The View from S2, December 8, 2025
Wolves' Latest Loss Hard to Forget
By T Puck
The Sudbury Wolves continued their homestand Sunday afternoon, as they played host to the Oshawa Generals.
The Generals came into Sunday afternoon’s contest the worst ranked team in the OHL. They were walloped 11-2 Friday night in Sault Ste. Marie by the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in their previous game.
The Wolves were coming off a 2-1 victory over the Sarnia Sting on Friday night.
Sudbury iced the same 18 skaters that played on Friday night. They also started Karsen Chartier, who was the winning goalie on Friday night. He was opposed by Jaden Cholette of the Generals.
Sudbury scored the only goal of the opening stanza at 6:44. Vladimir Provorov gained possession of the puck behind the Oshawa net, and he fed Artem Gonchar with a pass in the upper right circle. The shot by Gonchar went in under the pad of Cholette.
Wolves defender Zach Wilson made a fine defensive play clearing the puck off the goal line in the last minute to maintain the Sudbury lead after one period.
The Wolves outshot the Generals 11-10 in the opening period. The Wolves had seven scoring chances and the Generals had five scoring chances.
Sudbury took a 2-0 lead at 3:13. Alex Pharand made a short pass to Vladimir Provorov in the slot. A quick wrist shot found the twine over the glove of Cholette. Daniel Berehowsky recorded the secondary assist on the goal. It was Provorov's first goal in the OHL
The Wolves took a three-goal advantage at 8:19. Rowan Henderson picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone. He moved the puck to Blake Clayton. Clayton made a nice pass from the slot to Artem Gonchar in the right circle. Gonchar looked like he would shoot the puck, but he made an alert pass to Ethan Dean in the slot. Dean fired a quick shot into an empty Oshawa net. The goal was Dean's first of the season.
The Wolves looked relaxed and in control of a game that they needed to win. However, the hockey gods had other plans in store on this Sunday afternoon.
The Wolves took their foot off the gas and relaxed, and before you knew it, the Generals were back in the game.
The Generals quickly responded with two goals in 74 seconds. A shot by Haoxi Wang was blocked in front of the Wolves net, and Luke Posthumus had a touch of the puck. The rebound went to Generals import Onni Kalto, who fired the puck past Chartier from the slot at 9:23. Oshawa made it a one-goal game at 10:37. Brady Blaseg fired a dump in to the Wolves’ zone. Luke Posthumus outhustled Zach Wilson to the loose puck behind the Wolves net, and he relayed the park to Owen Griffin in the Sudbury slot. A quick shot by Griffin found the twine.
The Wolves held a 3-2 advantage after 40 minutes of play. Sudbury outshot Oshawa 11-6 in the middle stanza. The Wolves had eight chances to score and the Generals had four chances to score.
Things were fairly calm for the first eight minutes of the third period.
Luke Posthumus evened the score at 8:07 when his blast from the right circle whizzed past Chartier under the crossbar and out, after video review. Haoxi Wang recorded the only assist on the goal.
The game was penalty free until the 12th minute of the third period when the Wolves were whistled for two infractions in 24 seconds. Captain Nathan Villeneuve was penalized for an undisciplined roughing penalty at 11:38. Luca Blonda quickly followed to the sin bin for a senseless checking from behind penalty at 12:02.
The Generals acted like they had received a get out of jail free card on Christmas morning, scoring two goals on the power play in 40 seconds. On the first goal, Owen Griffin moved the puck from the Sudbury slot to Lucas Moore in the left circle. Moore's shot was tipped home by Harrison Franssen at 12:27. Franssen struck again at 13:07. A hard shot by Aiden O'Donnell from the right circle squeaked through Chartier, and Franssen pushed the puck across the Sudbury goal line. Luke Posthumus had the secondary assist on the goal.
The announced crowd at the old barn of 3,591 went as quiet as a church mouse. The crowd was in complete disbelief.
Franssen and O'Donnell teamed up again for an empty net goal by O’Donnell at 16:29 to put a bow on proceedings for the day.
The Oshawa Generals humiliated the Sudbury Wolves 6-3 on the Wolves home ice.
The Generals outshot the Wolves 10-5 in the third period. The Generals had five chances to score and the Wolves had three chances to score.
The Wolves outshot the Generals 27-26 in the contest.
Credits and critiques
Sunday afternoon's game was a tale of two separate games. In the opening 28 minutes the Sudbury Wolves dominated proceedings and in the last 32 minutes of the contest the Sudbury Wolves imploded on home ice.
We have officially hit the low point of the season for the Sudbury Wolves. The Oshawa Generals are rebuilding this season after two straight trips to the OHL finals. As mediocre as they are this season, at least we can say that the Generals have some pride. You can bet that their coaching staff gave the players a tongue lashing for a poor performance in Sault Ste. Marie, and implored them to play better on Sunday afternoon. To their credit, the Generals responded.
T Puck is not sure what is required to send a wake-up call to the Sudbury Wolves. Going into this game, the Wolves were five points on a playoff spot. It looked like they might actually be turning a corner. But Sudbury did the exact opposite on Sunday, they took a collective turn into a very deep ditch.
Barring a minor miracle, let us stop kidding around about the Wolves making the playoffs this season. It is not going to happen.
If you are a playoff team, you absolutely need to beat the Oshawa Generals. You have to beat teams below you in the standings. Oshawa scored six goals on 15 scoring chances. That is unacceptable.
The Sudbury Wolves may have started a chain of events which very well might torpedo their season before the halfway point of the regular schedule.
Somebody needs to read the riot act to the coaching staff. You must get your players properly mentally prepared to play important hockey games.
The coaching staff bears considerable responsibility for this loss. The coaching staff did not do their jobs on Sunday. The coaches let themselves, the players and the fans down.
There do not appear to be any standards for the Sudbury Wolves. The coaching staff needs to communicate to the players that you cannot take two undisciplined penalties at the most crucial stage of the hockey game. T Puck loves Nathan Villeneuve as a player, but he should be spending next Friday's game in the press box. Who cares if he is the team captain? Villeneuve also missed a ton of good scoring chances on Sunday afternoon.
Luca Blonda has been coddled by the coaching staff, press and fans. The cold reality of the situation is that 2024 first round pick has regressed this season. His offensive game is nowhere near where it was last season. His defensive game is shaky. He tries to compete, but because he is small and he lacks upper body strength, he is easily knocked off the puck. He has very little confidence, and he is playing frustrated, angry hockey. His meltdown Sunday afternoon was very hard to accept, even for a 17-year-old player.
There are some seasons where it is absolutely clear that the chemistry of the team does not work, and unfortunately, this is one of those seasons for the Sudbury Wolves. This team can finish out of the playoffs with or without Nathan Villeneuve and/or Kieron Walton. T puck is sick of the endless litany of excuses for poor performance.
The team's 2024 second round pick and 2025 second round pick have a cumulative total of two goals this season, both notched on Sunday afternoon. The Sudbury Wolves are in trouble. Wave the white flag on the season.
Something has to give. There were maybe 2,000 people at the Elgin Street barn on Sunday afternoon, mostly children. Most of the season-ticket holders have already checked out for the season. It may be difficult to convince them to return to the barn next season.
The Wolves Scoring Chance Board Sunday afternoon was as follows:
Vladimir Provorov-three scoring chances, one goal
Ethan Dean-one scoring chance, one goal
Artem Gonchar-one scoring chance, one goal
Bohdi Ryan-two scoring chances
Jan Chovan-one scoring chance
Alex Pharand-one scoring chance
Kieron Walton-four scoring chances
Nathan Villeneuve-three scoring chances
Blake Clayton-one scoring chance
Kingston Harris-one scoring chance
The Wolves return to action Friday night against the Owen Sound Attack.
T Puck does not have the foggiest notion whom Coach Scott Barney will start in goal on Friday night.
