A very hectic recent schedule is just what the doctor ordered for the Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves, as the team recorded three wins in four games over a stretch of just five days.

The first northern road trek of the year for the Caps started on a positive note, as Sudbury doubled the Timmins Majors 6-3 last Friday, with Kyle Liinamaa showing the way with a two-goal effort.

Alex Laliberté, Glenn Therrien, Hunter Chiblow and Alex Rodrigue rounded out the scoring for the winners, with Jace Soroko (2) and Karter Renouf countering for the Majors.

The homeside returned the favour the very next day, posting a 6-3 win of their own, as Soroko added two more goals to his weekend output. Tristan Flood, Joey Verbeek, Nick Hway and Renouf also pulled the trigger for the Majors, while Connor Tessier answered with a pair of goals, and teammate Alex Rodrigue netted his second in as many days.

The rubber match showcased just how close the GNML could be this year, as the Sudbury needed a shootout to subdue the Timmins lads 6-5. Jacob Burton, with two, Alex Guido, Liinamaa and Ryan O'Bonsawin scored in regulation time, with Liinamaa burying the game-winner in the penalty shot segment.

Stewart Parnel enjoyed a three-goal outburst for Timmins, while Riley Robitaille and Danny Katic capped off the offense for the Majors. Closing things out, the Nickel Capital Wolves battled the Sudbury Minor Midget "AAA" Wolves Tuesday evening in a highly anticipated match-up that lived up completely to the pre-game billing.

Coming off his appearance at the Sudbury Wolves training camp earlier this month, Guido paced the Caps with a pair of tallies, as the elder statesmen silenced the youngsters 3-2 in a fast-paced, very entertaining affair.

Liinamaa accounted for the remaining goal for the Nickel Capital Wolves, finishing off a lovely individual effort, while affiliate Nick Graham and Billy Moskal replied in a losing cause.

"We have been a little bit behind where we would have liked to be, with later tryouts and even waiting for our last few picks," noted Nickel Caps' head coach Peter Michelutti Jr.

"This last week, where we have had a lot of hockey, has really helped, especially being on the ice almost every day. The biggest thing, right now, early in the season, is the puck movement," said Michelutti.

"We like to have good transition in the neutral zone, and we're just not quite there yet. We can definitely work on that. We have some quick forwards this year, and if we can utilize that speed by getting them the puck quickly, that will set us apart from a lot of teams."

The addition of the Sudbury Minor Midget Wolves, combined with a leave of absence from the Nickel City Midget "AAA" Sons, leaves the GNML sitting at seven teams this year. Michelutti, for one, is excited with the competitive balance that he sees so far.

"I've obviously been in the league for a while now, and the first couple of years, it was basically Sudbury and the Sault," he said. "But now, you come to every game knowing that if you don't play well, you're going to get beat."

"It's going to be a very strong league, a lot of parity, which I think will help whichever team comes out of our league." With Tommy Vlahos and Brett Jacklin sidelined with injuries, and towering blueliner Ethan Lavallee having now committed to joining Sudburian Brian Savage at the Red Bull Hockey Academy in Austria, the minors called up both Graham and Brady Maltais for their cross-town rivlary game.

The New Liskeard Cubs improved to 4-0 in September, chalking up a pair of victories on the weekend. At home on Friday night, the Cubs scored four times in the second period en route to a 5-2 win over the Kapuskasing Flyers.

Graham Gibson and Jordan Legros scored two goals each for the Cubs, with Alex Maille adding the other, while Jesse Casonato and Max Lacroix handled things for the crew from Kap.

In a battle of two of the teams expected to contend for a league championship this year, a goal from Cade Herd with 6:18 remaining in period two lifted the Cubs to a 3-2 lead over the North Bay Trappers, and that score remained intact for the next 26 minutes.

Devin Williamson and Cameron Moore of New Liskeard traded goals with the Trappers' Robert Buckley and Finn Seguin, prior to the difference-maker from Herd.

In the only other encounter last week, North Bay used a balanced attack to defeat Kapuskasing 6-2 on Saturday, as six different players lit the lamp for head coach Mike Reise and company.

Dylan D'Agostino, Jacob Delisle, Braedan Villeneuve, Seth Reuben, Joe Whittet and Eric Lachance all found their way on to the scoresheet for the winners, with Jonathan Lacroix and Ryan Forsyth doing the damage for the Flyers.

The schedule this weekend looks interesting, with the Sudbury Minor Midget Wolves travelling to New Liskeard to face the Cubs in a pair of road games, while North Bay heads north to Kapuskasing, also for a two-game set.

The Sudbury Minor Midget Wolves are back at home next Tuesday (September 29th), hosting the Trappers at 7:30 p.m. at the Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex.