No team in the Great North U18 AAA League is likely as happy to see the turning of the calendar year to 2026 as the Sudbury U18 AAA Wolves.

A significant exodus of talent in September / October at very least raised some concerns of the viability of the program for the 2025-2026 season. But with the steadying hands of veteran coaches Peter Michelutti Jr and Scott Rienguette providing the guidance to eager long-time local hockey man Wayne Theriault (Sudbury Lady Wolves; Nickel Centre Minor Hockey), the Wolves recalibrated nicely.

A regular season championship might not be in the works for the crew that backfilled in quite well to ice a worthy competitive unit, but the fact remains that a two game home sweep of the Kapuskasing Flyers this past weekend now has the Sudbury squad sitting at 9-9-0-2 (20 points).

Though that might well rank them seventh, at the moment, in the group of ten, the trio directly in front of them features the New Liskeard Cubs and Timmins Majors (both at 22 points) and the Thunder Bay Kings at 21.

It’s certainly hard to argue about the entertainment value of the U18 AAA Wolves.

Saturday night at the Gerry McCrory Sports Complex, the team bolted out of the blocks, up 7-1 at the end of one period of play. By the time the buzzer sounded to signal sixty minutes in the books, the teams were tied at 8-8. Thankfully, captain Denver Mulligan capped off his hat trick just 22 seconds into the three on three session, with the Wolves following up their 9-8 triumph with a 7-4 victory on Sunday.

Brett Moxam (2), Janssen Fransen, Logan Moran, Gillis O’Daiskey and Carter McAllister rounded out the scoring in game one with O’Daiskey (3), Moran (2), Mulligan and Landen Lake Rego hitting the scoresheet the next afternoon.

“The biggest thing for us is that we need to be better defensively,” said Theriault, a man who played hockey with Michelutti Jr in his youth and has known Scott Rienguette almost as long as well, initially through local baseball/slo-pitch circles.

“We’re still working on that,” added Theriault. “We have to make sure not to run around, not to chase the puck – and understand the importance of always having that high guy in not allowing odd man rushes.”

Given the coaching experience at his side, Theriault is thrilled to be working his way into the head coaching role, something that has been in the back of his mind for a while. “I’ve always wanted to get involved in coaching at a higher level,” he admitted. “This opportunity presented itself.”

“This was a good way for me to get a foot in the door.”

“It’s been a team approach,” Theriault continued. “Lots of conversations with the three of us to make sure we are on the same page. For me, it’s important that these kids have a good understanding of what the direction is, where we want to go.”

All in all, it was a very good weekend for the local GNU18L contingent as the Sudbury U16 AAA Wolves added a 7-4 win of their own to a 1-1 overtime tie with the Timmins Majors on Saturday.

Tayden Smith put the locals up 1-0 with a first period power play marker in game one before a buzzer beater at the end of the middle stanza from Zachary Robinson pulled Timmins even, also on the man advantage. Goaltenders Noah Jylha (Sudbury) and Jaret Fenton-Chypyha (Timmins) were both on top of their games as the contest remained an unusually low-scoring affair in a league not known for same.

On Sunday, the U16 AAA Wolves spotted Timmins an early 1-0 lead but stormed back to hold a 3-1 advantage at the end of the first – 5-1 after two – and cruised to a 7-4 victory as Alex Proulx shone with a three-goal effort for the winners.

“Last night, we came out pretty slow,” acknowledged the 15 year old grade 10 student at École secondaire catholique l’Horizon who was joined on the scoresheet by teammates Bryston Nixon (2), Logan O’Shaughnessy and Felix Sapay. “This afternoon, we wanted to come out with a much stronger start and basically just give it to them; get it to the line and work it down low.”

Like the U18 AAA Wolves, the U16 team also endured some departures, with five players who suited up with the U15 squad in 2024-2025 opting to head south this winter.

And while this has created a bit of a different look, stylistically speaking, for head coach Jason Young and staff, all of the feedback from local scouts who have watched the Sudbury team competing against the best in the province is how impressed one and all have been with their ability to stay in pretty much each and every game based largely on work ethic and adherance to a solid system of play.

“Last year, we were more of a skilled team – but this year, we’re more of a hard working team,” ackowledged Proulx, now in his second year of AAA hockey. “That’s our identity, I would say.”

There is, in fact, not a whole lot of flash and dash to the look of a U16 AAA Wolves crew that currently sports a record of 13-5-1-3 (30) in GNU18L play, trailing only the North Bay U18 Trappers (36 pts) and the Soo U18 Jr Greyhounds (33) in league standings.

“The offensive zone is where we shine, getting it down low and working on the cycle and just outworking them,” added Proulx.

After starting the season alongside Nicholas Christakos and Jackson Mead, Proulx has more recently lined up next to newcomer Felix Sapay from Thunder Bay and first year AAA talent Lennox Therrien.

“We have really good chemistry,” said Proulx. “Felix is a skilled player but a skilled player who can work the puck down low. And Lennox just works non-stop. He’s adjusting really well, coming up to a AAA league.”

A “AAA” league that features a majority of opponents with lineups that are older than the U16 lads, offering a bit of a different challenge than what they will face at the Steve Richey Memorial Tournament of Champions in Peterborough in January.

“There’s some guys here that are way bigger and stronger, so you really need to play your game heads up the whole time,” said Proulx. “With these guys, any chance they get, they want to hammer you because you are younger.”

The U16 AAA Wolves are back in action on January 3rd/4th, welcoming the Soo U16 AAA Jr Greyhounds to town with both Sudbury teams busy from January 23rd to 25th as Thunder Bay heads to the nickel city for a four-game weekend.