The Greater Sudbury Cubs are winless after their first two games of the season – a complete 180 after starting last season with nine consecutive wins – as they get set to host the Elliot Lake Vikings on Thursday night for their third home game of the season.
After an entertaining 4-4 final score in overtime against the Soo Thunderbirds on September 12, the Cubs were manhandled on the special teams’ units just one night later, suffering a 6-2 loss at the hands of the Hearst Lumberjacks. Forward Damien Bourdon-Lemoyne doubled-up on his powerplay goals scoring two in the second period, while forward DonHeaven Veilleux scored a powerplay goal and added an empty-netter deep in the third period, assisted by Bourdon-Lemoyne.
Despite being held to only one point through their opening two games, it hasn’t been all bleak for the boys in blue. Newly signed forwards Tannen Iserhoff and Eidan Macartney made an immediate impact with their new team, each finishing with three points after the Cubs opening weekend.
Iserhoff proved he thrives in late-game situations, scoring at 19:15 of the second period against the Thunderbirds to tie the game at three goals and then scoring at 19:12 of the third period to tie the game at four. Macartney assisted on Iserhoff’s first NOJHL goal in that second period against the Soo before recording a goal and an assist in Greater Sudbury’s loss to Hearst.
Forwards Noah Kohan, Mason Walker, and defenceman Nate Lazarus round out the top-five in scoring for the Cubs early on in this campaign.
Elliot Lake will look to pick up its first win of the year after back-to-back losses to the Powassan Voodoos and Blind River Beavers. The Vikings have been outscored 8-3 in two games and were 1-3-0-0 against the Cubs last season.
Historically, Elliot Lake is 3-11-0-2 against Greater Sudbury, proving that it isn’t impossible to beat the Cubs – it just might be very, very hard.