The View from S2, December 15, 2025

The View from Section 2, December 15, 2025

Wolves Defeat Steelheads in Complete Effort

By T Puck

The Sudbury Wolves concluded their four-game homestand Sunday afternoon with a visit from the Brampton Steelheads.

The Steelheads were hungry for a victory, having dropped their first two games on their Northern Ontario road trip.

The Wolves continued to be without forwards Hudson Chitaroni and Chase Coughlan. Liam Ladds was also not available Sunday afternoon.

The starting goaltenders in this game were Zach Bowen for the Steelheads and Bjorn Bronas for the Wolves.

 Sudbury wasted little time getting on the scoreboard at 2:39. Alex Pharand moved the puck to Artem Gonchar in the left circle. Gonchar made a pinpoint pass to Patrik Ula in the right circle, and the rookie scored his first OHL goal, firing a quick shot past Bowen.

The Wolves doubled their lead at 8:54. Nathan Villeneuve moved the park to Hudson Martin just outside the far right Brampton circle. Martin made a backpass to Kieron Walton, who was stationed in the lower right circle. Walton turned Steelheads captain Mason Zebeski inside out, and he fired a shot from the right circle past Bowen.

The Wolves rounded out the first period scoring at 16:24. Rowan Henderson moved the puck to Alex Pharand on the Brampton mid-zone left boards. Pharand fed a pass to Daniel Berehowsky, who was unattended in the Brampton right circle. Berehowsky did a good job controlling the puck, and he slapped the puck past Bowen from a foot above the ice.

Sudbury had a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes of play.

The Wolves dominated the shots on goal and the scoring chances. The Wolves outshot Brampton 11-4 and they had seven chances to score, while limiting the Steelheads to only two chances to score.

Sudbury took a 4-0 advantage at 2:26 of the second period. Blake Clayton won the face-off in the Brampton zone, and he moved the puck back to Trevor O’Dell at the left point. A seeing-eye shot by O’Dell beat Bowen.

Steelheads coach James Richmond removed Bowen from the net in favour of rookie Luke Johnson.

Brampton found the scoresheet at 6:54. Troy Patton moved the puck from the left corner to Sean Matthew Goyette at the left point. Goyette shot was tipped in front of the Sudbury net by William Eggleton past Bronas.

The Wolves had a comfortable 4-1 lead after 40 minutes of play.

The Wolves outshot the Steelheads 14-10 in the middle stanza. Each team had seven chances to score.

Brampton tried to push the pace in the third period, but the Wolves played well defensively, and they limited good scoring opportunities against them.

The only goal of the third period came on a Wolves power play at 2:59. Daniel Berehowsky made a nice pass from the left-wing boards to Jan Chovan in the slot. Chovan fired a quick wrist shot past Johnson.

The Wolves competed hard all game, and they were not pressed down the stretch.

The Sudbury Wolves cruised to a wire-to-wire 5-1 victory.

The Steelheads outshot the Wolves 12-10 in the third period.

The Wolves outshot the Steelheads 35-26 in the contest.

The announced crowd of 3,276, which appeared to be about 50% of that number in the arena, went home happy with the result on Sunday afternoon.

Credits and critiques

The Sudbury Wolves played a very complete-game on Sunday afternoon. They were clicking on offense, and they were sound defensively. Brampton had very few occasions where they had sustained pressure in the Wolf zone.

Two of the Wolves defenders were rewarded with stars. Trevor O’Dell was given the first star of the game, undoubtedly due to his first OHL goal. Luca Blonda was named the third star of the game. He had a solid effort.

Bjorn Bronas was solid in the Sudbury net. He did not have to make a lot of great seats, but he was steady when he needed to be. His performance was aided by a defence that did not get the Steelheads second chance scoring opportunities. Sudbury limited Brampton to 16 scoring chances. Bronas was named the second star of the game.

T Puck is not sure who selected the three stars of this contest, but it appeared that the two best players on the ice were not selected as stars on Sunday.

Blake Clayton had his best game in a Wolves uniform. He was skating hard, hustling and he made things happen. He had only one scoring point, the assist on the O’Dell marker, but he was a going concern. He had five scoring chances, and he was one of the offensive leaders on Sunday.

His usual partner in crime on the penalty kill, Rowan Henderson, had a very good game. Henderson is a very consistent performer, but it looks like he might be getting to a higher gear offensively. This development would be very welcome for a Sudbury team that lacks team goalscoring and secondary scoring. Henderson was recently named to the OHL Top Prospects Game, and he is deserving of that invitation. He is an excellent team player, and you can see why he is a leader in the dressing room. The young man is also an excellent interview. T Puck would think that teammates would gravitate to his gregarious personality.

Rookie Patrik Ula has had two very impressive games with the Wolves. On Friday night, he recorded his first O HL point and on Sunday afternoon, he recorded his first O HL goal. T Puck watched Ula in training camp, and he was impressed. Ula is a late birthdate sixteen-year-old, but he does not look out of place. T Puck would expect that this 2025 seventh round pick might force the Wolves to make a roster decision. This would be a welcome development for a team that does not seem to have much internal competition.

One reader commented that Teapot did not comment that Alex Pharand was benched for the last half of the game on Friday. Pharand's play has been so sub-par this season that he is often not noticed when he is on the ice, so it would stand to reason that it would not be noticed that he was not playing. On Sunday, Pharand flipped the script. He was much more noticeable, and he was also much more effective, recording two helpers on the afternoon. Let us hope that Sunday is the start of better times for him.

Kieron Walton had a two-point game on Sunday, recording a goal and an assist. He has 43 points in 26 games. That is the good side of the ledger. On the other side of the ledger is a -12 rating, and many games where he appears to be floating and on the periphery of the play.

Sunday's victory was an important one for the Sudbury Wolves. By beating the Steelheads, that sit just above them in the eighth and final playoff spot, they moved to within five points in Brampton, and they still hold a game in hand.

The Wolves Scoring Chance Board Sunday afternoon was as follows

:

Kieron Walton-three scoring chances, one goal

Daniel Berehowsky-four scoring chances, one goal

Patrick Ula-one scoring chance, one goal

Jan Chovan-four scoring chances, one goal

Trevor O'Dell-one non-scoring chance, one goal

Blake Clayton-five scoring chances

Alex Pharand-two scoring chance

Nathan Villeneuve-one scoring chance

Brayden Bennett-one scoring chance

The Wolves conclude their pre-Christmas portion of the schedule with two games this week. On Thursday, they are in Barrie to play in the Barrie Colts. On Friday night, they return home to the Elgin Street barn to play the Wealth store.

T Puck has no idea whom Scott Barney will start in goal on Thursday night.