Sudbury Wolves

Sudbury has had a hockey team known as the Wolves or Cub Wolves nearly every year since around WWI. This team name was informally adopted around 1920 as the "Wolves of the North," likely a reference to the "voracity and tenacity that typified the play of these men from Sudbury."[8]

The Sudbury Cub Wolves junior team began play in the 1920s as a member of the Nickel Belt Hockey League. Under the management of Max Silverman, and coached by Sam Rothschild, the Cub Wolves won the Memorial Cup in 1932 with a roster that featured future NHL players such as Hector "Toe" Blake, Nakina Smith, and Adélard Lafrance. In 1935, the Cub Wolves lost in the Memorial Cup finals to the Winnipeg Monarchs.

A senior team competing under the banner of the Sudbury Wolves, again coached by Silverman, have twice been chosen to be Canada's representatives at the Ice Hockey World Championships, winning the title for Canada in 1938 and the silver medal in 1949.[9] An iteration of the Wolves competed as the Eastern Canada entry at the 1954 Allan Cup senior national championship, falling to the Penticton Vees from Western Canada.

A professional Sudbury Wolves team competed in the Eastern Professional Hockey League (EPHL) from 1959 until the league folded in 1963. Players such as Don Cherry, Dave Keon, and Gerry Cheevers suited up for the club during its brief existence.

A junior version of the Wolves emerged in the early 1960s as a member of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey Association, winning the league championship in 1969 and 1971.[6]

The OHL - then known as the Ontario Hockey Association and later the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League - arrived in Sudbury in 1972 when local businessman Bud Burke, who was a shareholder in the NOJHL Wolves, purchased the Niagara Falls Flyers from Leighton "Hap" Emms and moved the team to Northern Ontario. In 1975-76, the Wolves, coached by Jerry Toppazzini, who won the Matt Leyden Trophy that season, won Hamilton Spectator Trophy for having the best regular season record in the league with a roster of future NHL players such as Randy Carlyle, Ron Duguay, Rod Schutt, and Mike Foligno. Sudbury advanced to the 1975-76 OHL finals, but lost to the Hamilton Fincups in five games. In 1979, Burke sold the team to a large ownership group headed by future Hockey Canada board of directors chair Joe Drago.[10] From 1973 to 1979, a young Joe Bowen began his broadcasting career covering the Wolves on local Sudbury radio.[6]

The Wolves were the worst performing team in the entire Canadian Hockey League (CHL) in the 1980s, making the playoffs only once and not winning a single postseason game in the process. The club did manage to develop some notable players in this era, such as Pat Verbeek and Jeff Brown. A turning point in franchise history came in 1986 when local businessman Ken Burgess purchased the struggling club and initiated a major organizational turnaround. Sam McMaster was hired as general manager in 1988, and under his direction the team experienced renewed success, winning its first playoff series since 1979-80 when they defeated the Oshawa Generals in the first round of 1991-92 OHL playoffs. McMaster was named OHL Executive of the Year in 1989–90.[6]

From the early 1990s to the mid-2000s, the Wolves experienced mixed success. The club lost in Game 7 of the 1994-95 OHL semi-finals to the Detroit Junior Red Wings. A string of disappointing seasons came to an end in 2006–07 - the Wolves' 35th anniversary - when the team advanced to the OHL Finals, but ultimately lost to the Plymouth Whalers in six games. Coached by Mike Foligno, the Wolves roster that season featured several future NHL players, namely Marc Staal, Nick Foligno, Adam McQuaid, and Akim Aliu.[6]

From 2007 to 2016, the team generally struggled, including posting the worst season in franchise history in 2014-2015. In August 2012, the Wolves were sent to represent Canada at the 2012 Junior Club World Cup. Sudbury defeated the Waterloo Black Hawks of the United States Hockey League in the championship finals by a score of 2-0.[11] In 2016, the Burgess family, at the time the longest-serving ownership group in the OHL, sold the team to Sudbury businessman Dario Zulich. Since Zulich's takeover, the team has been moving in a positive direction, drafting players such as Quinton Byfield and Ukka-Pekka Luukkonen, and winning a regular season division title in 2019-20.[12]

Sudbury Wolves make an entrance on home ice

The current Sudbury Wolves have never won the OHL championship, and have never participated in the Memorial Cup tournament. The team currently holds the third-longest Memorial Cup championship drought in the CHL, and the longest in the OHL.

The team has twice lost in the OHL finals, once in 1976 and again in 2007, winning the 1976 Leyden Trophy and the 2007 Bobby Orr Trophy in the process. The Wolves have twice won the Emms Trophy as the regular season Central Division champions, first in 2000-01 and then in 2019-20.

Jerry Toppazzini was awarded the Matt Leyden Trophy as the league's coach of the year in 1976, leading his team to a first-place finish in the regular season.

List of Sudbury Wolves coaches with multiple years in parentheses.

Sudbury Wolves against the Ottawa 67's in Ottawa

The Sudbury Wolves have retired five players' numbers, and have had over 120 players drafted to the NHL.

From 1972 to 1988, the Sudbury Wolves' colours were green, white and gold. The tradition of Sudbury teams wearing green jerseys dates back to the mid-1910s. In 1988–89, Ken Burgess - who famously asked "Who ever heard of a green wolf?" - changed the team's colours to blue, white and grey, which happened to be the corporate colours of the business that bore his name. These have been the Wolves' colours ever since, though the team has occasionally donned throwback green jerseys. The iconic blood-toothed, wily wolf-head logo has subtly evolved since the current franchise's inception, but overall has remained relatively unchanged and today is one of the most recognizable logos in the CHL.[6]

There have been various alterations and versions of the team's primary jersey design over the years, as well as the introduction of third alternate jerseys, such as black and grey ones that were introduced in the mid-1990s and again in the early-2010s.[14] The team unveiled several special edition jerseys during the 2022-23 season, including a fiftieth anniversary jersey,[15] as well as a limited edition Shoresy Sudbury Blueberry Bulldogs themed jersey.[16]

Jake Cardwell of the Wolves wearing the 2009 version of the away jersey

The Sudbury Wolves play their home games at the downtown Sudbury Community Arena, which was constructed in 1951. The City of Greater Sudbury and the Wolves have upgraded the facility over the years, but since the mid-2010s there have been intensified debates about the building of a new arena.[17]

Every time the Wolves score a goal, a taxidermic wolf rolls out on a pulley system from the rafters of the Sudbury Arena in the direction of the opposing team's bench. This tradition began in the 1950s when The Sudbury Star donated a stuffed wolf to the local Wolves team as a token of appreciation.[6]

In the 2009-10 hockey season, Wolves games were broadcast on CJTK-FM in Sudbury.[18] As of 2018, Wolves games are broadcast on CKLU-FM.[19]

• List of ice hockey teams in Ontario

• Sudbury Wolves
• www.sudburymuseums.ca History of hockey in Sudbury
• Sudbury Wolves fan site