wants to make a solid impression for the hometown folks next April.
“We’re trying to continue to progress, as a team, to build and get better every day,” noted Peterborough head coach and GM Scott Roche, his team winning five of six in Sudbury, eliminated in the semi-final by the powerful Raiders.
Given that overall performance, Roche was understandably delighted with his trip north this year. “This tournament is great; we’ve always loved coming up here,” he said. “A few years ago, we host in the finals. It’s competitive and the committee here runs a great tournament.”
As for the outlook for next spring, the former goaltender with the North Bay Centennials (1993-1997) understands that it will be the end product that is truly important for his crew. “We run some systems defensively with their play away from the puck – and it’s a work in progress trying to get the guys to buy into that a little bit more,” he said.
“We’re a good mix of hard-working players that can skate, with some speed, some guys who can check well and some skill.”
A veteran of more than 200 NHL games split between four stops (Anaheim / Nashville / Minnesota / Dallas), Soo Jr Greyhounds' bench boss Jeremy Stevenson is also thrilled with the collection of teens at his disposal this year, his third season at the helm of the Great North U18 AAA League entry.
“We have a great group of kids, a very tight team,” said Stevenson, who saw his crew post a very respectable record of 1-2-0-1 which included a 4-2 loss to Ajax-Pickering and a 5-4 overtime setback to the Windsor Jr Spitfires. “We’re getting better every tournament.”
Born in San Bernardino (California), moving to Sudbury quite young but growing up and developing in youth hockey in Elliot Lake (Stevenson was drafted by the Cornwall Royals of the OHL after amassing 65 points in 61 games with the Elliot Lake Contractors U18 AAA team), the now 51 year-old has always had a soft spot for tournaments in the north.
“First, it’s nice and close to us, so that’s always nice,” said Stevenson. “Every game in Sudbury, I bump into someone and talk to them. Those are really special moments because it brings you back to your past, your hockey career, stuff like that.”
In that same vein, the 2025-2026 campaign marks the third year in which Stevenson is joined behind the bench by his son, Keegan, a veteran of more than 170 OHL games who closed out his playing days with Acadia University after suiting up in a single game with the Toronto Marlies of the AHL.
“He is more passive; I’m more emotional – but it’s awesome,” said Stevenson. “He’s not just my son now, he’s a colleague. We sit there and talk about the game and look at the videos.”
“It’s really nice.”
But with almost 30 years between them, no surprise than father and son both bring something a little bit different to the coaching table in Sault Ste Marie. “Keegan brings in a lot more finesse,” noted Jeremy. “He has that extra stuff that he learned that wasn’t there when I played. I’m more old school: chip it in, be physical and get to the net.”
“We work really well, hand in hand, in that sense.”
The Jr Greyhounds found themselves right in the mid-pack of the final tournament standings with both Sudbury entries as the U18 AAA and U16 AAA Wolves both finished at 1-2-0-1.
All three losses for the U16 Wolves were by a single goal while the U18 crew had a pair of single goal setbacks along with a 4-1 loss to the Hamilton Steel and a 3-1 win over the Southern Tier Admirals.
