The Timmins Rock at practice on Tuesday afternoon at McIntyre Arena. They will get the NOJHL Finals underway on Thursday night in Sudbury as they face-off with the two-time defending champion Cubs. Photo by Andrew Autio/The Daily Press
‘Its going to be a great series. They’ve got a heck of a hockey team, but so do we.’
Andrew Autio
The Daily Press/Postmedia Network
The Timmins Rock have their sights set on another Copeland Cup as the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League finals begin on Thursday night, but they are well aware of the daunting task ahead of them as they look to upset the Greater Sudbury Cubs.
The Cubs have won the last two NOJHL titles (2024-25, and 2023-24), while the Rock hoisted the cup in the 2022-23 season.
The current iterations of the Sudbury and Timmins junior-A franchises have never had a playoff matchup until now.
Brandon Perry, the Rock’s head coach and general manager, feels that fans are in for a treat the entire series.
“Its going to be a good one,” he told The Daily Press on Wednesday morning.
“They are who they are. The two-time defending champs. A tonne of firepower up front. That poses a lot of challenges in terms of systems prep, and how you’re going to contain that speed and skill.”
The Cubs are indeed an intimidating opponent. They have cruised through their first two rounds of the playoffs, eliminating both the number-8 seeded Kirkland Lake Gold Miners, and the number-7 seeded Soo Eagles in four game sweeps.
They have been led in the playoffs by speedy forwards Mason Walker (20 points in 8 games) and Briir Long (19 points in 7 games), along with their gritty captain Daks Klinkhammer (15 points in 8 games), and dynamic top blueliner Spencer Horgan (12 points in 8 games.)
It is a roster laden with high-end skill, seasoned depth players, and major junior experience.
The Rock – who squeaked past the Soo Thunderbirds in seven games in the first round, then swept the rival Hearst Lumberjacks in round two – split the season series with the Cubs.
They met on the league’s opening night (Sept. 11) where the Cubs blanked the Rock 4-0.
On Nov. 30 at McIntyre Arena, the Rock defeated the Cubs in overtime 2-1.
Back in Sudbury for the Feb. 19 battle, the Cubs rolled over the Rock 9-3.
The season series concluded with a 6-2 victory for the Rock back home at The Mac, which included Rock defenseman Brady Bouchard’s first goal with the team. He was released by the Cubs, then quickly signed with the Rock.
Bouchard was a member of both of the Cubs championship clubs.
Another factor in this upcoming series is the fact that the Cubs will once again play on their true home ice at the Gerry McRory Countryside Complex. Due to the facility hosting other events, the Cubs played their home games in the first two rounds at the Tom Davies Community Centre in nearby Lively.
At Countryside, the Cubs play on Olympic-sized ice, at 208 feet long, and 96 feet wide. The offensive zones feel enormous.
For comparison, The Mac’s ice sheet is 192 feet long, and 82 feet wide.
The two arenas require different game plans.
“I think the biggest thing for us, is figuring out a game plan that will give us the most success on the big ice. Over the years, we’ve obviously struggled on the big ice pad. We’ve done well containing them at home here at The Mac,” said Perry.
“But its going to be a great series. They’ve got a heck of a hockey team, but so do we.”
Perry and his staff recognize that the big ice poses unique challenges.
“Its hard to replicate it. We’re practicing at The Mac here. Its hard to get reps, and work on some ‘big ice’ things, when you don’t have the big ice,” he said. “But we have a game plan, and we’re confident in it. I think its just a matter of skating. You’ve got to stay over top of the puck, and you’ve got to skate.”
A new wrinkle to the first two games in Sudbury will be the presence of the Rock’s star goaltender Frederic Cousineau, who did not play in either of their regular season visits to Countryside due to injuries.
The veteran and highly experienced netminder has been lights out since returning to the lineup just before the playoffs after missing nearly the entire second half of the season.
“Fred’s been great. He’s had a fantastic season, and he gives us a chance to win every night he’s in there. We expect no different in this series.”
A Timmins Rock fan bus will be heading to Friday’s match in Sudbury, which will give the visitors some familiar hometown support.
“For sure. Its always nice. We get incredible support here. We always have, and we’re probably one of the only junior-A teams in the country that have a travelling fan base to games on the road in the playoffs,” said Perry.
“But we’re just focused on our jobs here, and taking care of what we need to do on the ice.”
A key player in the series for the Rock will undoubtedly be right winger Maxx Hamelin. He was acquired on Jan. 2 from the struggling Winnipeg Monarchs of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL), leaving his hometown for a new, and highly promising opportunity with a club with major championship aspirations.
Hamelin produced very solid numbers in the regular season, with 16 goals, and 10 assists, for 26 points, in 23 games played.
However, he has exploded into an offensive force in the playoffs, with 8 goals (two game winners), 16 assists, and 24 points (which leads the NOJHL) in just 11 games.
“I think when we brought him in, this is what we envisioned. We were looking for a scorer to replace Brant Romaniuk (who left the team to sign with the Sherwood Park Crusaders of the BCHL on Dec. 16), and obviously that’s very hard to do,” explained Perry.
“But he’s a kid who we identified that had the potential to do so. It was just a matter of him getting comfortable, and finding guys that are a good fit with him. I think him and K-Mac (Kaeden McArthur) and Lowesy (Lucas Lowe) have some good chemistry there. Then you saw Ian Lachance in there for game 4 (against Hearst).”
McArthur has a league leading 11 playoff goals, and 21 points in 11 games, while Lowe has chipped in with 9 points in 10 games on the Rock’s number one line. Lowe didn’t play in game 4 against Hearst, so in came affiliate player (AP) Lachance.
“They’re playing well, and playing with a tonne of confidence, and things are going right for them,” said Perry about his top unit, and about Hamelin.
“But its not surprising, on our end. He’s got an incredible motor, and an incredible skill set. It was just a matter of time before he figured it out, and he seems to have done that.”
Regarding Lachance, Perry is thrilled to have him back in the mix. With his season completed with Chatham Maroons of the Greater Ontario Hockey League (GOHL), which is considered junior-B, he was able to join the Rock.
“Its invaluable really. Big, strong kid, he’s won a championship (2025) at the junior level. He’s got a tonne of experience, he knows how to play the game the right way, and he’s got a sneaky offensive skill set that you might not expect out of a big guy.”
Lachance scored just over four minutes into his first game back with the team in the game 4 win against Hearst.
“He’s been a great addition, he’s a good kid, he fits well in our room. He has been around the program for years as an ‘AP’. He was an AP for us last year, but obviously with the run Chatham went on, it didn’t allow him to get up here, but we’re very happy to have him here.”
Overall, the Rock are confident group heading down the highway into the NOJHL finals.
“We’ve just got to focus on ourselves. I think the two games we played at Countryside this year – the one at the beginning (opening night) we just weren’t ready as a team, and had a lot of guys missing. The last game we played there (the 9-3 loss on Feb.19) we just didn’t play good, its as simple as that,” said Perry.
The Rock will need to maintain their discipline in this series if they want to upset the champs, as the Cubs powerplay is operating at a 31.9 per cent success rate in the playoffs, and have an unrelenting arsenal of offensive threats to throw out there. “There is no magic wand. You’ve got to be ready to go against these guys, and if you’re not, you can find yourself in a hole real quick. So we’re focused on game one here, and getting off to a good start in that first period. We’ll see what happens,” said Perry, adding that he fully expects strategies to evolve throughout the series.
“We’re game planning based on the information we have right now, they’re probably doing the same. The first period of game one will tell us what the necessary adjustments we need to make as a team are.”
2026 Copeland Cup – McNamara Trophy Final schedule
No. 1 Greater Sudbury Cubs vs. No. 4 Timmins Rock
(Best-of-seven series)
Game 1: Thursday, April 16 @ Sudbury 7:05 p.m. (Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex)
Game 2: Friday, April 17 @ Sudbury 7:05 p.m. (Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex)
Game 3: Tuesday, April 21 @ Timmins 7:05 p.m. (McIntyre Arena)
Game 4: Wednesday, April 22 @ Timmins 7:05 p.m. (McIntyre Arena)
Game 5*: Friday, April 24 @ Sudbury 7:05 p.m. (Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex)
Game 6*: Monday, April 27 @ Timmins 7:05 p.m. (McIntyre Arena)
Game 7*: Wednesday, April 29 @ Sudbury 7:05 p.m. (Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex)
*-if necessary
