Unsatisfied with last season, Pharand motivated to lead Wolves on deep run in 2023-24

By Matt Tidcombe/CHL

The Sudbury Wolves are certainly not satisfied.

A sweep in the first round of the OHL playoffs a year ago and a 6-4-3 start to the 2023-24 campaign has left the Wolves with room to grow.

“I don’t think we’re ever satisfied with what we’ve got,” said Alex Pharand. “I think we can always be better as a team and myself personally. I think we’re going to learn from the start of the season and use it to be better for the games to come. But we’re looking to make a big push forward this season.

“We’ve got a long ways to go but the guys are up for the challenge.”

The team hasn’t seen much turnover from last season’s disappointing conclusion. Stars David Goyette (SEA) and Quentin Musty (SJ) are back, as are Andre Anania, Kocha Delic, Landon McCallum and Djibril Toure (OTT), among others.

To say they’re hungry for more success this year is an understatement.

“We’re super motivated this year after getting swept in the first round,” Pharand said. “We’re just going to use those four games and learn from them and bring that knowledge to our playoff push this year. A lot of us, it was our first playoffs and we were a young team, but now that we have a little bit more experience, we’re going to build off of that and know what to expect, how to raise our game, how we have to play as a team and how everyone has their own little role, and I think that will motivate us to go pretty far in this year’s playoffs.”

The addition of two more NHL prospects also won’t hurt those chances. Goaltender Jakub Vondras (CAR) has impressed while Dalibor Dvorsky (STL), the 10th overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, was recently reassigned to the Wolves by St. Louis.

In four games, Dvorsky has made an immediate impact with five points (two goals) while displaying his two-way game.

“He’s a great player as well as a great guy in the room,” Pharand said. “He brings a lot of character to the team and having a guy that is that skilled, he’s a complete player. He brings a lot to our offence as well as our defence and we’re thrilled to have him join our team.”

As for Pharand, he’s looking to take the next step in his game after he heard his name called by the Chicago Blackhawks at the 2023 NHL Draft.

Alex Pharand throws the monkey off his back! 🐒

The @NHLBlackhawks prospect puts home his first of the season, closing out a three-goal first period for the @Sudbury_Wolves 📽️ pic.twitter.com/CTgl87JhHQ

— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) October 29, 2023

Last year, the Sudbury native had 18 goals and 39 points and played in the 2023 Kubota CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game in Vancouver, B.C.

In 12 outings this year, he’s got three points and scored his first goal of the season Sunday in a 5-4 loss to North Bay. In a limited number of faceoffs, the 18-year-old has won 63.6 per cent of his draws.

“It was the best moment of my life when I saw my name called on the TV when I was at home with my parents,” Pharand recalled. “Going to that unbelievable organization, original six franchise … the staff, the facility, the city, they welcomed us so well. They have such a good development program and a group of people that are going to help us make it to that next level.

“It’s a great fit for me and I hope to one day represent the city of Chicago by wearing a Blackhawks uniform.”

The Blackhawks are stacked with CHL prospects; while Connor Bedard and Kevin Korchinski have already made the NHL club, 10 other CHLers were drafted by the organization that includes Seattle’s Nolan Allan and Colton Dach, Flint’s Gavin Hayes and Gatineau’s Samuel Savoie.

“It’s exciting because it means they believe in you,” Pharand said. “They drafted me for a reason and that means a lot to myself and for my confidence. Knowing that you have everyone supporting you and trusting you and putting money into you and the whole organization to get better and to improve, it shows a lot.

“They have a lot of great people on board there that are helping me develop. All the CHL guys, we’re striving for that same goal of making the team and it’s not going to be easy but it’s a dream we are all going to try and accomplish.”

While the NHL dream continues for Pharand, tonight, his Wolves squad hope to get the monkey off their back against North Bay in the CHL Game of the Week. Sudbury are 0-2-0 against their Central Division rivals this season.

While it’s still relatively early in the season, a win for Sudbury would see them leapfrog North Bay in the standings.

“We just can’t take them lightly,” Pharand said. “I know they’ve had our number the past couple of years. It’ll be a good test for us.”