Cubs host Beavers in fight for first place

Sudbury, ON – The Greater Sudbury Cubs welcome the Blind River Beavers to the Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex for the second time this season on Thursday night in a contest with a spot atop the West Division at stake for the Cubs, who currently sit second in the division with 77 points. A regulation win for the Beavers could see them increase their narrow one-point lead from 78 to 80 points, marking the second time that Blind River has reached the 80-point plateau.

Greater Sudbury, with a 3-2 shootout loss on Monday to the Powassan Voodoos, now find themselves on just their second two-game losing streak of the season, their first since a 4-3 loss to the Soo Thunderbirds on October 19th and a 3-2 loss on the 20th to the Elliot Lake Vikings – both losses coming in regulation. With the losses, Sudbury has dropped to 14th in the CJHL Top 20 Rankings – Fuelled by Gatorade and remain second in the West Division with 77 points. Sudbury moved to second in Goals For (233) and remains third in the league in Goals Against (143). The Cubs enter tonight 6-3-0-1 in their last 10 games and an impressive home record of 19-3-1-2.

Blind River come into the Countryside Sports Complex 8-2-0-0 in their last 10 games and have now won seven in-a-row after their recent 6-4 win over the Soo Eagles on Family Day. Forward Jesse Dupuis (03-F) had two goals while forward Daniel Vasic (06-F) scored a goal and contributed two assists for a three-point afternoon.

Previous meetings

Sudbury has historically been the favourite in matchups against the Beavers with a 15-9-1-0 record against them over the last five seasons. However, Blind River have been doing their best to rewrite that narrative with two dominant home victories in-a-row over Greater Sudbury this season – a 6-3 win on Dec. 2nd and 5-0 on Feb. 17th – this after falling 6-3 to the Cubs in their first meeting of the season on Nov. 9th.

Player to watch (Sudbury)

Hudson Chitaroni (07-F) – The 16-year-old got back on the scoresheet with a power-play goal against Powassan on Monday and has racked up four goals and nine assists for 13 points in his last 10 games. He continues to lead the league in rookie scoring with 27 goals and 36 assists for 63 points through 47 games played this season. 

Player to watch (Blind River)

Jakob Kovacs (03-F) – The Sault Ste. Marie, ON, native has two goals and two assists for four points in three games against the Cubs this season and has two goals and nine assists for 11-points over his last 10 games played overall.

BEAR FACTS

LEADING SCORERS – SUDBURY

1. Oliver Smith (03-F) – 50 GP – 36 G – 50 A – 88 Pts [5 PPG – 17 PPA – 1 SHG – 1 SHA – 6 GWG]
2. ^* Hudson Chitaroni (07-F) – 47 GP – 27 G – 36 A – 63 Pts [8 PPG – 12 PPA – 1 SHA – 3 GWG]
3. Nolan Newton (06-F) – 26 GP – 24 G – 25 A – 49 Pts [10 PPG – 5 PPA – 4 GWG]
4. Samuel Assinewai (04-F) – 29 GP – 18 G – 29 A – 47 Pts [4 PPG – 5 PPA – 1 GWG]
5. Cameron Shanks (04-F) – 48 GP – 13 G – 22 A – 35 Pts [1 PPA – 2 SHG – 1 SHA – 3 GWG]

* rookie

LEADING SCORERS – BLIND RIVER

1. Jakob Kovacs (03-F) – 43 GP – 27 G – 31 A – 58 Pts [5 PPG – 7 PPA – 5 SHG – 1 SHA – 3 GWG]
2. Andrey Manov (03-D) – 46 GP – 10 G – 47 A – 57 Pts [3 PPG – 10 PPA – 2 SHG – 1 SHA – 4 GWG]
3. Jesse Dupuis (03-F) – 46 GP – 25 G – 31 A – 56 Pts [9 PPG – 6 PPA – 4 GWG]
4. Evan Fraccaro (03-F) – 49 GP – 22 G – 26 A – 48 Pts [4 PPG – 4 PPA – 1 SHG – 1 GWG]
5. Michael Gallagher (03-F) – 49 GP – 23 G – 22 A – 45 Pts [5 PPG – 9 PPA – 1 SHG – 5 GWG]

LAST FIVE GAMES – SUDBURY

1. 3-2 SOL vs Powassan (19-02-24)
2. 5-0 L @ Blind River (17-02-24)
3. 7-1 W vs French River (15-02-24)
4. 4-1 W @ Espanola (09-02-24)
5. 4-3 OTW vs Espanola (08-02-24)

LAST FIVE GAMES – BLIND RIVER

1. 6-4 W vs Soo Eagles (19-02-24)
2. 5-0 W vs Greater Sudbury (17-02-24)
3. 3-2 W vs Soo Thunderbirds (10-02-24)
4. 5-4 OTW @ Soo Thunderbirds (09-02-24)
5. 8-2 W vs Elliot Lake (03-02-24)

GOALIE STATS – SUDBURY

1. Noah Beaulne (04-G) – 22 GP – 15 W – 3 L – 1 OTL – 1 SOL – 2.39 GAA – 0.919 SV%
2. Noah Metivier (04-G) – 33 GP – 22 W – 7 L – 1 SOL – 2 SO – 2.88 GAA – 0.914 SV%
3. Matthew Vahramian (06-G) – 19 GP – 3 W – 11 L – 2 SOL – 4.72 GAA – 0.883 SV%

GOALIE STATS – BLIND RIVER

1. ^* Noah Tegelaar (06-G) – 27 GP – 24 W – 3 L – 1.91 GAA – 0.931 SV%
2. Gavin Disano (03-G) – 12 GP – 9 W – 2 L – 2.91 GAA – 0.907 SV%

POINT STREAKS OR RECORDS – SUDBURY

1. Josh Kavanagh (03-D) – With an assist on Monday against Powassan, the Hanmer, ON, native broke his second longest pointless-drought of the season and now has nine goals and 16 assists for 25-points through 34 games this season.

• Ethan Larmand (03-F) – Wasting no time getting back into the goal column, the Midland, ON, native continues to be a point-per-game player with six goals and four assists through 10 games played for the Cubs since being acquired at this season’s trade deadline.

• Ben Lacroix (03-F) – The Sudbury, ON, native is currently struggling through an eight-game pointless drought but is only six points shy (14 G, 14 A – 28 Pts) of tying his NOJHL career high of 34-points.

POINT STREAKS OR RECORDS – BLIND RIVER

1. Owen Arnold (03-F) – The Highland, MI, native enters tonight hoping to build on a seven-game point streak where the defenceman has three goals and seven assists for 10-points in that span.

• Jesse Dupuis (03-F) – The forward has two goals and two assists in four games against the Cubs this season, one of each coming from when he was a member of the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners earlier this season.

• Daniel Vasic (06-F) – In his last three games, the Newmarket, ON, native has two goals and four assists as he enters tonight on a three-game point streak. In three games against the Cubs this season, the forward has one goal and two assists.