SUDBURY, Ont. – The Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League championship series resumes tonight in Timmins.
The hometown Rock look to get back in it with Game 3 against the Greater Sudbury Cubs at McIntyre Arena, in a 7:05 p.m. start, and on FLOHockey.tv, as they trail the best-of-seven affair 2-0.
LEADING THE WAY: First-year Rock forward Maxx Hamelin tops the league scoring table with 28 points, on eight tallies and 20 assists.
Right behind him is the Cubs duo of Briir Long and Mason Walker, who sit with 27 points apiece.
They both have notched nine goals and helped set-up 18 others.
Timmins’ Kaeden McArthur’s 12 markers, lead the way in that department as do his trio of game-winning goals. He’s also fourth in postseason scoring.
Greater Sudbury captain Daks Klinkhammer rounds out the Top 5-point producers with 17, including nine goals.
Hamelin’s 10 power play points pace all skaters, while Long and Walker are close by at nine each.
McArthur and Rock captain, in defenceman Braedyn Cyr, are next with eight apiece on the man advantage.
Cyr’s five goals, which have all come on the power play, top all players.
BETWEEN THE PIPES: The Cubs’ Iain Wintle has yet to suffer a defeat in the playoffs to date with a perfect 8-0 record, in as many starts.
The last time a NOJHL netminder went unbeaten, with eight or more appearances, was former Powassan Voodoos standout Nate McDonald, who was a flawless 12-0 in the 2017 postseason when he backstopped his club to a league title.
McDonald also had a league-best 1.84 goals-against average and .933 save percentage that same year.
Wintle’s 2.38 GAA leads the league this go around while Timmins’ Frédéric Cousineau is next at 2.68.
Wintle’s also first with his .924 save mark, with Cousineau sitting third in this category at .916, just behind the Cubs’ Matthew Vahramian’s .917.
STREAKS: Dating back to last season, Greater Sudbury has won 11 straight playoff games.
That’s the most since the Powassan Voodoos ran the table with a dozen consecutive triumphs on route to taking home the 2017 NOJHL championship.
Cubs forward Mason Walker enters this evening’s Game 3 in Timmins riding a 10-game point streak.
In that span, Walker has collected nine goals and 18 assists for 27 points.
Over the past 10 years where a league champion has been crowned, only players, including Walker, have had a double-digit point streak in the playoffs.
They include Lucas Signoretti, Greater Sudbury (13); Tyler Patterson, Hearst (12) and Spencer Horgan (11) in 2025; Spencer Van Tiem, Soo Thunderbirds (11) in 2019; Gary Mantz, Powassan (12) in 2017; Owen Headrick, Soo Thunderbirds (10) in 2015 and Steve Babin, Kirkland Lake (12) in 2014.
HOME-AND-AWAY: So far in the 2026 playoffs, the home teams have gone 17-12.
This includes Greater Sudbury at 6-0 while Timmins is 5-1.
THREE-PEAT: In NOJHL history, five teams went on to win three, or more, consecutive league championships.
The most recent squad to do so was the North Bay Skyhawks, who accomplished the feat from 2003-05.
Meanwhile, the Rayside-Balfour Sabrecats won a record seven-straight titles between 1996-2002.
You also had the Powassan Hawks win three in row between 1992-94.
The Sudbury Cubs claimed captured a four-pack of crowns from 1988-91, while the Onaping Falls Huskies were the first to win three in succession, back in 1980-82.
COMEBACK: The last time a team rallied to win the NOJHL championship, after dropping the first two games of the final, was back in 2022 when the Soo Thunderbirds accomplished the feat by downing the Hearst Lumberjacks in a thrilling best-of-seven that went the distance.
The Thunderbirds actually lost each of the first three games of the series before storming back to win.
Then back in 2018, the Cochrane Crunch fell in each of the initial two contests before rallying to defeat the Rayside-Balfour Canadians and hoist the Copeland Cup – McNamara Trophy.
WHAT’S NEXT: The NOJHL champion will move on to represent the league at the 2026 Centennial Cup, presented by Tim Hortons, May 7-17, in Summerside, P.E.I.
Awaiting the them at the 10-team event will be four round robin games against the title holders from the Ontario Junior Hockey League (Toronto Patriots or Newmarket Hurricanes); Maritime Hockey League (Edmundston Blizzard or Truro Bearcats); Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (Flin Flon Bombers or Yorkton Terriers) and the Quebec AAA Junior Hockey League (Collège Français de Longueuil or Condors du Cégep Beauce-Appalaches).
The top three sides in the two divisions of five will advance to the playoff round.
With files from NOJHL Historian, David Harrison
Photo credit: Caleigh Fera / Points North Media
