Yes, it is true that with the arrival of the March break, much of the houseleague hockey in the region is set to wrap things up, with just the Valley East Renegades Tournament and the Ken Creasey Memorial lying ahead.

And yes, at the higher levels of hockey, each passing week eliminates more and more teams as the perils of post-season play prevails at rinks around Sudbury and across the north.

Yet here we stand with loads of great hockey still in the slate, with notable events scheduled in the upcoming weeks in the nickel city and some local teams taking to the road to chase their destiny.

Great North U18 AAA League
Beginning late Wednesday afternoon in Timmins, the five remaining teams that are still in the hunt in the Great North U18 AAA League will kickoff their five-day playdowns to crown both a league champion as well as an entry to the Central Region Championships in Kemptville later this month.

Regular season champions by a comfortable margin – 14 points, to be exact – the North Bay U18 AAA Trappers will enter play as the prohibitive favourites, with the Sudbury U18 AAA Wolves, Sault Ste Marie U18 AAA Jr Greyhounds and host Timmins Majors separated by just two points when the dust settled.

“We definitely have what it takes to win,” noted 18 year-old Sudbury netminder Declan McNamara with confidence earlier this week, his crew facing the defending champion Majors at 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday. “I honestly think we have a very skilled group of guys, a lot of guys with playoff experience.”

“We just need to control ourselves.”

The current edition of the SMHA U18 AAA rep team, the one under the watch of head coach Scott Rienguette, is hardly the first team to make note of discipline – or lack thereof – as being critical in a short tournament format.

“The only time we lose games is when we don’t play like a team and we’re upset,” suggested McNamara. “We’ve beaten North Bay before; we know it’s possible.”

And for as much as the grade 12 student at St Charles College who starred in a H-S city final for the ages last March is filled with excitement and anticipation as the Wolves head to Timmins, the experience might have to take a backseat to an unexpected opportunity in hockey earlier this month.

A goaltending injury on the road forced the Saginaw Spirit to look for emergency assistance for their recent OHL road game in Sudbury, with McNamara taking the call and filling in as back-up for a night.

While there were thrills a plenty in store for the young puckstopper, the mere chance to face shots from the likes of OHL leading scorer Michael Misa and NHL first rounder Zayne Parekh definitely opened his eyes as to the level of play of the future Hockey Night in Canada stars.

“They are really good at picking their corners,” said McNamara with a smile. “If they see a spot where they want to shoot it, they will put it exactly where they want it. You’ve got to be really focused on every shot.”

OFSAA Boys/Girls A/AA Hockey Championships
No sooner will play wrap up in Timmins before the Sudbury hockey faithful can turn their attention back to the contingent of 32 high-school teams that will have invaded the city, with eight different ice surfaces playing host to four game sets on Tuesday afternoon for the championship that wraps up with semi-finals and finals on Thursday.

“I think it’s going to be a really cool experience, but I am a little bit nervous,” noted Lo-Ellen Park Knights’ defenceman Ava Bignucolo, as the 18 year-old with four years of SDSSAA experience (and a boatload with the Lady Wolves) makes her first appearance at OFSAA.

“We’re just going to play really hard and hopefully win some games.”

The Knights finished first in regular season play (9-1-2), bested the Horizon Aigles two games to one in the city final before earning silver medals at NOSSA last week. But with the St Joseph Scollard Hall Bears (North Bay) heading to the OFSAA “AAA” tournament, Lo-Ellen earned the right to join the host St Charles College Cardinals in remaining at home for the big event.

“I think everyone is really excited to have more fans coming to watch – at NOSSA, I think there were three people in the rink – but I am nervous playing in front of people I know (mostly classmates, it would seem),” said Bignucolo.

On the boys side of the draw, the NOSSA champion Korah Colts will tandem with the host St Charles College Cardinals to carry regional hopes into the competition, with SCC beaten 2-1 in double overtime in a classic battle with the Soo reps early last week.

And it doesn’t stop there.

NOHA Tournaments of Champions
The Sudbury region is playing host to a pair of TOCs in 2025, beginning with the U14 A three-team showdown that takes place entirely at the T.M. Davies Community Centre in Lively from March 21st to the 23rd.

An entirely local field will see the Nickel City Cubs, Copper Cliff Reds and Sudbury Wolves battle it out for bragging rights at the highest level availed to this age group, with OHF championships in place only for the U13, U15 and U18 (major year) age brackets.

A larger contingent of teams will converge upon Sudbury the following weekend as Carmichael Arena becomes the place to be for the U11 AA affair. Entries from the same three groupings above will find themselves welcoming the Sault Jr Greyhounds, North Bay Trappers and Timmins North Stars to the area, with a total of 15 games set to be presented.

All-Ontario Championship
The Sudbury U13 AAA Wolves will get a chance to strut their stuff against the very best in the province come early April as seven teams fight it out at the All-Ontario U13 AAA Championships.

All games are scheduled to take place at the Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex from April 9th to April 13th, with both the bronze medal game (4:15 p.m.) and gold medal game (6:15 p.m.) bringing the tournament to an end on Sunday afternoon.