Greater Sudbury Cubs forward Briir Long (91) handles a puck behind the Soo Eagles goal while Eagles defenceman Micah Seery (7) pursues during NOJHL action at Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex in Sudbury, Ont. Thursday, March 12, 2026. Photo by Bene Leeson /The Sudbury Star/
Former OHLer provides offensive skill to help make up for Nolan Newton’s injury
Briir Long’s return to the Greater Sudbury Cubs lineup could hardly have been more timely, both for the 18-year-old forward and for his team.
Not only did those three games at the end of the NOJHL regular season allow the native of Astorville, Ont. a chance to get primed for playoffs after missing nearly three months due to a suspension, but his injection of offensive skill helped to offset the loss of scoring star Nolan Newton to a long-term injury.
“It feels good to be back,” said Long, shortly after collecting two goals and two assists in a 6-2 defeat of the Soo Eagles last Thursday night. “I have been out for a long time, so it was the perfect time with three games left and the playoffs coming.”
Long and his teammates will drop the puck on their best-of-seven quarter-final series against the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners at TM Davies Arena in Lively this coming Thursday. The Cubs’ regular home venue, Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex, will be unavailable while the Curling Canada’s U21 mixed doubles championship and U20 curling championships are staged in Sudbury later this month.
Top seeds entering the NOJHL post-season after posting a record of 39-8-3-2, the Cubs rebounded from a couple of late-season losses to close their schedule in dominant fashion with their aforementioned win over the Eagles and a 12-1 thumping of the Espanola Paper Kings the following night.
Having returned with a one-goal, two-assist outing in a defeat at Powassan, Long carried the momentum of his four-point effort against the Eagles into a one-goal, three-assist performance in the regular-season finale at Espanola.
That gave the former OHLer eight goals and 16 assists in only 10 games since he signed with the Cubs in mid-November and reunited with his older brother, 20-year-old forward Kaedyn.
“You’re practising all the time and you’re working hard and yes, you might have doubts that you’re going to come back and you’re going to screw up, but that’s going to happen,” suggested the 5-foot-11, 155-pounder, a former Greater Ontario Hockey League rookie of the year with the St. Thomas Stars. “Last game (against Powassan), I had a bunch of times where I was fanning on pucks, but you just have to say well, I have been out for a while and look to the next play, just focus on the next play. You’re going to make mistakes, whether you’ve been sitting out for 20 games or if you’re playing every night. Things are going to happen.”
Cubs head coach Darryl Moxam certainly felt the good far outweighed the bad when it came to Long’s late-season comeback, just a day after the veteran Newton suffered a broken leg in a tie with the Soo Thunderbirds. Due to have surgery, the two-time NOJHL champion and former Northern Ontario Hockey Association player of the year might have a chance to play at the Centennial Cup if the Cubs earn a third straight trip to nationals.
“The young man has been out for a few months and has had a tough year for the most part,” Moxam said of Long, shortly after Thursday’s game. “But to come back and play the way he has — not just offensively, but how good he was on both sides of the puck — that’s what we need. You’re not going to replace Nolan Newton, because he’s so good in all aspects, but Briir coming back sure adds an element and he’s doing everything he possibly can to make up for that. He has been phenomenal.”
While a skater with his high-level experience certainly had options for the next phase of his career, Long jumped at the chance to play with his older brother. The two had also been teammates in St. Thomas back in 2023-24, before Kaedyn joined the Cubs as an affiliate player for their back-to-back championship runs.
“Nothing beats it,” Long said. “He’s always there for you and he has my back all the time. It’s our last year of junior, so it’s probably our last chance to play together and that was a big factor.”
With all six of their goals against the Eagles coming on power plays, including four in a decisive third frame, the Cubs helped to push their league-best power play percentage to 38.3. In another good sign as they head into playoffs, the locals also finished the season with the NOJHL’s most efficient penalty kill at 83.5 per cent — just 0.01 better than Powassan.
“It’s great, especially on this big ice,” Long said of the Olympic-sized pad at the McCrory complex. “It’s kind of hard to defend the seams when there’s so much room, but we were definitely clicking tonight.”
“The power play has been phenomenal all year,” added Moxam, who was sure to compliment Greater Sudbury assistant coaches Dave Clancy and Kerry MacLennan for their work with the man-advantage units. “We know there’s not going to be as many chances in the playoffs and that was something we talked about. We didn’t like our five-on-five scoring opportunities over the last couple of weeks, but I thought we were better at that tonight and then add the fact the power play is clicking and then you become a fairly dangerous hockey club. You can’t rely on it, but if given the opportunity and guys are feeling good about themselves and it’s the difference in a game in the next two and a half months, I like where we’re at where our special teams are concerned.”
While any coach might find it challenging to keep players fully engaged in the very last week of the regular season, with first place and home-ice advantage locked up well in advance, Moxam said it was important for staff and players alike to remain focused as they finished off the schedule.
“You want to get through the weekend and be as healthy and ready to go as you possibly can, but we challenged our guys to play within the structure,” Moxam said. “We were probably a little lackadaisical the last couple of weeks, but I thought our neutral zone was very good tonight.
“We’ve had some guys come back and some are out, but the guys who have come in are really starting to get their feet under them. We know it’s going to be a grind for two and a half months. We went through it the last two years and you need a next-man-up mentality and I thought we did a heck of a job with that tonight.”
Game 2 of the Cubs-Miners series, also at TM Davies, is this coming Friday at 7 p.m.
The series will then shift to Joe Mavrinac Community Complex in Kirkland Lake for Games 3 and 4 on March 23 and 24.
Should a Game 5 be required, it will be back in Lively on March 26 and if a sixth contest is needed, it will be held on March 28 at Joe Mavrinac.
If the series reaches Game 7, that will be played at TM Davies on March 31.
