It's not just that the Sudbury U18 AA Lady Wolves welcomed an influx of new faces to the team this year.

Beyond that lies the challenge that comes with many of the new faces not having played together at all before.

Soon-to-be 16 year-old blueliner Rylee Morris is competing at the "AA" level for the very first time since crossing over from boys hockey a few years ago - and as the sophomore at Confederation Secondary looks around the Lady Wolves dressing room, there are maybe four or five familiar faces from her previous teams.

With all of this said, it would have come as an absolute shock had the 2024-2025 team not gotten off to a slow start.

"I still think we need to find new ways to click with each other," said Morris, her crew now riding a five-game unbeaten streak (2-0-3) that has improved their season record to 3-6-3. "I am learning the speeds of the younger girls; I understand how fast they are going."

"I now know how to match their speed with my passes," Morris continued.

In late November, the locals came within a hair of handing the first place Central York Panthers just their second loss of the season as Sudbury surrendered a late goal in a 1-1 draw, with Carrington Parisé potting the marker for the Lady Wolves.

The Lady Wolves would move on to beat the New Tecumseth Ice Kats 3-1 later that evening and closed off their road trip with a 2-2 tie with the Barrie Sharks.

With two game sets against the likes of the North Bay Jr Lakers (4-5-3), Toronto Aeros (0-7-2) and Caledon Coyotes (0-8-1) still ahead, there is reason for optimism as the slew of girls playing with the U18 AA Lady Wolves for the very first time this fall continue to figure it out.

"We've had a bit of an up and down start," said Morris. "But our warm-up and pre-game stuff was way better this weekend. We talked more on the ice and had some successful power plays."

Despite the early season setbacks, Morris remains excited to have made the jump to the "AA" ranks.

"I like how structured it is - everybody wants to be here," she said. "It feels like we all want to be here to play hockey. We have regular meetings, which we have never had before."

And if time on the road allows for bonds to be strengthened, the Sudbury U18 Lady Wolves should hit the new year looking to climb the ranks, with the squad taking part in the 2024 USA Canada Cup in Kitchener this weekend.

Opponents include the host Kitchener Lady Rangers as well as the North York Storm, Fraser Valley Rush and Delta Hockey Academy.

Regular season play finds Sudbury travelling to North Bay (December 13th) before welcoming both the Toronto Aeros (December 15th) and Caledon Coyotes (December 21st) to the Countryside Arena to close out 2024.