The Greater Sudbury Cubs win against the Soo Eagles on Jan. 26 was a very special game for some newcomers to Sudbury: it was their first hockey game, ever.
Thanks to an initiative between the City of Greater Sudbury's Immigration Services and the Cubs, families who had recently arrived from Ukraine were able watch a game at the Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex, as well as a visit with mascot, Elgin, and receive a bear to take home. There was also refreshment provided by Topper’s Pizza and Rehan’s Your Independent Grocer.
The families have recently come from the now devastated cities of Kyiv, the capital and most populous city of Ukraine and a focus of recent Russian attacks, and Crimea, a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014.
It was a great night for a game, with two goals from Nolan Newton leading the Cubs to a 5-3 win over the Eagles, extending the team’s comfortable lead in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League.
