The View from Section 2, December 20, 2025

Wolves Close Out First Half With a Victory

By T Puck

The Sudbury Wolves closed out the pre-Christmas portion of their schedule Friday night, as they hosted the Guelph Storm at the Elgin Street barn.

The pregame chatter was about the arrival of the Wolves sixth goaltender of the first half, Paolo Frasca, the 19-year-old, who made his OHL debut on Friday night.

Not to be outdone, Guelph started Cruz Reznik, a rookie 16-year-old goaltender, also making his OHL debut.

The Wolves iced the same 18 skaters that played in Barrie on Thursday night.

Frasca was not eased into action on Friday night. Guelph had a good start to the game, and they had several good scoring chances against the new Sudbury goaltender. Frasca made two outstanding saves against Carter Stevens, that left the Guelph forward looking up at the beams of the Elgin Street barn.

Sudbury scored the only goal of the opening 20 minutes just 13 seconds from the intermission. Kieron Walton picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone, and he broke away with Nathan Villeneuve on an odd-man rush. Walton made an excellent saucer pass to Villeneuve in front, and Villeneuve tipped the puck past Reznik.

The Storm outshot the Wolves 16-10 in the first period. The Storm had nine chances to score and the Wolves had six chances to score.

The Wolves carried the momentum from the late goal into the second period.

Passes from Artem Gonchar and Blake Clayton sent Rowan Henderson on a rink length dash from the centre of the ice to the right wing. Henderson went around the defender, and he cut toward the front of the Guelph net. His shot went in off the state of Guelph defender Rylan Singh.

Sudbury took a 3-0 lead at 3:25. A shot by Gavin Ewles from the right point was stopped by Reznik, and the puck caromed off Vladimir Provorov in the right circle to Alex Pharand in the slot. He fired a quick sweep shot past Reznik.

The Wolves had several good opportunities to extend their lead, but they had some bad luck around the Guelph net.

Carter Stevens finally solved Frasca at 10:26, to put Guelph on the board. Leo Serlin picked up a loose puck in the Wolves zone. The puck moved back to Patrick Babin above the high slot. He found Stevens in the left circle, and his wrist shot beat Frasca on the short side.

The Wolves had a 3-1 advantage after 40 minutes of play.

Guelph outshot Sudbury 13-8 in the middle stanza. The Storm had eight chance to score and the Wolves had six chances to score.

Could the Wolves maintain their lead and take a four-game winning streak into the Christmas break?

Guelph made it a one-goal game just 26 seconds into the third period. Will McFadden moved the park to Jaakko Wycisk behind the Sudbury net. He made a quick backhand pass to Alex McLean, who was left completely alone in front of the Sudbury net. Frasca made a good save on the initial scoring opportunity, but McLean banged home the rebound.

Guelph gathered momentum from the goal, and it looked for a time that they were close to equalizing the contest.

Two Wolves veterans teamed up to turn the momentum back in the Wolves favour at 6:42. Nathan Villeneuve made a good play to intercept the puck at the Wolves blueline. Villeneuve skated away with Alex Pharand on an odd-man rush. Villeneuve made a quality pass from near the boards on the Guelph left-wing. Pharand made a good play, skating through the middle lane in the Guelph zone, and he tipped the puck past Reznik from close range.

Paolo Frasca continued to play well in the Wolves net, and he protected the Wolves two-goal advantage.

Guelph coach Cory Stillman removed Reznik for an extra attacker with 4:49 to play.

The strategy quickly backfired, as Artem Gonchar made a pass to Nathan Villeneuve at the centre line left boards. Villeneuve moved the puck to Alex Pharand in the Guelph zone. Pharand found the yawning cage, and he completed his first hat trick of the season.

Hats from the 3,407 in attendance descended to the ice. There should have been more hats, but many fans kept their fannies at home, as the City of Greater Sudbury ponders purchasing small George Jetson-style flying saucers to combat the lack of parking around the Elgin Street barn. This would be the most progressive measure undertaken by our city leaders in years.

Nathan Villeneuve supplied the cherry on the sundae for the Wolves with a late goal. Alex Pharand made a pass from behind the Guelph net to Villeneuve in the slot. Villeneuve had a running feud with Guelph smart aleck cream puff defender Quinn Beauchese all evening. Villeneuve expended all of his pent-up intensity. He wound up for a slapshot from about 10 feet in front of the Guelph goal. The puck had a vapour trail entering the net. The shot was so hard that the referees could not see the puck enter the net with the naked eye, and they needed video replay to confirm the goal. Kieron Walton recorded the secondary assist on the goal.

The Sudbury Wolves won this game going away, avenging an earlier humiliating defeat in Guelph with a 6-2 victory.

The Storm outshot the Wolves 11-10 in the final stanza. The Wolves had nine chances to score and the Storm had seven chances to score.

The Storm outshot the Wolves 40-28 in the contest.

Credits and critiques

The Sudbury Wolves finished the unofficial first half of the season on a high note Friday night.

Paolo Frasca had an outstanding debut for the Wolves, stopping 38 of 40 shots against him and 22 of 24 Guelph scoring chances. Many of the Guelph scoring opportunities were of a high-quality variety. The Wolves did not play nearly as clean a defensive game as they had on Thursday night in Barrie, and Frasca was the main reason that they won the game on Friday night. Frasca was named the first star of the contest.

Alex Pharand is on one of his hot streaks. The overage forward and an outstanding game on Friday night. Wolves coach Scott Barney commented in the post-game media availability that Pharand played the game right on Friday night. Readers may wonder what the coach was talking about, it is as simple as executing the basics of the game properly. For Pharand, it means hustling to get good scoring position, keeping his stick on the ice, and taking advantage of scoring opportunities. Pharand is a big man, and he is difficult to move from the front of the net. When Pharand plays big and right, he is effective. As Pharand himself pointed out in the post-game media availability, it is sticking to the meat and potatoes of his game. Pharand was named the second star of the contest. Let all Wolves fans hope that Pharand's hot streak continues into the second half of the season.

A trio of young Wolves forwards caught the eye of T Puck on Friday night. Brayden Bennett, Patrik Ula and Ethan Dean had several shifts together, and they played well as a unit. They forechecked well, and he created several offensive opportunities. This trio bears watching moving forward.

Nathan Villeneuve had another good game, collecting two goals and adding an assist.

Kieron Walton recorded three assists on the evening.

Gavin Ewles was judged by the selector of the three stars as the best of the Wolves defenders on the evening. He had an assist, and he was named the third star of the contest.

The win Friday night moves the Wolves within one point of the Niagara Ice Dogs for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Wolves Scoring Chance Board Friday night was as follows:

Alex Pharand-five scoring chances, three goals

Nathan Villeneuve-four scoring chances, two goals

Rowan Henderson-two scoring chances, one goal

Kieron Walton-four scoring chances

Daniel Berehowsky-two scoring chances

Liam Ladds-one scoring chance

Ethan Dean-two scoring chances

Case Coughlan-one scoring chance

The Wolves are now off for their Christmas break. The Sudbury Wolves return to action on December 30, 2025, as they close out the 2025 home portion of the schedule with a visit from the Kitchener Rangers.

T Puck would like to wish all of his readers a very Merry Christmas. T Puck appreciates all of the feedback that he receives from the blogs.

Be on the lookout for the almost first half T Puck grades the performance of the Wolves players. It will be published sometime before Christmas.