The 2026 Copeland McNamara Cup championship series got underway on Thursday, April 16th in Sudbury, Ontario, and it was the Greater Sudbury Cubs who made a strong opening statement, skating to a decisive 9–3 victory over the Timmins Rock to take a 1–0 lead in the best-of-seven final.

Timmins struck first on the power play midway through the opening period, as Kaeden McArthur netted his 12th goal of the postseason at 12:06, with assists going to Nolan Masson and Evan Katic for a 1–0 lead. The Cubs responded just over two minutes later at 14:33 when Noah Aboflan scored his third of the playoffs off a setup from Nate Lazarus and Daks Klinkhammer to tie the game 1–1. Sudbury then grabbed the lead at 17:32, with Grant Booth finishing off a play from Briir Long and Mason Walker to make it 2–1 heading into the intermission.

The Cubs took full control in the second period, beginning just 44 seconds in as Briir Long scored his seventh of the postseason unassisted to extend the lead to 3–1. Sudbury added a shorthanded marker at 8:59 when Caden Dubreuil buried his fourth of the playoffs, assisted by Spencer Horgan, making it 4–1. The special teams success continued at 12:37 on the power play, as Owen King scored his sixth of the postseason with Mason Walker picking up the assist to give the Cubs a commanding 5–1 advantage after two periods.

Timmins showed some pushback early in the third period with a pair of quick power play goals. Just 26 seconds in, Thomas Beard scored his fifth of the playoffs, assisted by Evan Katic, to cut the lead to 5–2. At 2:43, Braedyn Cyr added another power play tally—his fifth of the postseason—with Maxx Hamelin assisting to bring the Rock within two at 5–3. However, that was as close as they would get.

Sudbury quickly regained control, as Briir Long struck again at 3:13 for his eighth of the playoffs, assisted by Grant Booth and Nate Lazarus. The Cubs kept rolling at 12:03 when Booth scored his second of the night and fourth of the postseason, set up by Long, to make it 7–3. Nate Lazarus then added his first goal of the playoffs at 14:37, with assists from Mason Walker and Briir Long, before Kyle Navarro capped off the scoring at 17:09 with his first of the postseason, assisted by Kaedyn Long and Caden Dubreuil, sealing the 9–3 win.

In goal, Iain Wintle was solid for the Cubs, stopping 29 of 32 shots to earn the Game 1 victory. At the other end, Frédéric Cousineau made 23 saves on 28 shots in the loss for the Rock.

With the win, the Greater Sudbury Cubs take a 1–0 series lead and will look to build on that momentum in Game 2, set for Friday, April 17th in Sudbury with a 7:05 p.m puck drop.