The games must go on.

That could have easily been the rallying cry on Tuesday night as Old Man Winter made driving conditions tricky for those who ventured out on to Sudbury and area streets.

And while some of the local schedule minor hockey games fell victim to the onslaught, a number of encounters were played regardless, including some pretty decent matchups.

At the Carmichael Arena, the Sudbury Major Bantam "AA" Bulldogs overcame a slow start, scoring twice in the second period en route to a 3-0 win over the SMHA Minor Bantam "AAA" Wolves.

Deadlocked in a scoreless tie after 14 minutes of play, the teams opened things up quickly in the second, trading scoring chances much more readily. It took only 28 seconds for Pierce Wallingford to find the mark for the Bulldogs, wiring a wrist shot home.

Eric Squarzolo made it 2-0 less than two minutes later and Riley Waugh added an insurance marker in the third, as Adam Greasley turned aside 21 shots in registering the shutout.

"I thought it was a good, clean game - both teams skated well," said Bulldogs head coach Rick Waugh. "Our team has seen a lot of ice - I think tonight was our fifth or sixth night in a row on the ice. We started off a little sluggish."

"Once we got our legs under us and started moving the puck a bit more, we were fortunate enough to pop in a few goals," Waugh added. In fact, the contest moved along at a brisk pace as referee Tim Russell signalled only seven minor penalties in all, the first of which was not assessed until midway through period two.

Showing a great deal of patience with the crew that he inherited at the Minor Bantam level one year ago, Waugh has returned seven members of last year's team, welcoming a total of ten newcomers or so to the fold.

It's created a highly competitive team that has yet to taste defeat in Nickel District Minor Hockey League play, though they trail the Nickel City Major Bantam "AA" Rebels by one point, with five games in hand.

"We have three balanced lines and we're very, very deep on the back end," Waugh said. "Both of our goaltenders are strong. They've been working really hard in practice and following the systems we've been teaching them since September."

Waugh is joined behind the bench by former NOJHL star Jeff Rainville, making the transition to coaching only a few years removed from his playing days. While a solid base has been set with the Bulldogs, there is certainly some incremental improvement that can still be seen.

"For us, it's just going to be doing everything faster, especially puck movement," Waugh said. "And just reading and reacting a little bit faster. I think that's true of all kids, but this team has come a long way from where we started, and they're getting it."

With the NOHA Tournament of Champions set for the first weekend of the March break in Timmins, Waugh is hoping to have his team ready to make a strong bid for a berth at the OHF (Ontario Hockey Federation) provincial championships.

Meanwhile out in Valley East, the Ray Plourde Arena was home to a pair of games. The Nickel City Minor Atom "AA" Flames and Nickel City Major Atom "A" Devils continued their see-saw battle this year, settling for a 2-2 tie.

Parker Bertrand opened the scoring for the Flames in the first, with Brennan Charbonneau pulling the Devils even with the only goal of the middle frame.

Nothing was solved in the third as Zacharie Giroux (Flames), with a power play marker, and Eric Bourassa (Devils) traded goals, leaving the Flames still three points back of the Devils in the standings.

Closing things out, Nickel City Midget "AA" Rebels' netminder Justin Hebert made a spectacular save, thwarting Matt St Jean with less than four minutes to play as the Rebels posted a 4-2 win over the Sudbury Midget "AA" Bulldogs.

The visitors got out of the gate quickly, with Daniel Eddy scoring a pair of goals in the first to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead. Aidan Byrne and Erik Rivait returned the favour for the Rebels in the middle stanza, leaving the teams knotted at 2-2 heading to the final 17 minutes of play.

Jordan Tall drilled what would be the game-winner at 2:23 of the third, with Byrne adding an empty-net marker as the buzzer sounded, picking up his second goal of the game.