Greater Sudbury Cubs head to national hockey championship

After dealing with the stomach flu and the associated bumps and bruises that accompany a run to a championship, the Greater Sudbury Cubs junior 'A' hockey team is intent on succeeding at the Centennial Cup.

For coach Darryl Moxam, last year's failure to win it all only drove him and the other coaching staff to raise the bar even higher

"Mentally, they're ready to go every time we step on the ice, no matter what we throw at them, they're ready," Moxam said.

"It's like they haven't skipped a beat."

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Technology aside, the big question for Moxam and his staff is all about preparation, when you are about to play teams you don't know much about.

"It's about us. We will prepare, we have scouting reports, but we have to realise we can compete with anybody and go there with a lot of confidence," the coach said.

There's no lack of confidence for the Cubs after they knocked off Blind River and Powassan with a combination of stellar goaltending, defence, speed and scoring.

For goalie Noah Metevier of Sault Ste. Marie, it's a second chance at a title, one that he hopes to make good on with what he calls a "special group of teammates."

"It's like family to me, these guys. Every one of them, they're my brothers in that room and I know that they'd go to war and battle for me," Metevier said.

"And I'd do the exact same thing for them."

A newcomer to the team, Hudson Chitaroni, racked up 22 points in 16 playoff games after a huge regular season where he scored 31 goals.

The native of Marathon, who played higher level hockey in the Sault, said winning the NOJHL title was surreal and his teammates are ready for Game 1 against the Collingwood Blues at the national tournament.

"Obviously, they are a very good team ... I just want to win, I just want to beat them, just do everything we can to beat them," Chitaroni said.

The road to the Centennial Cup won't be an easy one as they face the Blues, one of the top-ranked teams in Canada, on Friday.

Then they'll play the eastern Ontario winner, the Navan Grads, followed by a game with the western Canada champion, the Calgary Canuks, before finally playing College Français de Longueuil of Quebec.