Jason LaRose
The Greater Sudbury Cubs are back.
For the second year in a row, the Cubs claimed the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL) championship and, with it, a place at the 2025 Centennial Cup, presented by Tim Hortons.
The lineup that will step onto the ice in Calgary includes 13 players who made the trip south to Oakville a year ago, finishing 1-3 in the preliminary round and missing out on the quarterfinals.
The baker’s dozen includes No. 2 scorer Samuel Assinewai, who finished the season on a 24-game point streak and ranked third in NOJHL scoring (34-38—72), and goaltender Noah Beaulne, who had a 2.44 goals-against average and a league-leading six shutouts in the regular season.
Greater Sudbury was rarely challenged atop the NOJHL during the regular season, going 44-6-2 with a +138 goal differential that ranked fourth in the entire Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL).
They took charge early, running off a 20-game win streak from early November through late January, and finished 10 points clear of the second-place Hearst Lumberjacks.
Sweeps of Iroquois Falls and the Soo Thunderbirds returned the Cubs to the league final, where the Lumberjacks provided the opposition in what turned out to be a thriller of a series.
After Hearst drew first blood, Greater Sudbury bounced back with three-straight wins to put it on the verge of another NOJHL title. But the Lumberjacks mounted an epic comeback with a six-goal third period in Game 5 and took Game 6 at home to force a decider.
A three-goal Cubs lead shrunk to one in the final minute of Game 7, but Greater Sudbury saw out a 6-4 victory to once again hoist the Copeland Cup.
NOJHL teams have not found much success at the national level; just twice have teams from the league reached at least the semifinals – the Rayside Balfour Sabrecats, who got to the final in 2000, and the Thunderbirds, who were semifinalists in 2012.
HOW THEY GOT TO CALGARY
Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League Quarterfinal: defeated Iroquois Falls Storm 4-0 (7-1, 6-5, 4-3 OT, 2-0) Semifinal: defeated Soo Thunderbirds 4-0 (7-4, 4-2, 6-3, 5-0) Final: defeated Hearst Lumberjacks 4-3 (2-6, 5-4 OT, 6-1, 5-1, 6-10, 4-5, 6-4)
REGULAR SEASON
Record (W-L-OTL): 44-6-2 (1st in NOJHL) Goals for: 252 (2nd in NOJHL) Goals against: 114 (1st in NOJHL) Power play: 72 for 232 (31.0% – 1st in NOJHL) Penalty killing: 215 of 243 (88.5% – 1st in NOJHL) Longest winning streak: 20 (Nov. 8-Jan. 23)
Top 3 scorers: • Lucas Signoretti – 46G 55A 101P (1st in NOJHL) • Samuel Assinewai – 34G 38A 72P (3rd in NOJHL) • Nolan Newton – 24G 29A 53P (16th in NOJHL)
PLAYOFFS
Record: 12-3 Goals for: 75 Goals against: 49 Power play: 25 for 66 (37.9%) Penalty killing: 54 of 65 (83.1%)
Top 3 scorers: • Lucas Signoretti – 17G 19A 36P • Spencer Horgan – 5G 20A 25P • Daks Klinkhammer – 10G 14A 24P
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
2024 – Greater Sudbury Cubs | 8th place | 1-3 | 11GF 18GA
COLLEGE & UNIVERSITY COMMITMENTS
None
CJHL TOP 20 RANKINGS
Sept. 30 – 19th Oct. 7 – 13th Oct. 14 – 7th Oct. 21 – 7th Oct. 28 – 6th Nov. 4 – 5th Nov. 11 – 5th Nov. 18 – 6th Nov. 25 – 6th Dec. 2 – 5th Dec. 9 – 4th Dec. 16 – 2nd Dec. 23 – 1st Jan. 6 – 1st Jan. 13 – 1st Jan. 20 – 1st Jan. 27 – 2nd Feb. 3 – 2nd Feb. 10 – 2nd Feb. 17 – 3rd Feb. 24 – 4th March 3 – 7th March 10 – 7th