Like a well-oiled machine, the Sudbury U11 “A” Lady Wolves just keep rolling along.

Sure, they might be a machine that charges out of the dressing room to the chant of:

Hi – my name is Olive – and you know what I got
What do you got?
I’ve got a team that’s hotter than hot
How hot is hot?
Batman and Superman ....

Well, you get the picture – a machine that is filled with all of the parts that are quite the norm when bringing together a grouping of nine and ten year old girls.

But not just any grouping; we are, after all, talking about a local squad that made it four consecutive tournament banners in an equal number of tournament appearances recently, capturing gold at the Silver Stick playdown with a 4-3 win over the Easton Lady Dragons from Columbus, Ohio.

Head coach and former NOJHLer Kyle Doherty merged together a solid core of young ladies from his 2021-2022 U11 B Lady Wolves, benefitting from the return of three players who enjoyed U11 AA experience last year and welcoming a small handful over from boys hockey in putting together a team that put their nose to the grindstone beginning in September.

“I think first of all, because there were some new players, we wanted to see where everyone lined up,” suggested assistant coach Brad White, back for his second straight winter at Doherty’s side. “There was a lot of emphasis on skating, obviously; that’s proper for this age. As we have transitioned through, Coach Kyle has brought in a lot more structured play.”

The end result has been tournament victories in St Catharines, Whitby and Scarborough, along with the Silver Stick, with a team that is certainly hoping to make some noise come time for the OWHA Provincials in April.

“I’ve been very impressed with how these girls have picked it up,” White continued. “They’ve gotten the hang of it, whether we are on the forecheck or the back-check – or playing defense. They are picking it all up really well.”

Share a few minutes with Massey native Meredith Sonnenburg and it’s clear just how much the teachings of 2022-2023 are being absorbed. “We’re way better at our breakouts this year than last year because we progressed a lot,” stressed the ten year-old grade five student at St Mary Catholic School in her hometown.

“Passes have to be on the tape and everyone has to be paying attention at practice and stuff.”

Yet for as much as Doherty might look the part of the drill sergeant at practice (okay, save perhaps the JOFA helmet that so proudly adorns his head), there is certainly an approach at play that works well with this particular age bracket of girls.

“We try and do our best,” noted Sonnenburg. “If we mess up, we mess up. Coach Kyle will just tell us to try and correct it.”

And for as much as the talkative youngster sees her role as “helping to make goals happen”, she still drew a key defensive assignment late in the game against Easton, the Lady Wolves looking to protect their one goal lead.

“We had one player fore-checking and two high at the blue line and our D at the red line,” said Sonnenburg. “Every time they got it in our end, we would break out and try our hardest to get it out and we did.”

Where Sonnenburg and her two-year teammates have had the benefit of time in grasping the nuances of what Doherty and staff are teaching, even newcomers like defenseman Olive Simon (the youngster who shared the team pre-game chant that was highlighted early in this story) have added new features to their toolbox of hockey skills.

“I didn’t walk the line much before,” said Simon, a grade student at R.L. Beattie, former member of the Copper Cliff Reds (2021-2022) and one of four first year U13 athletes on the team.

“There’s this play where one of our defense goes to the middle and the other defense goes down to the ringette line. I didn’t really know that before. You have to have control of the puck and you have to have good edges.”

Coming up initially through the boys side, Simon felt the timing was right to crossover to the SDGHA this year, for a whole variety of reasons. “Most of my friends are on this team, so I knew more people on this team,” she said. “I just felt like I wanted to play Lady Wolves. Everybody kind of knows each other and we all work really well together.”

“It’s just fun to play with them.”

And fun to coach them, as well, apparently.

“One thing that really defines this team is their back-check,” emphasized coach White. “It’s in their heart. When we play faster teams, it makes all the difference, the way we come back through the neutral zone.”

At that point, the well-oiled machine that is the Sudbury U11 “A” Lady Wolves has turned it up to high gear – so opponents beware.

The 2022-2023 edition of the team includes Maelle Angus, Eloize Charette, Taylor Croskery, Davie Dale, Reese Doherty, Théa Dupuis, Zoe Gatien, Talia Gladu, Ally Hebert, Frédérique Larose, Reese Morris, Brooklyn O’Coin, Jordyn O’Coin, Jordyn White, Ava Wicklander, assistant coaches Gord O’Coin, Kristy Hebert (also trainer), Shannon Dow and Molly Pitkethly and team manager Marilyne Larose.