The starting point of the 2023-2024 NOJHL Championship was noted, several times over by Sudbury Cubs’ head coach Darryl Moxam, as lying in the ashes of a first round playoff loss to the Soo Thunderbirds one year earlier.

In the ensuing twelve months, a great deal of tinkering was done to the lineup, with new acquisitions welcomed and some veterans departing. Coaches and management spent countless hours drilling home the messages they felt were critical to post-season success. Skill was acquired, but was molded to a style of play that could work when time and space shrunk noticeably.

More often than not, the final product envisioned as the end result of all of the above very rarely conforms to the vision that folks in charge have for their team.

This time, in the case of the 2023-2024 Sudbury Cubs, it worked to near perfection – and the disappointment of a Centennial Cup appearance that came up short is not about to erase those memories any time soon.

“I think we’ve had some very good teams in years past, teams that did a lot of things right,” noted co-captain Cameron Walker as the team prepared to leave for Oakville. “I think this year, we had a really experienced team that really knew what it took to win in the playoffs.”

“Everyone knew how important it was to sacrifice their own personal goals in order to help the team achieve a championship.”

“It just feels different than in past years,” were the sentiments echoed by fellow Cubs veteran Cameron Shanks, the duo combining to appear in nearly 400 NOJHL regular season games.

“We’re all out there to do one job and one job only and it doesn’t matter if you play a lot or a little, we focus on that one goal of winning – and it worked.”

It wasn’t just the players who learned the lessons of 2023.

“There was a certain style of play that we realized that we had to play in order to be successful over that two months period of time and that seemed to click right before the playoffs,” noted coach Moxam. “It began to look natural from a transition standpoint.”

The truth is that to some extent, the style of play that can lead to regular season success is slightly different, with a greater emphasis on skill and a somewhat more forgiving approach to ultra-structured defensive hockey. That fact can create a conundrum when very gifted hockey players cannot flow easily from one style of game to the next.

“Not everybody can do it,” acknowledged Moxam. “We’re very fortunate to have a number of quality people, character people who are committed to what we’re trying to do here. A lot of these offensive guys were able to transform their game to be more of a two-way player to help us be successful in the playoffs.”

“Without the willingness to want to do it, you’re never going to have success.”

On many an NOJHL team, Cameron Shanks would slide seamlessly into a top line role. With the Cubs, he has thrived in situations that do not always cater to a 6’3” 200 pound winger.

“I’m more of a power forward, using my body and being physical – but have also been able to shut things down defensively,” said the 20 year-old Sudbury native. “I’m not great offensively. I can do my offensive share, but it’s more the defensive side that I am focusing on right now.”

His contributions in this regard, in particular, have been invaluable, demonstrating the kind of pride in tackling the task at hand exceptionally well and understanding that teams that have 20, 21, 22 individuals buying into that mindset have the chance to win a lot of hockey games.

“In my first year with the Cubs, I did play on the penalty kill quite often,” said Shanks. “It’s really just reading the play. If you play on the penalty kill enough, you know where pucks are going and where you can go to chip pucks out.”

Completing his fifth and final year in the league, Cameron Walker brings an energy level that others can feed off, his fluid skating allowing him to pressure the puck all over the ice.

“Obviously, I need to be responsible at both ends of the ice – and I want to play with a lot of intensity,” said Walker, who wanted to wait until after the Centennial Cup was done to make a decision regarding what might or might not come next.

“It’s a bit bittersweet because it’s all inevitably coming to an end,” he added. “But there’s no better way that we would like to go out than with a group of now lifelong friends. I think we’re all happy with what we gave up to get to where we are right now.”