The Sudbury Wolves may have been swept out of the OHL playoffs, but it's possible to argue that they put up the strongest fight of any of the five teams eliminated in such fashion.
Sure, they were going up against the league-leading Brantford Bulldogs, and not much would've realistically been expected of them in this series.
Game 1 proved that idea and then some. The Bulldogs raced out to a 3-0 lead within the first 24 minutes of play and ultimately won 6-2 despite the Wolves cutting their three-goal lead to a one-score margin. The Bulldogs also dominated the shots on goal count by a 43-24 margin while also converting two power play opportunities compared to Sudbury's lone special teams score.
However, the Wolves did grow into the series; of the last three games, they could've realistically won a game or two.
While Game 2 saw Brantford race out to another multi-goal lead, with Caleb Malhotra and Gabriel Fresca each scoring in the opening eight minutes of play, Sudbury rallied and wound up levelling the score at two before the midway point of regulation. Brantford would score again with five minutes before the second intermission, but Sudbury kept the Bulldogs off the board until Marek Vanacker scored an empty-netter with mere seconds to play.
Not only did Sudbury play Brantford to a draw in terms of the power play during that game, but they also beat the Bulldogs by one in terms of shots on goal.
While Games 3 and 4 were both won by one goal, Game 3 might very well have been Sudbury's best chance at a win. With the series shifting northward, the Wolves needed to make a lasting impression on the Bulldogs, and they ultimately did just that. Even though the Bulldogs built yet another 2-0 lead in the first period, two goals from Chase Coughlan would help flip the game on its head; two additional goals from Blake Clayton and Jean-Cristoph Lemieux completed the Wolves' push to turn a two-goal deficit into a two-goal advantage with just five minutes played in the third period.
But Brantford would battle back, scoring three times over the next 12 minutes of play to establish a one-goal advantage with just under four minutes to play in the third period. Yet again, Sudbury battled back, with Jan Chovan scoring the goal that would send this game to overtime.
Almost four minutes into overtime, Vanacker would score his third of the series to give his Bulldogs side a commanding 3-0 series lead.
But Sudbury battled hard once again, and Game 4 would serve as yet another close shave for the Bulldogs. Rowan Henderson would score his first of the series 10 minutes into Game 4 to give Sudbury their second lead of the series. The Wolves also did well to keep the Bulldogs off the board for more than half the game, but Luca Testa would break Sudbury's shutout attempt with seven minutes to play in the second. Then, with just under seven minutes gone in the third, Winnipeg Jets' prospect Edison Engle would score the series-winning goal for the Bulldogs.
With the first-round elimination, Sudbury's longstanding run of futility when it comes to playoff contention extends to 18 seasons. Not only have they failed to qualify for the postseason five times over that span, but they've also advanced to the second round just four times (2011, 2013, 2019, 2024).
For the Bulldogs, the series win will act as the second straight postseason in which the franchise wins at least one playoff round. They'll look to avenge their second-round defeat to Oshawa in last season's playoffs when they take on the North Bay Battalion.