The moment the Sudbury Wolves and Wolves Nation have been waiting all summer for has finally arrived, the opening of the 2025-2026 Ontario Hockey League season. What better way to kick off the regular season than against their Central Division and Northern Ontario rivals the North Bay Battalion?
Unfortunately for the Wolves and their fans, Sudbury came up just short, earning a single point in a heartbreaking, yet exciting, 4-3 overtime loss.
Charlie Larocque was the starting goaltender for North Bay while Sudbury went with Owen Leonard between the pipes.
Just shy of the 11-minute mark of the opening period, Wolves’ rookie Brayden Bennett scored not only his first goal of the season but his first career Ontario Hockey League goal, with the assists going to Drake Berehowsky and Mason Walker to give the Sudbury Wolves a 1-0 lead. This proved to be the only goal of the opening period, sending the teams to the dressing room with the Sudbury Wolves up a goal.
At the 3:27 mark of the second, the Troops tied the game when Ryder Cali scored his first goal of the season, assisted by Briir Long, making the score 1-1.
With 9:06 remaining in the middle frame, returning Wolves’ forward Chase Coughlan scored his first goal of the season, with the assists going to Blake Clayton and Rowan Henderson, restoring Sudbury’s lead to 2-1.
Exactly 33 seconds later, North Bay tied the game with Ryder Carey’s second goal of the season, assisted by Carter Kunopaski, once again tying the game at two goals apiece.
With time winding down in the second period, Hudson Chitaroni found the back of the net for the Sudbury Wolves. After a goal review for a kicking motion, the referees allowed the goal to stand, giving Chitaroni his first goal of the season, assisted by Trevor O’Dell and Gavin Ewles. With one period left in regulation time, the Sudbury Wolves were up 3-2.
It wasn’t until the halfway mark of the third period that either team scored, and that goal would be scored by North Bay. Arseny Pronin put the puck behind Leonard for his first goal of the season, with the assists going to Nick Wellenreiter and Ihnat Pazil, tying the game 3-3 and sending it to overtime.
Barely one minute into the extra period, Cali put the puck behind Wolves’ goaltender Owen Leonard, but the goal was questionable. After the second lengthy goal review of the hockey game, this one for a hand pass, the goal was allowed to stand, giving the North Bay Battalion the extra point and a 4-3 victory over the Sudbury Wolves.
The Sudbury Wolves earned one out of a possible two points in this hockey game.
The Sudbury Wolves now begin a four-game road trip, starting with a visit to St. Catharines, Ontario for a game against the Niagara IceDogs with puck drop scheduled for 2 p.m.
Super fan Robert McCarthy covers the Sudbury Wolves and Sudbury Five for Sudbury.com. Got a question for Robert? Email it to [email protected].