The Sudbury Wolves are an Ontario Hockey League (OHL) ice hockey team based in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.
Sudbury has had various hockey teams competing at the junior and senior ice hockey levels of the game known as the "Wolves" (or "Cub Wolves") nearly every year since around the time of World War I. The current junior franchise came into existence in 1972 when local businessman Mervin "Bud" Burke purchased the Niagara Falls Flyers and relocated the team to Sudbury.
The current franchise has never won the Memorial Cup, nor has it captured the J. Ross Robertson Cup. Despite this lack of championships, the team has been one of the top development franchises in major junior over its history, with over 120 players drafted in to the National Hockey League (NHL) since 1973. The Wolves have been a central part of Sudbury's history for decades, and the team is among the most iconic junior hockey franchises in all of North America.
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History
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."
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. 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.
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. From 1973 to 1979, a young Joe Bowen began his broadcasting career covering the Wolves on local Sudbury radio.
Championships
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.
Coaches
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.
Players
The Sudbury Wolves have retired six players' numbers, and have had over 120 players drafted to the NHL.
Retired numbers
6 Randy Carlyle
8 Rod Schutt
10 Ron Duguay
14 Marc Staal
15 Dale Hunter
17 Mike Foligno
Award winners
1975–76 - Jim Bedard, Dave Pinkney Trophy
1978–79 - Mike Foligno, Red Tilson Trophy, Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy, Jim Mahon Memorial Trophy
1981–82 - Pat Verbeek, Emms Family Award
1984 - Dave Moylan, Jack Ferguson Award
1985–86 - Jeff Brown, Max Kaminsky Trophy
1987 - John Uniac, Jack Ferguson Award
1993–94 - Jamie Rivers, Max Kaminsky Trophy
1994–95 - David MacDonald, F. W. "Dinty" Moore Trophy
1998–99 - Norm Milley, Jim Mahon Memorial Trophy
1998–99 - Ryan McKie, Dan Snyder Memorial Trophy
2000–01 - Alexei Semenov, Max Kaminsky Trophy
2004–05 - Benoit Pouliot, CHL Rookie of the Year, Emms Family Award
2006–07 - Marc Staal, Max Kaminsky Trophy, Wayne Gretzky 99 Award
2008 - John McFarland, Jack Ferguson Award
2009-10 - John Kurtz, Mickey Renaud Captain's Trophy
2011–12 - Michael Sgarbossa, Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy
2012-13 - Connor Burgess, Ivan Tennant Memorial Award
2015 - David Levin, Jack Ferguson Award
Season-by-season results
Regular season and playoffs results:
1962–1972: Northern Ontario Junior Hockey Association
1972–1974: Ontario Hockey Association Major Junior A Series
1974–1980: Ontario Major Junior Hockey League
1980–present: Ontario Hockey League
Legend: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, SL = Shoot-out losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Uniforms and logos
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.
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. The team unveiled several special edition jerseys during the 2022-23 season, including a fiftieth anniversary jersey, as well as a limited edition Shoresy Sudbury Blueberry Bulldogs themed jersey.
Arena
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.
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.
Media
In the 2009-10 hockey season, Wolves games were broadcast on CJTK-FM in Sudbury. As of 2018, Wolves games are broadcast on CKLU-FM.