There were legitimate concerns about what newly-acquired Sudbury Wolves' netminder Bjorn Bronas might be walking into Friday night in his OHL debut.
Sitting second in the Midwest, the visiting London Knights had beaten the local juniors in 11 of the past 12 meetings in Sudbury and were coming off a 5-2 loss to the North Bay Battalion one night earlier.
The defense core that would be solidifying things in front of their new goalie?
Well, overage blueliner Gavin Ewles had 184 games of OHL experience heading into the matchup with the Knights. His remaining six counterparts on the blueline for the Wolves last night carried with them a combined total of 174 games of experience.
Just 46 seconds into the encounter, Braidy Wassilyn opened the scoring with a nifty move in tight on the very first shot on net for London and one could almost sense a collective rolling of the eyes from those who follow this team closely.
But Bronas very quickly righted himself, making 11 saves in the first period alone, including some key stops, while a power-play tally from Daniel Berehowsky knotted the contest before the end of the frame.
Sure, there were times when the Wolves displayed their very best version of "rope a dope" in their own end and a pair of empty-net goals flattered the 6-3 final score, just a touch, but all in all, it was a very solid victory for a Sudbury team still trying to scrape their way out of the basement of the OHL standings.
Artem Gonchar, Nathan Villeneuve, Kieron Walton, Chase Coughlan and Gavin Ewles rounded out the scoring for the homeside, the final two tallies deposited into a vacant London cage, with Sam O'Reilley answering with a pair of snipes in a losing cause.
Bronas finished the night with a 32-save effort and while one never wants to read too much into a sixty minute sample size, the 18 year old who was born either in Plainfield, Illinois or Sartell, Minnesota, depending upon the website you cite, does appear to offer some early reason for optimism, even if it's just for one year.
(Bronas has committed to Minnesota State University for the 2026-2027 season)
Their record now at 6-16-1-0 (13 points), the Wolves find themselves one point back of the Oshawa Generals and with a big game scheduled on the road on Sunday versus the Brampton Steelheads (8-12-1-1 = 18 pts).
From there, another three in three awaits, hosting the Barrie Colts on Friday (November 28th), heading to Brampton again on the 29th and making their one and only visit to play the Guelph Storm on Sunday (November 30th) at 2:00 p.m.
The Wolves were also busy off the ice in the past 24 hours, acquiring former first rounder Carter Kostuch from the Sarnia Sting in return for a 6th round pick in 2026 and a conditional 5th round pick in 2027.
A better than a point per game producer as a member of the Vaughan U16 AAA Kings in 2022-2023, the 2007-born talent was felled by a unfortunate eye injury while playing with the Sting last December, missing the entire second half of the OHL season and suiting up in just four games to date this year with Sarnia.
"He is close to his full return and being able to add a former first round OHL pick with over two years of eligibility remaining was something we felt strongly about, both for now and our future," noted GM Rob Papineau in a team issued release.
The Wolves have also acquired the rights to goaltender Paolo Frasca from the Windsor Spitfires for conditional picks. The 19 year old puck-stopper (2006) started the season with the Victoria Grizzlies of the BCHL but was injured in a November 14th battle with the Chilliwack Chiefs.
A native of Toronto, Frasca was leading the BCHL with a save percentage of .939 and has posted four shutouts in the still-young campaign, also a league best.
"We’re disappointed that Paolo wanted to return to Ontario," noted Grizzlies head coach and GM Goeff Grimwood in an interview in the Peninsula News Review. "We felt that he was on track to realize his goal of earning an NCAA scholarship with us."
"Organizationally, we wish him and his family nothing but the best back home.” Grimwood added.
