Photo Credit: Freeze Frame Photos
After finishing the 2024 Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL) post season with a 12 – 4 record with winning post season series over the Soo Thunderbirds, Blind River Beavers, and the Powassan Voodoos, the Sudbury Cubs headed south to represent the north at the 2024 Centennial Cup national championship in Oakville, Ontario to open their championships with a Friday, May 10th against the Ontario Junior Hockey League champions, the Collingwood Blues.
With the first shot of the game only 38 seconds into the first, Collingwood defenseman Calum Chau rifles a snapshot from the right faceoff circle over the left shoulder of Cub netminder Noah Metivier to give the Blues a 1 – 0 lead. Jack Rimmer added the lone assist on Chau’s goal. With only five seconds remaining in Hudson Chitaroni’s faceoff delay of game penalty, Jack Rimmer fires a wrist shot through traffic to find the back of Sudbury’s net over Metivier’s catcher to give Collingwood a 2 – 0 lead at 13:57, Landon Wright drew the helper on Rimmer’s powerplay goal. Sault Ste Marie’s Hudson Chitaroni picks up a loose puck in the left faceoff circle off a Cub rebound to find the back of Blue goaltender Noah Pak to close the gap to one at 18:27. Marshall McCharles registers the lone contributor on the Cubs first goal of the 2024 championship. With 13 seconds remaining in the opening period, Ethan Facchina rifles a wrist shot through traffic from just inside the centre of the blueline to find the back of the Cubs net over Noah Beaulne’s catcher to send the Blues into the first intermission up 3 – 1. Jack Robertson and Landon Wright added the assists on Facchia’s goal.
From between the faceoff circles and on a powerplay, Spencer Young sinks the Blues fourth along the ice to find the back of the Cubs net under Metivier’s blocker to bring the lead to 4 – 1 for Collingwood. Mark McIntosh and Dylan Hudon had the helpers on Young’s goal at 3:56 of the second. At seven minutes even of the middle stanza, Jack Silverman picks up a loose puck to the right of Sudbury’s net to slide Collingwood’s third powerplay goal through Metivier’s five hole to increase the Blues’ lead to 5 – 1. Jack Rimmer and Mark McIntosh notched the contributors on Silverman’s powerplay goal. 55 seconds past the midway mark of the second, Damon Boose picks up a Hunter Nagge rebound off of Metivier to find the back of the Cubs net to give the Blues a 6 – 1 lead. Ethan Facchia added the other assist on Boose’s goal. On a Sudbury powerplay, Mason Chitaroni fires a slapshot from just inside the centre of the blueline to be tipped by Marshall McCharles behind Noah Pak to close the gap to four for the Cubs at 18:38 of the second.
Scoring another powerplay goal for Collingwood 1:57 into the third, Landon Wright finds the back of Beaulne’s net from the right faceoff circle to bring the Blues’ lead to 7 – 2. Jack Robertson and Jack Rimmer added the assists on Wright’s powerplay goal. With a loose puck in front of Sudbury’s crease, Marcus Lougheed sends a cross crease pass to Dylan Hudon to lift Collingwood’s eighth over Beaulne’s catcher to give the Blues a 8 – 2 lead. Mark McIntosh added the other helper on Hudon’s goal at eleven minutes of the final period. From inside the right blueline, Calum Chau rifles a snapshot through traffic to find the back of the Cubs net for his second of the game at 12:42 of the third. Sam Lockyer registered the lone helper on Chau’s goal. Registering a hat trick from the left blueline and on a powerplay, Calum Chau fires a shot along the ice to find the back of the Cubs net through traffic to give Collingwood a 10 – 2 win. Mark McIntosh and Spencer Young had the assists on Chau’s third of the game. Sudbury’s Noah Beaulne and Noah Metivier combined to stop 40 of 50 shots in the Cubs 10 – 2 loss to open the 2024 Centennial Cup while Blue goaltender Noah Pak turned away 29 of 31 shots in Collingwood’s second straight win in Oakville at the 2024 national championships.
The next opponent for the Cubs will be the Central Canada Hockey League champions, the Navan Grads on Sunday, May 12th with a puck drop at 4:00 p.m (EST) in Oakville while the Blues will take on the Collège Français de Longueuil of the Ligue de Hockey Junior du Québec on Monday, May 13th at 12:00 p.m (EST).
