In a short tournament, a quick start is imperative.

Come day four of the U13 AAA All-Ontario Hockey Championships in Etobicoke, the Sudbury U13 AAA Wolves could only wonder what might have been but for an extra goal or two much earlier in the event.

With seven teams entered, the Wolves would finish their six game round robin schedule with a mark of 2-3-1, good for fifth place and just back of both the Elgin-Middlesex Canucks and Quinte Red Devils, both at 3-2-1.

Making matters worse was the fact that Sudbury opened play with a 5-5 tie with Quinte on Wednesday and a 4-3 loss to Elgin-Middlesex the next day.

Flipping either of those results around would have surely advanced the NOHA champs into semi-final action earlier today as Vaughan Kings and Toronto Jr Canadiens were meeting Sunday night in the gold medal affair.

The Wolves kicked things off in dramatic fashion as Sam Frappier completed his hat trick with just 17 seconds to play, lifting Sudbury into the 5-5 draw with Quinte. André Beaudry and Padraig Courtney rounded out the .

Another three goal performance for the locals in game two as Preston Hebert handled all of the scoring in the 4-3 loss to Elgin-Middlesex, the team rebounding nicely later that day to thump Ottawa Myers Automotive 7-1.

A nicely balanced attack would see Cameron Swartz net a pair of goals while Maximus Falcioni, Myles Talbot, Sam Frappier, Preston Hebert and Padraig Courtney all chipped in with one goal each.

Sudbury improved to 2-1-1 with a 6-3 win over the Thunder Bay Kings as Preston Hebert netted his fifth and sixth goals of the tournament, with Coen Chretien, André Beaudry, Padraig Courtney and Sam Frappier also joining him on the scoresheet.

Unfortunately for the SMHA crew, the back end of their schedule got progressively tougher as the Vaughan Kings stopped the Wolves 4-1 (Frappier with goal #6) while the Toronto Jr Canadiens bested the locals 5-2 (Coen Chretien and Sam Frappier), jumping out to a 4-0 lead by the end of the second period of play.

The remainder of the Sudbury U13 AAA Wolves roster featured Jonny Croome, Van Sakellaris, Max Barros, Brayden Bouillon, Ryder Penny, Sheany Gray, Carson Barr, Vincent Tarini and call-up Ethan Caetano.