As part of my role as team statistician for the Sudbury Wolves, my job description includes the preparation of weekly media notes, featuring various tidbits of information regarding upcoming games.

While these notes have generally been confined to circulating among media types and club officials, it seemed likely that fans of the local OHL team might also have an interest in the odds and ends that I might come across on a weekly basis.

For all of the lengthy treks the Sudbury Wolves must undertake to compile their 34 road games each and every year, the less than 90 minute jaunt to the home of their closest rival is among the most comfortable, easily ventured as a same day trip. In that sense, it’s small wonder that while the North Bay Battalion and Sudbury Wolves will often embrace the more standard home and home series over a three day span – Friday night in Sudbury and Sunday afternoon in North Bay – the back to back sets are also not terribly uncommon.

The upcoming Thursday – Friday matchups mark the first two-day battle since January of 2024 when the Wolves twice went beyond the 60-minute buzzer in secure 5-4 victories on consecutive nights. As has been noted in a previous edition of the Wolves Media Notes this fall, Zacharie Giroux put a lid on a 12-player shootout on January 25th (2024) in North Bay as Sudbury carried that momentum back home the next night.

This time around, Dalibor Dvorsky provided the heroics just 19 seconds into the three on three overtime session, netting his 25th goal of the year as the Wolves spotted the visiting Battalion a 3-0 first period lead before rallying for the win. Four years earlier, the Wolves earned a split from the outset, doubling the Troops 8-4 in North Bay (Jan 23rd 2020) as Macauley Carson and Nolan Hutcheson scored two goals each, with Matej Pekar chipping in with three helpers.

In 2018, once again, there was no home ice advantage as the Wolves defeated the Battalion 4-2 in North Bay on March 8th, dropping a 4-1 decision the next night at home. Late season back to backs were a thing for a couple of years as the teams disputed two of their final four games of the year in both 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 making the trip back and forth on Highway 17 East.

The two games in 48 hours against the same opponent scenario also came to be, on at least a few occasions, even when the Battalion called Brampton home (though there cannot be more than perhaps 5-6 other OHL teams the Wolves would have played home on home with no days in between).

The Wolves were not about to complain about the mileage in March of 2013 when they travelled to Brampton on a Thursday night, taking a 3-1 first round playoff series lead thanks to an overtime goal from Dominik Kubalik, closing out the series the next night in Sudbury, again in overtime, with Evan de Haan netting the only goal of the game to end an incredible battle between goaltenders Franky Palazzese (Sudbury) and Jake Smith (Brampton).

A three game week for the Sudbury Wolves closes with a Sunday evening encounter at the Tribute Communities Centre versus the Oshawa Generals, with the local juniors looking to make it four straight wins against a team they have faced no less than 231 times already in regular season play.

The Wolves earned their second season series win over Oshawa in four years by sweeping the last three games they would go head to head last year, downing the Generals 4-3 in overtime on February 8th (Genc Ula with GWG), stopping the visitors 5-2 in Sudbury on March 6th (Blake Clayton and Rowan Henderson with three points each) and taking to the road for a 5-4 win on March 11th (Wolves overcame a 4-1 third period deficit for the win).

If these teams are to partake in a shootout, the odds heavily favour Oshawa, winners in five of the six contests decided with the skills competition. The only Sudbury S/O win vs the Gennies came on January 15th (2010) at home when Eric O’Dell solved Oshawa netminder Kevin Baillie on the second Sudbury shot attempt while Alain Valiquette turned aside three straight shooters between the pipes for the home side.

A win in Oshawa on Sunday would make it three straight in that venue for the Wolves, halfway to their all-time consecutive road win streak against the Generals (six games from December 7th 1975 to November 20th 1977).