Wolf Tracks: Chance to chase playoff ghosts from an aging building
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The oldest players on the Sudbury Wolves roster are defenceman Andre Anania, who turned 21 last month, and hometown boy Zacharie Giroux, who will celebrate that milestone on Friday night in Game 5 against the Steelheads at the Paramount Fine Foods Centre in Mississauga.
Anania and Giroux were born in 2003, meaning they and their teammates were not yet alive when fans in the Nickel City were suffering through some of the franchise’s most devastating playoff losses — in Game 7 against the Owen Sound Platers in the first round of the 1990 post-season or in 2001, when the Wolves lost in Game 7 to the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors in Round 2.
Yes, the St. Mike’s Majors, who Sudbury Star columnist Randy Pascal recently pointed out are now these very same Mississauga Steelheads, soon to be relocated to Brampton.
If you go digging online, you can still find a game summary from 2001, aging like fine wine on the OHL website.
Or rotting there, I suppose, as the case may be.
Rookie goaltender Jack Ivankovic’s stupendous 38-save performance on Monday night in front of a packed house at the Sudbury Community Arena is a reminder of dominant playoff games or series by opposing goaltenders in the past. The 16-year-old rookie, forced into the series thanks to a Game 2 injury to sophomore Ryerson Leenders, was dialled in against a Wolves squad looking to open up what might have been an insurmountable 3-0 series lead.
Instead, Ivankovic’s effort cut that lead to 2-1 and gave Wolves fans reason to reminisce.
Some 23 years earlier, it was an 18-year-old Peter Budaj, wearing a St. Mike’s jersey, who stood on his head to help a younger Majors team shock a loaded Wolves roster by winning three straight games to overcome a 3-1 series deficit. The Slovak goaltender, now 41 and a few years removed from a career that saw him play 367 NHL games with the Avalanche, Canadiens, Kings and Lightning, was unconscious in that 2001 series.
In Game 5, 6 and 7, Budaj stopped 41 of 43, 42 of 43 and 34 of 35.
While none of the current Wolves players were around to see that epic goaltending performance, or the crushing and controversial overtime loss in Game 7 back in 1990, the man standing behind their bench knows those horrors all too well.
Ken MacKenzie was the coach in 1990 when Paul DiPietro’s OT goal was waved off by referee Paul Coleman, allowing the Owen Sound Platers to find a way to earn a 4-3 victory. In 2001, MacKenzie was the captain’s dad when the Steelheads franchise pulled off that big upset. Derek MacKenzie was in his final year of junior and led the Wolves in scoring with 40 goals and 89 points that season.
For fans heading to the rink during these playoffs, the changes happening around the old barn on Elgin Street in downtown Sudbury are a reminder that brighter days might be ahead facility-wise, with the possibility of a new arena and events centre on the horizon. The final loaf was already pulled from the oven at the Golden Grain Bakery and the Dog House Sports Bar and Eatery is enjoying its final nightcap this week.
It’s not clear exactly what, or when, but it’s evident that change is coming in that area.
The team in front of coach MacKenzie this season is as deep, experienced and offensively gifted as any we’ve seen lace up in that building over the decades, while the club across the ice in round one is young, hungry and extremely talented. The goaltender is one in a group of players whose names Canadian hockey fans are likely to hear more about in the years ahead.
Ivankovic was drafted seventh overall in the 2023 OHL Priority Selection, much higher than goalies usually get picked, and the roster also boasts three players chosen in the first round of the 2022 draft.
The kid who scored the empty netter for the Steelheads in Game 3, Porter Martone, had 33 goals this season and isn’t even NHL draft-eligible until 2025. Martone was chosen fifth overall by Sarnia in 2022, Jack Van Volsen was picked sixth overall by Peterborough in that same draft and Mississauga took Lucas Karmiris with their own selection a few spots later at 13th overall.
It’s an embarrassment of riches.
These young studs were born in 2006 and 2007, so the timetable is for the Steelheads to be a contender in the next couple of seasons. However, they made it obvious on Monday night in Sudbury that they’re not interested in waiting that long. Really, they demonstrated it all season long.
The home team outshot and outplayed the visitors in Game 3, but the Steelheads out-Ivankovic’ed the Wolves.
Hot goalies happen and we’ll see where it goes from here.
There are some great memories in the storied Sudbury Community Arena and some that everyone would love to forget, 1990 and 2001 being near the top of the list. The players have their own reasons for wanting to win and create their own history, but if they can chase some demons from an aging building before it’s too late, it would mean a lot to the city and a fan base ready and deserving of something to celebrate.
Oh, and a veteran coach who has put in decades of hard work in different roles within the Wolves organization would undoubtedly appreciate some memories he can cherish.
Jeff Giffen’s Wolf Tracks column runs every week during the OHL hockey season.
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