The Greater Sudbury Cubs have not yet mathematically clinched first place overall in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL) this year. But from a practical standpoint, they are nearly there.

Unbeaten in 2026, the Cubs added a pair of victories to their resume last week, now sitting five points clear of the Hearst Lumberjacks with seven games to play.

A whole lot can still happen between now and March 15th - the end of the 2025-2026 regular season of play - but if a 5-0 whitewashing of the Blind River Beavers on Family Day followed by a 9-3 tripling of the Timmins Rock on Thursday.

Five different goal scorers hit the mark for Sudbury while netminder Iain Wintle faced just ten shots in recording the shutout as the Cubs bested the Beavers. Lucas Antonioni, Mason Walker, Alex Valade, Matteo Signoretti and Caden Dubreuil tallied once each for the winners.

And for as much as Mason Walker did not add to his goal total versus the Rock, the 17 year-old prospect of the Sudbury Wolves was at his playmaking best, recording no less than six assists, ironically feeding six completely different goal scorers in the contest.

In fact, Owen King was the only Sudbury player to snipe more than once, drilling home his 34th and 35th of the year and joined on the scoresheet by Tyson Rismond, Nolan Newton, Grant Booth, Caden Dubreuil, Daks Klinkhammer, Eidan Macartney and Spencer Horgan.

Diego Da Silva, Maxfeld Shin and Matteo Paradiso countered for Timmins, who saw their record drop to 31-12-0-3 as they try and chase down the Lumberjacks four points ahead.

The Sudbury undefeated streak, now sitting at 14 games is sure to be tested this weekend as the two-time defending league champs face a tough three in three trek through the far north of the NOJHL.

The Cubs and Lumberjacks face-off Friday in Hearst, with the visitors hitting the road right after the game in preparation of a Saturday evening encounter with the Iroquois Falls Storm, closing off their weekend Sunday afternoon in Timmins versus the Rock.