In the end, the warm afterglow of a Nickel District Minor Hockey League playoff weekend opening game win had all but waned in the midst of a semi-final loss to the Elliot Lake Northshore Thundercats - but for one evening at least, the Copper Cliff U13 "A" Reds had ample reason to celebrate.

After dropping the majority of their regular season encounters to the Sudbury U13 "A" Wolves, the Reds took advantage of a five-minute power-play (on a penalty call that was far more likely just a minor infraction), jumping out to a 5-0 lead and holding on for a 7-4 win as the SMHA reps stormed back.

Goals by Avett Lamont and Evan Pharand gave Copper Cliff a 2-0 first period lead before the Reds scored three straight on the power play, including the second of the game from Pharand before the frame drew to an end.

A Sudbury major early in the second opened the door a little more for the CCMHA reps, with Lamont and Jack Wall finding the back of the net less than three minutes apart, both times with the Reds up a man.

Everything looked to be well in control for the crew that finished round robin play with a record of 2-1-1 before dropping a 5-0 decision to the Thundercats - but the Wolves had other ideas in mind.

Strikes from Max Panamick and Lincoln Ricard narrowed the deficit to 5-2 before the end of the middle stanza, making things a little more interesting heading to period three.

A counter from Jordan Dabous seemed to take a little of the wind from the Sudbury sails, but not for long as Panamick answered with his second 69 seconds later and Hayden Oystrick made it 6-4 with a PP goal of his own.

It wasn't until Lamont completed his hat-trick into the empty net in the final minute of play that the Copper Cliff coaching staff could breathe more easily, a tournament opening win now under their collective belts - albeit not without a fight.

"We had some problems in the second period, letting in some goals, and then we got a little back on our feet in the third," noted puck-moving defenceman Loic Gagné, who set up a Pharand snipe with a lovely cross-crease pass to go along with several heads up outlet plays.

"I just try and make sure I pass in front of the person and not directly on the stick - and then sthey can skate into it," said Gagné, a 12 year-old grade 7 student at Ecole secondaire Macdonald-Cartier.

"I like when our wingers are on the boards; that's a really easy pass to make. It's better when we don't have to complicate our passes."

After being on the wrong side of the scoreboard in their first three encounters of 2025-2026 with the Wolves, the Copper Cliff crew had played gradually better, a trend that Gagné most certainly noted.

"The last two games against that team, we wanted it more," he said. "We passed really well. We were shooting, scoring, doing everything really well."