The View from Section 2, January 8, 2026

Wolves Dig Early Hole and Lose in Sault Ste. Marie

By T Puck

The Sudbury Wolves journeyed to Sault Ste. Marie to take on the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds Wednesday night.

A decent midweek crowd of 3,488 attended the contest.

Two new faces joined the Wolves on Wednesday.

Jean-Christophe Lemieux made his debut with the Wolves. Lemieux was part of the package in the trade with Windsor Spitfires involving Nathan Villeneuve and Alex Pharand.

Adam Nemec also made his debut on Wednesday. Nemec was the Wolves second-round import pick in the 2024 CHL Import Draft. He is a native of Slovakia. Nenec was impressive in the 2026 World Junior Hockey Championships with Slovakia. He is a B rated prospect for the 2026 NHL Entry Draft.

T Puck would expect that Nemec will be a dynamic offensive player. It is a pleasure to finally see him in the blue-and-white of Sudbury.

The starting goaltenders in this game were Bjorn Rona's for the Wolves and Noah Tegelaar for for the Greyhounds.

The Greyhounds opened the scoring in this game at 4:41. A pass from the right point by Marco Mignosa found Quinn McKenzie in the Wolves right circle. He fired a quick shot that beat Bronas. Callum Croskery recorded the secondary assist on the goal.

Sault Ste. Marie took a two-goal lead at 7:33. A pass by Christopher Brown found Chase Reid in the Wolves left circle, defended by Gavin Ewles of the Wolves. Reid evaded Ewles by moving backwards in a half-pirouette. He fired a pinpoint shot high past Bronas. Bronas may have lost his angle on the play.

The Greyhounds added to their lead at 9:32. A pass from Chase Reid found Lukas Fischer in the middle of the Sudbury blueline. It shot may have been deflected in front, and there was some debate as to whether Quinn McKenzie touched the puck on the way to the net. After looking at the post-game summary, the goal went to Ficsher. Marco Mignosa was credited with the secondary assist on the goal.

Wolves coach Scott Barney tried to shake up his crew, and he removed Bronas from the goal in favour of Karsen Chartier.

Coach Barney's strategy did not have the desired effect, as the Wolves continued to flounder.

The Greyhounds completed the first period scoring at 14:43. Travis Hayes found Marco Mignosa in the Wplves left circle. Mignosa quickly moved the puck to Christopher Brown in the slot, where he was unguarded. A quick shot by Brown beat Chartier.

Sault Ste. Marie took a 4-0 advantage to the locker room after 20 minutes of play.

The Greyhounds outshot the Wolves 11-7. The Greyhounds had seven chances to score, not including a non-scoring chance goal. The Wolves had six chances to score.

One of the Sudbury newcomers put the Wolves on the score sheet at 0:42 of the second stanza.

A shot from the right point by Gavin Ewles was neatly tipped home by Jean-Christoph Lemieux. Artem Gonchar recorded the secondary assist on the goal.

Sault Ste. Marie restored its four-goal lead at 12:22. Near the end of a Wolves power play, Lukas Fisher grabbed a loose puck, and he moved it to Marco Mignosa on the right wing. Mignosa cut to the front of the net, and he beat Chartier with a backhand shot from the slot. A very tired Artem Gonchar could not catch the fleet footed Mignosa.

The Wolves had a huge hole to climb out of after 40 minutes of play.

Sudbury outshot Sault Ste. Marie 11-5 in the middle stanza. The Wolves had six chances to score, and the Greyhounds scored on their only scoring chance.

Another newcomer lit the lamp for Sudbury on the power play at 4:29. Jean-Christoph Lemieu made a short pass to Artem Gonchar at the right point. Gonchar moved into the right circle, and he found Adam Nemec, alone in the Sault Ste. Marie slot. Nemec moved the puck from his skate to the stick, before firing a shot into an empty net.

The Greyhounds did not show much discipline in the third period.

The Wolves had a golden opportunity to move closer on the scoreboard at 8:50 when Chase Reid was given a double-minor and Tobias Zvolensky was also penalized on the same play. The Wolves had a full 5-3 power play for 2:00, and a subsequent 2:00 power play.

What ensued was a two-man advantage where the puck was passed around like shareable appetizers, but with few direct shots on goal. This continued for the entire four-minute duration of the man advantage, except when the Greyhounds were able to divest the puck from the Wolves power play units.

When Sault Ste. Marie was not shorthanded, they dominated the territorial play.

Chartier was removed for an extra attacker with 1:33 remaining in the contest.

The last-minute strategy was not successful.

Brady Smith of the Greyhounds concluded the scoring for the evening with an empty net goal at 19:14.

Sault Ste. Marie outshot Sudbury 13-5 in the final stanza. The Greyhounds had seven chances to score and the Wolves had four chance to score.

The Greyhounds outshot the Wolves 29-23 in the game.

Credits and critiques

A four-goal deficit in the first 14:43 of playing time was far too much for the Sudbury Wolves to overcome on Wednesday night.

Bjorn Bronas had a night to forget, as he stopped only two of five shots directed at him.

The Wolves looked like they were shellshocked in the opening 20 minutes of play.

The bright spots on the evening were the two newcomers, JC Lemieux and Adam Nemec. Lemieux had a goal and an assist and Nemec scored his first goal as a member of the Wolves.

The power play suffered from a lack of familiarity. It was 1-8 on the evening.

It was curious to T Puck why the Wolves were not better organized during their long two-man advantage and eventual four-minute power play. It seemed that this was the golden opportunity to organize things, especially given the new personnel on the power-play unit.

This may have been unfortunate, because if the Wolves would have scored another power play goal, the game may have had a much closer finish.

Kieron Walton had a rough night on Wednesday night. He missed on two clear-cut breakaways, and he missed the net on a few other occasions. Watching the game, you just had the feeling that Walton is not really happy at the moment. You wonder if Walton is still in play less than 24 hours before the OHL Trade Deadline, and from what T Puck has heard, there are three teams that may be looking to acquire him in a trade. If the Wolves could get fair value for Walton, T Puck would have no hesitation moving him.

The Wolves are going with the younger group, and this does not seem to be an ideal fit for him. T Puck is certain that Walton would like to chase and OHL Championship, and perhaps he will get his wish.

It may also be a possibility that Walton, who is a signed draft pick of the Winnipeg Jets, could have received offers to play in the NCAA immediately. This is speculation, but this is the new landscape that might be evolving in Canadian Junior hockey.

You may wish to do what the Owen Sound Attack did with Carter George, that is to trade him for assets before he bolts from your team to the NCAA for nothing.

This is not science fiction. Apparently, according to the Owen Sound Times, George's representatives had been wooed by NCAA teams since November for George go to the NCAA, so Attack General Manager Dale DeGray did what he thought was prudent.

These shenanigans have been taking place in college basketball, with great controversy.

The Wolves Scoring Chance Board Wednesday night was as follows:

JC Lemieux-three scoring chances, one goal

Adam Nemec-three scoring chances, one goal

Kieron Walton-four scoring chances

Daniel Berehowsky-two scoring chances

Ethan Dean-one scoring chance

Blake Clayton-one scoring chance

Hudson Martin-one scoring chance

Brayden Bennett-one scoring chance

The Wolves return to action Friday night at the Elgin Street barn, as they host the Niagara Ice Dogs.

Look for Paolo Frasca to get the start on Friday evening.