Greater Sudbury Cubs begin off-season reload with prospect camp

Ottawa Citizen

28-05-2025

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Ever the competitor, Greater Sudbury Cubs head coach Darryl Moxam was bound to be left with a bitter taste when his team was eliminated from Centennial Cup competition nearly two weeks ago.
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Given some time to digest the season as a whole, however, the reigning NOJHL Coach of the Year was certainly proud of his players, staff and all members of the organization for the parts they played in helping the Cubs to win a second straight league title and the first national playoff berth for a local entrant since 2000, despite some injuries to key contributors.
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'You're never completely satisfied when you don't win your final game of the season,' Moxam told The Sudbury Star this week. 'But when you take some time a week later and kind of reflect on the successes of the individuals and the team and the staff and the organization and the ownership, you're definitely proud, there's no question about it. I couldn't be any happier with our group of players and the commitment they showed.'
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Greater Sudbury's historic run at the nationals in Calgary finally came to an end on May 16, when the locals dropped a quarter-final decision to the Melfort Mustangs of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, the eventual silver medallists.
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The host Calgary Canucks of the Alberta Junior Hockey League emerged as the Centennial Cup champions.
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'I understand at that time of year, everyone is competing with injuries and banged up,' Moxam said. 'But it really made us realize, after that last game, how lucky you have to be with injuries and different things to win a national championship. We were no different from anybody else — we just ran into too many injuries and we didn't have enough gas to finish off what we started out to try to achieve in September.'
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Determined to earn another crack at the title, the Cubs will begin their effort to build another contender with their annual prospect camp, to be held at Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex this coming Saturday and Sunday. More than 30 players aged 16 to 20 will take part in roughly five hours of on-ice practice and scrimmages.
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'There's a lot of local young men coming out who would like to be a part of it,' Moxam said. 'We are a local, community team and we have a very large percentage of kids from the North and from Ontario and I would love nothing more than to add local, key pieces, kids who have played U18 or U16, and see where we're at as far as that is concerned.'
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Some out-of-town attendees, such as Eidan Macartney, have also proven to be pleasant surprises. The now 18-year-old centreman from Kitchener not only earned a spot in 2024-25, but proved a reliable two-way performer for the entire season.