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.

Given that they are facing the team directly above them in the standings (Niagara Ice Dogs – 36 pts – Sunday in Sudbury) and the team directly below them (Brampton Steelheads – 31 pts – Friday in Sudbury) this weekend, it’s a pretty safe bet that the Sudbury Wolves (34 pts) are looking at this three-day stretch with a degree of importance.

To the surprise of some, the Wolves still find themselves right in the thick of the battle to enjoy home ice advantage in round one of the playoffs, sitting 5th overall in the ten-team Eastern Conference race.

While the Wolves have already faced the Barrie Colts six times this year, their Friday night match-up with the relocated Steelheads represents the first of the teams’ six meetings this year.
Following the franchise stats for this series is a bit convoluted as the OHL has been in Brampton previously (with what are now the North Bay Battalion). The Steelheads, however, owe their start in the league to the storied OHA franchise that were the Toronto St Michael’s Majors, a group that entered the OHL in time for the 1997-1998 season and were coached in year one by Mark Napier.

Under the Toronto St Michael’s Majors moniker, the team enjoyed some incredible battles with Wolves’ entries coached by both Bert Templeton and Mike Foligno, with the likes of Dave Cameron and Bud Stefanski behind the bench for St Mike’s. Unlike some head to head matchups, these two teams have battled it out quite closely in recent years, with Sudbury posting records of 3-4-1-0 (2021-2022), 3-2-0-1 (2022-2023) and 3-2-0-1 (2023-2024) in the past three years.

After winning nine of their first 11 games of the year, the Niagara Ice Dogs have worked their way back to the remainder of the Central Division teams. In fact, in their 17 games since then, the Dogs sport a record of 8-7-1-1, a stretch that includes a 4-3 overtime win over the Wolves and a 4-2 loss to the Pack, with both games played in St Catharines.

On Sunday afternoon, the local juniors will be looking to extend their winning streak at home versus Niagara to seven games, a mark that would establish a new franchise high in this rivalry. In fact, the Wolves had a previous six game home winning streak against Niagara snapped as recently as February 11th (2022), with Sudbury claiming home ice victory in 12 of the last 15 meetings between these teams at the Elgin Street barn.

The upcoming battle with Brampton will mark the 39th time in franchise history that the Sudbury Wolves have contested a game on Friday the 13th – with 31 of those encounters taking place in Sudbury.

When it comes to home ice outings on the 13th, the Wolves can’t complain much about their luck, recording victories 17 times and also earning a pair of ties to go along with one shootout loss. Last year, Sudbury downed the Owen Sound Attack 3-2 in overtime in a contest that was held on Friday, October 13th – the last time the team has ventured down this pathway of superstition.