Wolves find their AAA howl

The benefits of continuity are being put to the test at the All-Ontario Bantam AAA Hockey Championships this week.

The province's best bantam teams are in Timmins from March 30 to April 4 to settle for the year which team can claim the crown as Ontario's best bantam AAA team.

Having captured the Northern Ontario Bantam AAA Hockey League crown with six straight post-season victories, the Sudbury Bantam AAA Wolves are in Timmins with a roster that includes a dozen players who were also part of the 2010-2011 Major Atom AA Bulldogs roster, first assembled by coaches Barry McCrory and Craig Maki.

"They've grown as players, and have grown as a hockey team," McCrory said after practice the week before last. "They are young adults now, and it's kind of nice to watch."

Indeed, growth of this group has been key, as any fan of the local AAA hockey scene will attest.

The team often battled in the shadow of the Nickel City Sons, the talented crew that in 2013 captured both the NOHA championship as Major AAA Peewees and the silver medal at the All-Ontario playdowns.

"The first time we beat them was in Major Peewee, I think," said Wolves captain and defensive anchor Joel Mongeon. "We got a big road win against them. At that point, I think it hit us that we could compete with them."

A year later, the Wolves overcame a string of injuries as Minor Bantams to finish fourth in regular season play, taking down both Nickel City and North Bay en route to the league playoff title.

"As a group, we've grown together and built a lot of chemistry," said defenceman Tyler Maki. "I think we built a lot of character over the years."

That development has paid dividends several times during this current hockey campaign, with the Bantam AAA Wolves becoming the first local team since 1991 to walk away as divisional champions at the Big Nickel Hockey Tournament in November, 2014.

The key, all agree, has been sound defensive hockey.

"We distribute the puck very well as a team," said McCrory. "But I believe in defense first. We've instilled in them that the moment you lose the puck, you get on the defensive side automatically."

Proof in the pudding? In six playoff games this year — all victories — the Wolves surrendered just seven goals, with netminders Alex Vendette and Cameron Lamour combining to post three shutouts.

"We had to shut down their top scorers, really focus on defence," Maki said. "It certainly is a lot harder for the guys who like offense a lot more. But as you move higher in hockey, you do what the coach tells you to do."

By the time they faced Nickel City in the league finals, this was one ultra-focused group.

"Our coaches got us prepared, big time, for the challenge," Mongeon said. "We knew that we had to match their intensity from the get-go. And quick shifts, to set the tone early."

The strategy worked like a charm.

Scores of 4-0, 8-2 and 6-3 left no doubt that the Wolves were deserving champions, admittedly facing an opponent that was suddenly without league-leading scorer and MVP Damien Giroux. There is a belief in Sudbury's dressing room that this team can compete provincewide.

"After winning the Big Nickel, we believed that we could win games that were really tight," said Mongeon. "The confidence has gone way up, and it's helped our team big time."

With seven of the best teams across Ontario vying for supremacy, the road to the final will not be easy.

"We've been preaching to the boys … that we want to be in the top four to get into the semi-finals," said McCrory.

From there, anything can happen. Especially for a team that seemingly never stops growing.

The 2014-2015 edition of the Sudbury Bantam AAA Wolves includes Cameron Lamour, Tyler Maki, Chris Clark, Mathieu Dokis-Dupuis, Billy Moskal, Spencer Lavallee, Ben Rain, Joel Mongeon, Brett Jacklin, Patrick Musico, Nick Graham, Julien Tubin, Julian Simeoni, Brandon Atkins, Hunter Chiblow, Joseph Cassio, James Colburne and Alex Vendette.
Joining McCrory and Maki as part of the staff are Tammy Simpson (manager), Mark Simpson (trainer), Craig Keenan (assistant coach) and Dean Jacklin (goalie coach).