As has been his summer norm, Lively goaltender Danny Battochio was spending a great deal of time with his goalie coach, Bruce McDougall.

And while there is always plenty to talk about in recent years between the two, the 2023-2024 season provided far more fodder than usual for the conversation.

Though undrafted, Battochio was making the jump from the Sudbury Northern Wolves of the NOJHL to the Ottawa 67's of the OHL, appearing in 15 games (though it could easily have been more).

A goals against average of 2.34 and a save percentage of .929 was more than ample proof that the super agile young puckstopper was ready to face the next level of junior hockey snipers.

His Cinderella story nearly came to a heartbreaking crash almost before it even began when Battochio suffered a seizure while home over the Christmas break, the cause of which was eventually diagnozed as an arterio venous malformation.

Thankfully, surgery was successful and the talented netminder would go on to lead the 67's to a Memorial Cup appearance in 2005 (he still holds the tournament record for most saves by a goalie in a single game - 62 in a double OT win over the Kelowna Rockets) and went on to enjoy six very impressive seasons with the Rapid City Rush of the ECHL.

Sudbury masters track and field athlete J-P Mayer established a new national record in the 55-59 long jump, sailing 5.58 metres a few weeks ago, this after setting new standards in previous years in both the 50-54 shot put and discus.

Blessed with a foundational core strength courtesy of gymnastics training in his youth, Mayer attended Sacred Heart College in Sudbury and would qualify for the All-Ontario track and field championships, with the triple jump listed as his favourite event.

Though he competed at countless meets over the years, Mayer list the U.S. National Indoor Masters Championship held in Boston in 2000 as his all-time favourite, capturing gold in the long jump and silver in the shot put.

More than twenty years later, Mayer continues to serve as a valuable resource to throwers from any and all high-schools in the Sudbury area, a specialist in the footwork and technique so critical to making the jump to compete with the OFSAA elite.

A 13-0 loss to the Sault Steelers would see the Sudbury Spartans finish the 2004 NFC season with a record of 5-3, eliminated in the first round of the playoffs thanks to a 24-3 setback against the Milton Marauders.

It was the summer of a Spartans reunion of sorts, with Dave St Amour, Brandon Dougan and Paul Gauthier all suiting up with the team, with the likes of Andrew Johnston (linebacker), Dan Leduc (wide receiver) and running backs Stephen Gravel and Eric Paquette providing a much appreciated influx of extra energy.

Ontario Summer Games medals for Sudbury athletes did not all come courtesy of their involvement with Sudbury or northern teams in August 2004. The multi-sport festivities in London rewarded local soccer sensation Renee Jacques with a gold medal, her hardware coming courtesy of a 2-1 win for the Burlington U15 Flash over Ajax United.

To boot, it was Jacques would who net the game winning goal.

"I was coming in hard off the wing and I kind of chipped it" said Jacques. "It rolled in very slowly - definitely wasn't the most beautiful goal ever, but we won, so we were pretty happy."

The Sudbury Lakers split their opening two games of the 2004 Division C Junior Baseball Championships against the 2003 finalists, edging Stratford 6-4 but coming up short against the Dundas Chiefs (9-6), before being sent packing as the St Catharines Blue Jays trimmed the northern crew 4-3.

Among those who chipped in notably for manager Travis Babe and the Lakers were Robbie Fenton, Chris Montgomery, Kyle Stutt, Tim Clarke, Chris Gagnon, Matt Braumberger, Ryan Mussen, Ethan Gazdic and midget call-up Adam Kallio.