Ranked third in the province and heading into a tournament in which they would be seen as the team to beat, the Sudbury U14 AAA Wolves did not want to endure a letdown in league play as the team hosted the Soo U14 AAA Jr Greyhounds last weekend for a three-game set.

Victories by scores of 5-2, 7-2 and 9-1 served as a nice lead-in for a Wolves squad that improved to 6-0-0 in NOHL (Northern Ontario AAA Hockey League) action and trail only the Toronto Jr Canadians and Vaughan Kings in the most recent My Hockey provincial rankings.

"We really try and stay consistent, always play well with no bad games," noted Sudbury defenseman Carson Barr following the Saturday evening triumph at the Sudbury Arena. "If we start a game hard, they will start to slow down."

That was the case again in this encounter as the locals gradually piled up the goals, with Sam Frappier and Padraig Courtney netting two snipes apiece, joined on the scoresheet by Greyson MacKenzie, Jonathan Croome and Vince Tarini.

Preston Hebert chipped in with three assists while Wyatt Jarrett and Lukas Maninas answered in a losing cause for the Soo.

Now in his second year with the team, Barr provided the following snapshot analysis of where his game is at as he continues to fine-tune his skill-set on the blueline: "I am a puck-moving defenceman, a big body and I'm working on my shot and thinking the game more quickly."

That ability to quickly transition play outside of the defensive zone is made easier by the presence of a boatload of skilled forwards on the team, a benefit that Barr, for one, truly appreciates.

"Our guys are always set up," he said. "When there is pressure on me, I can move it to them and they're busting out of the zone."

The U14 AAA Wolves opened their homestand with a 5-2 win as Preston Hebert and Greyson MacKenzie scored two goals apiece, with Diesel Berehowsky capping things off.

Game three featured many of the same names as Hebert (2), Tarini (2), MacKenzie, Croome, Courtney, Frappier and Berehowsky tackled the offense for the homeside, with Brett Rossetto burying the only shot that would elude Sudbury netminder Max Barros.

Barros picked up the win between the pipes in game one and three, with Brayden Bouillon tackling the role in game two.

The Sudbury U14 AAA Wolves are competing in the Oakville Rangers Winter Classic this coming weekend, joining both the Sudbury U12 AAA Wolves as well as the U18 AAA crew in attendance at the event.

The U14 lads open play on Friday with matchups against both the Upper Canada Cyclones and Team Illinois, closing out pool play with a Saturday encounter opposite the Windsor Jr Spitfires.

With twelve teams broken into three pools of four, the Wolves need to finish in the top four in order to advance to semi-final action on Sunday morning, with all eight remaining teams closing off their four game guarantee with a "friendly" contest on Saturday.