In a Thursday, October 30th Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL) showdown at the Countryside Arena, the Sudbury Cubs stormed back in the third period to defeat the visiting Soo Thunderbirds 5–2. The two clubs entered the matchup even in their season series, each earning a win in their first two meetings of the 2025–2026 campaign.
The Thunderbirds opened the scoring 54 seconds before the midway point of the second period when Deven Jones-McDonald cut across the front of the Cubs’ crease and slipped a backhander under Sudbury netminder Mateo Beites. Grady Holden and Aiden Atkinson picked up the assists on Jones-McDonald’s ninth goal of the season.
The Cubs responded on the powerplay at 11:19 when Noah Kohan tipped a shot from Nolan Newton past Soo goaltender Ryan Hicks to tie the contest 1–1. Spencer Horgan was credited with the second assist. The Soo regained the lead at 13:33 of the second when Aiden Atkinson buried a rebound from a Grady Holden shot, putting the visitors ahead 2–1 heading into the third period.
Sudbury came alive in the final frame, with Kohan netting his second of the game at 12:17 to even the score 2–2, assisted by Horgan and Eidan Macartney. Just fifteen seconds later, Caden Dubreuil capitalized on a loose puck in front of the net to give the Cubs their first lead of the night. Kaedyn Long and Daks Klinkhammer earned the assists. Klinkhammer then added to the lead at 15:37, knocking in his tenth goal of the season, with Dubreuil and Long again providing the helpers.
Former Blind River Beaver Owen King sealed the victory with his first goal as a Cub at 17:55, scoring on the powerplay to make it 5–2. Klinkhammer and Kohan assisted on the marker.
Sudbury goaltender Mateo Beites stopped 14 of 16 shots in the win, while Soo’s Ryan Hicks turned aside 28 of 33 in the loss.
Thunderbird coach Jamie Henderson told Saultsports that “our power play continued to struggle against that team. We were in a good spot on the road and we lost two players in one play after a brutal hit from behind. We didn’t have any gas left in the third and if it wasn’t for Hicks it would have been really one sided. We stuck with it pretty well 5 v 5, but failed power play opportunities continue to plague us in big games.”
The Cubs now hit the road for a Friday night matchup against the French River Rapids in Noelville, while the Thunderbirds return home to host the Powassan Voodoos on Saturday, November 1st at the John Rhodes Centre in Sault Ste. Marie. Both games are scheduled for 7:00 p.m. puck drops.
