Northern Life now the official newspaper of the Sudbury Wolves

Sudbury's favourite hockey team and its community newspaper have joined forces.

The Sudbury Wolves and Laurentian Publishing, owner of Northern Life, announced this week an exclusive media partnership between the two organizations — and Northern Life couldn't be happier to be able to call ourselves the “official newspaper of the Sudbury Wolves.”

Northern Life is all about community and few things get a Northern Ontario community more excited and more energized than hockey, and few teams have the passionate fans the Sudbury Wolves enjoy.

It's a match made in hockey heaven, said Wolves general manager Blaine Smith.

“We are very excited to have Northern Life become the official newspaper of the Wolves” Smith said. “Media partnerships are vital to the success of an OHL franchise and Northern Life understands the importance of supporting the local team by providing professional editorial coverage that assists in building our brand in the community and throughout the OHL.

“Northern Life, and publisher Abbas Homayed, have always been very supportive of the Sudbury Wolves and we are very pleased to grow our partnership with them.”

In addition to team coverage, look for info on upcoming games, promotions and events in Northern Life and in Sudbury’s newest local sports magazine, Sudbury Sports.

“Northern Life is very proud to be the new official newspaper of the Sudbury Wolves” Homayed said. “We here at Laurentian Publishing and Northern Life are big fans of the Wolves, and we can't wait for the season to get started.

“Stay tuned for some unique features on the Sudbury Wolves — in our paper and on our website, NorthernLife.ca — in the coming months thanks to this new relationship between two great community teams: a sports team and a news team.”

Smith adds that local media coverage is an “integral part of recruiting players to Sudbury.”

“One of the big drawing cards ... is the excellent local media coverage that is provided to the team,” Smith said. “Northern Life has made a commitment to profile our players and our organization in a positive light, and on a regular basis throughout the season.

“We are grateful for the support that the Northern Life will be providing to our team, our sponsors and our local fans.”

Don't forget the Wolves are in action tomorrow night for an exhibition game against the Kitchener Rangers. The puck drops at Sudbury Arena at 7:30 p.m.

Look for a 12-page season preview of the 2013-14 Sudbury Wolves in the Sept. 17 edition of Northern Life.