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The early season continues to produce some very interesting results, with this latest edition of Peter Michelutti's End of the Roll Great North Midget League Weekly Report catching up on all of the action from the past seven days.

The Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves took over sole possession of second place in the Great North Midget League standings, picking up five of a possible six points in a span of four days.

Sudbury opened their week with a 5-4 victory over the North Bay Trappers on the road Thursday, with Trappers' netminder Colton Point the story of the game, by all accounts.

The lanky puckstopper held the Nickel Caps at bay through much of the game, with North Bay leading 4-1 heading into the final minute of period two. Defenseman Kirk Trayner scored a key goal for the visitors, narrowing the gap to two when he hit the mark with just 26 seconds remaining.

That would become key as Sudbury scored three times in a span of 6:37, with less than ten minutes to play, stealing a close win. Alex Guido scored twice for the winners, including the game-winner, with Jake Stos and Owen Fransen adding solo markers.

Charlie Iserhoff, Finn Seguin, Jeff Jordan and Robert Ranger replied in a losing cause for the Trappers, who went on to split a two-game weekend set in Sault Ste Marie with the Thunderbirds.

The Timmins Majors were coming off a big midweek 4-3 win in Kapuskasing as they travelled to Sudbury for the weekend, matching up well against the Nickel Capital Wolves on both Saturday and Sunday.

The homeside would score the only two goals of the third period in game one, recording a 5-3 triumph as Fransen and Guido led the way again, both with two-goal efforts. Ryan Theriault rounded out the scoring for Sudbury, with Dillan Bruce, Tyler Chamberlain and captain Brett Andrews countering for Timmins.

The Nickel Capital Wolves outshot the Majors 42-36 in a game that was tied 1-1 after the first and 3-3 after two. Things were equally as close the next afternoon as the teams battled to a 2-2 draw through 65 minutes of hockey, before Andrews sent Timmins home happy, scoring the game-winning tally in a shootout.

Jake Stos opened the scoring for Sudbury, sniping a shot while driving hard down the right wing for the only scoring of the opening frame. Anthony Pelletier doubled the Wolves advantage, finishing off a pretty three-way passing play that also included Fransen and Theriault.

But Timmins would fight back, halving the deficit on another goal from Andrews, and pulling even when he did it again just five minutes into the third period. Majors' netminder Scott Swain would stop all three Sudbury shooters in the shootout, helping to lift his team to a 3-2 win.

The top Sudbury trio (Pelletier-Fransen-Theriault) have accumulated 28 points in their opening four games, with head coach Peter Michelutti Jr not all that surprised with their success.

"Being all 17 year-olds, they're mature, they have size and strength," Michelutti said. "When you're strong on your feet and strong on the puck, it really helps you with your confidence, being able to protect the puck and use each other and their speed to create opportunities."

With early signs pointing towards a very healthy competitive balance league-wide, the well-spoken Sudbury coach is philosophical when it comes to playing in games that are neck and neck to the end.

"You like to see some close games, because it helps to show how players are going to react, whether good or bad," said Michelutti. "It looks like this year, a lot of teams have a lot of returning 17 year olds, which hasn't always happened in the past."

With a trio of five on threes assessed Saturday night and Sudbury short-handed for much of the first period on Sunday, Michelutti insists that his team needs to adjust to what the officials are deeming as penalties.

"I think the refs are just trying to set the tone and call the penalties that are supposed to be called," Michelutti noted. "Every penalty was a penalty. As a coaching staff, we definitely want to stay out of the box, but it's a learning experience for our players."

Making the move up to head coach after serving as an assistant coach with the Majors last year, former NOJHL leading scorer Matt Tremblay is among the bench mentors in the GNML who enters the 2014-2015 season pretty pleased with the look of his lineup.

"We have a lot of nice surprises," said Tremblay, before the Saturday encounter in Sudbury. "As a "AAA" midget coach right now, you have to worry about a lot of guys going to play junior, or first year players going to play minor midget."

"Luckily, a lot of key guys stuck around," he continued. "I would have to say that going to the league finals last year probably didn't hurt." With stalwart netminder Devon Debastos having moved on to the junior ranks, Tremblay and company had some questions regarding how things might look this year between the pipes in Timmins.

"Last spring, we went into tryouts a little worried about goaltending," he said. "Fortunately, goaltending was one of the strongest points that showed up in camp. We're very happy with that situation right now."

While both Scott Swain and Jaeden Giguere are adjusting somewhat to life in the Great North Midget League, both came through with key saves during their first visit to Sudbury last weekend.

The Majors entered their games with Sudbury with a record of 2-3, with Tremblay partially pleased with his team's performance to that point. "I've been happy with about 40 minutes a game, so far," he said.

"We haven't really played a full 60 minutes yet, but there's been a lot of bright spots from the times we have played well," he added. "We're not too stressed out. It's the start of the season and there are a lot of kinks still to be worked out."

The Nickel Capital Wolves, Majors and Trappers are among a field of 34 teams that are competing, from September 26th to the 28th, at the 3rd Annual Toronto Titans Major Midget Prospect Tournament.

Sudbury will face a round robin schedule that includes the Whitby Wildcats, Eastern Ontario Wild, Toronto Marlboros and Toronto Nationals, while Timmins draws the Ottawa Senators, Toronto Red Wings, North York Rangers and Ajax Pickering Raiders.

For their part, the North Bay Trappers have the Grey Bruce Highlanders, Mississauga Rebels, Mississauga Senators and Windsor Spitfires on the docket.

Following are the game recaps from the remaining encounters that were played last week: