There are no shortcuts.
Having spent most of his life around the game of hockey, Jason Young is well aware of this truism.
Now he needs the talent that has been gathered for the 2026-2027 version of the Sudbury U16 AAA Wolves to buy into the plan.
The hope is that the team with plenty of fresh, new faces is beginning to grasp the strategies that will allow them to be reasonably competitive, despite an exodus of some of the top 2011-born talent in the city.
“We’re going to have to be a hard working team,” said Young, a well tenured local bench boss who earned ample kudos in taking a relatively unknown U16 AAA crew one year ago and finding a way to make them competitive against teams ripe with future OHL draftees. “We’re going to play a system that we like, a system that takes away time and space – and then go from there.”
“I think we may be on the short end of the stick when it comes to the offensive side of the game – but if we play good defense and we figure out a way to score goals, we’ll be fine. I am a big believer that hard work overcomes talent when talent does not work hard,” added Young.
A member of the Canadian national team from 1995 to 1997 who then moved on to play a dozen years in the highly respected Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL – Germany), Young has coached at pretty much every level imaginable back in his hometown. A third round draft pick of the Buffalo Sabres in 1991, he has come to know what he favours in terms of the ingredients he likes to work with on the ice.
“The biggest thing for me is that they want to be here, they want to play here.”
Sidelined for the next few weeks with an injury, left winger Emmit Deforge is itching to get back on the ice. One of eight returnees from the 2025-2026 U15 AAA Wolves, the St Charles College junior likes what he sees from a coaching staff that he and his mates are getting accustomed to for the very first time.
“The practices are always hard working,” said Deforge. “We’re always moving, it’s always fast paced. They (the coaches) are always looking for things that we can improve upon.”
Patience is sure to be part of the messaging from coach Young and company and a willingness to absorb the teachings of a veteran staff would go a long way in helping this crew enjoy a better than expected season.
“We have a lot of new faces this year compared to other years,” said Deforge. “We really have to work on the chemistry, working on passing the puck and moving it and understanding where we all will be.”
For as much as expectations are modest, this is still draft year for these kids - which is where the experience of coach Young pays dividends yet again.
"I went through it as a player. I went through it as a dad (with son, Ryker). And now I am going through it as a coach. You just have to go out and play your game. If somebody likes you, somebody likes you."
"But when it's over, you'll wish you could have played longer," added Young. "Enjoy the time with your teammates, making memories."
The balance of the 2026-2027 Sudbury U16 AAA Wolves roster entails netminders Brayden Bouillon and Logan Claveau, defencemen Van Sakellaris, Carson Barr, Linden Bertoli, Shean Gray, Ryder Penny and Boe Wagemann as well as forwards Maximus Falcioni, Johnny Croome, Tyler Boivin, Neven Brujic, Blake Bubalo, Emmit Deforge, Blake Dubois, Ean Dumont, Brighten Farley and Jonathan Valade.
The U16 AAA Wolves will kick off their new season of play in the renamed Great North Hockey League, welcoming the Soo Jr Greyhounds to Sudbury for a pair of games on September 19th (4:15 p.m. at CS2) and September 20th (12:15 p.m. at CS2).
