With some 93 teams of primarily boys hockey in town for the Silver Stick Hockey Tournament last weekend (yes, there were certainly some young girls strewn throughout the lineups of some of the teams, particularly in the younger age brackets), the bulk of their Sudbury female counterparts took to the road in search of competition.
Overcoming a relatively slow start by their lofty standards, the Sudbury Midget "AA" Lady Wolves closed out the USA Canada Cup in Kitchener-Waterloo in style, winning their final three outings by a combined score of 18-3.
The locals opened with a 1-1 tie against the Toronto Leaside Midget "AA" Wildcats, a sub .500 team in the Lower Lakes Female Hockey League (LLFHL), with Jenna Miller netting the only Sudbury goal, assists going to Makyala Gratton and Lauren Hancock.
The Midget girls made it back to back ties, finishing in a 2-2 draw with the Chicago Mission U16 entry, as Mylène Lefebvre joined Jenna Miller on the scoresheet.
The Lady Wolves started to turn things around with a 5-1 win over the Milwaukee Jr Admirals (U16), as Taylor Scott scored twice, with Lefebvre, Hancock and Deseray Zazulak adding singles.
That was followed by a 5-0 whitewashing of the Pittsburgh Pens (U16), with five different scorers hitting the mark in support of the shutout pitched by netminder Mireille Kingsley.
Alexe Clavelle, Madisyn Papineau, Emilie Comeau, Elizabeth Laberge and Makayla Gratton all found their way on to the scoresheet for the winners. A five-goal second period outburst proved to be the difference in their final encounter as Sudbury Midget "AA" crew thumped the Laurentides Lanaudière from Québec 8-2.
Clavelle, Papineau and Hanna Smith potted two goals apiece, with Lefebvre and Madison Laberge chipping in with one each. Coach Jay Duncan and company will spend some time at home in December, welcoming the Brampton Canadettes (Dec 15th), Toronto Aeros (Dec 16th), North Bay Ice Boltz (Dec 20th) and Barrie Sharks (Dec 22nd) to town.
The Sudbury Midget "A" Lady Wolves took over top spot in the Central East Division of the LLFHL with a three win weekend, a successful stretch that was kicked off with a 3-0 besting of the Aurora Panthers.
Hannah Nykilchyk scored twice, Vanessa McKinnon slammed home a solo tally, and puckstopper Veronique Hamelin turned aside every shot that came her way. The northern girls duplicated that result later that same evening, knocking off the King Royals by an identical count of 3-0.
This time around, Danielle Pitre joined Nykilchyk and McKinnon on the scoresheet, while Kristen Mrozewski picked up where Hamelin left off, recording the shutout.
The team completed their southern swing, stopping the North York Storm 4-1 on Sunday as Pitre, McKinnon, Myah Fillion and Joelle Gagnon all hit the mark for a Sudbury squad that extended their league winning streak to four games, improving to 10-2-1 on the season.
The Sudbury Bantam "A" Lady Wolves also hold down top spot in their division, though they have all but completed their 22-game regular season schedule, with no other team having played more than 13 games.
The Sudbury reps now boast a record of 12-4-3, closing out a four games in four days span with a trio of victories. The Lady Wolves defeated the Barrie Sharks (4-1), Aurora Panthers (3-1) and North Bay Ice Boltz (1-0), while seeing the Panthers even the score with a 3-1 win of their own.
The Sudbury Bantam "AA" Lady Wolves were also in Waterloo for the USA Canada Cup, capturing two of the five games they played. The team opened with triumphs over both the NAHA Futures - U14 (4-2) and Chicago Mission U14 (2-0), but fell to the Laurentides Lanaudière (4-0), the host Waterloo Ravens (1-0) and the Pittsburgh Pens - U14 (4-2).
Beyond the above, a handful of Sudbury teams were in Whitby for the weekend, site of the 2018 Tournament of Heroes, though no local entries would lay claim to either gold or silver medals at the event.
