In the rinks of the NOJHL

KASNER SPEAKS OUT

Kirkland Lake Blue Devils owner-general manager Bob Kasner has responded to the six-month suspension that he’s been handed by Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League commissioner Robert Mazzuca for violations of NOJHL/Northern Ontario Hockey Association/Hockey Canada regulations.

Kasner told me by e-mail that “Although we followed Hockey Canada’s rule in regards to the amount of carded players for December 1st, we did not file the necessary document with the NOHA/NOJHL. Unfortunately, the league elected to suspend me for this oversight and my penalty is as the commissioner has stated.

“It is unfortunate that the league took this stand against a new team that is trying everything to put kids on the ice for the right reasons, however rules are rules and we are not above them nor do we think we deserve any special treatment.

Kasner then took a bit of a shot at NOJHL administrator Hector Seguin.

“Having said this, it would have been helpful if we had received a phone call from the league administrator on December 1 asking for our cutdown list. We simply did not understand that an actual document was necessary…we certainly do now!” Kasner concluded.

It’s been a rough first season in the NOJHL for the Blue Devils, who have actually shown marked improvement on the ice over the last month.

Prior to Kasner’s suspension, Blue Devils coach Dave Gillespie was twice suspended by the NOJHL for using illegal players.

BEASTS OF THE EAST

Sudbury Cubs seem to have shrugged off a November slump and have moved back atop the NOJHL’s East Division.

Led by the three-headed offensive monster of former Ontario Hockey League skaters Jordan Carroll, Jamie Haines and Nick Esposto, the Cubs have surged ahead of the Abitibi Eskimos to reclaim top spot.

Still in the hunt, though, are the North Bay Trappers.

While the Trappers are merely a .500 team at the moment, president/general manager Chris Dawson has made several additions to his team’s lineup without giving up a lot in return.

WEST SIDE STORY

Simply put, Soo Thunderbirds president Albert Giommi is a good guy, a very successful, self-made businessman who just happens to like hockey.

Now in his second season as Thunderbirds president, Giommi has actually been with the team as an investor since it entered the NOJHL in 1999.

Not only are the Thunderbirds a hobby for Giommi, they are also a major passion. And just as Giommi is passionate about his team, the same holds true for the NOJHL.

“I think we are really making progress as a league,” said Giommi on a recent edition of the Hockey North Show on Sault Ste. Marie radio station ESPN 1400. “The league is going in a good direction and I believe that it will continue to get better and better.”

Giommi didn’t pull any punches when asked about the possibility of the Thunderbirds main rival, the Michigan-based Soo Eagles, leaving the NOJHL after this season for the North American Hockey League.

“First of all let me say that I have a lot of respect for those who are involved with the Soo Eagles,” Giommi said evenly. “For a group that is only in its second season, they have been a major success on and off the ice.

“But if they want to leave us for another league,” Giommi continued, “that’s their call. So be it. If we have to, we’ll move forward without them.”

HIGH-FLYING EAGLES

The reigning champion Eagles are currently the NOJHL’s hottest team.

With a record of 9-0-1 in their last 10 starts, the Eagles are rounding into mid-season form.

An offensive machine led by seasoned forwards Brock Raffaele, Brian Depp, Travis Payne and Shane Totten, the Eagles have been getting exceptional goaltending of late from Luis Puig and Chris Truehl.

…Kirkland Lake Blue Devils are showing definite signs of on-ice competitiveness and seem to be easing any fears that the first-year Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League club is a troubled re-incarnation of its gong show predecessors, the Manitoulin Islanders. President-general manager Bob Kasner and head coach Dave Gillespie have been diligent in improving the Blue Devils by adding and subtracting players since the start of the 2011-12 season. But in a major boo-boo, Kasner and Gillespie allowed recently-acquired, American-born forward Jarryd Ramborger to play for the Blue Devils without all paper work being approved and Kirkland Lake will thus have to forfeit its big 7-6 win over the first-place Soo Thunderbirds from a few weeks back. Additionally, Gillespie — because he signed the game sheet in question with Ramborger’s name on it — has been hit with a six-game suspension for using an ineligible player. NOJHL commissioner Robert Mazzuca told me that he suspended Gillespie for six games instead of three because it’s the second time Kirkland Lake has been caught using an ineligible player this season. By the way, Mazzuca showed a compassionate side by allowing Gillespie to coach the Blue Devils this weekend because assistant coach Dave Dube is unable to fill in due to work commitments. Thus, Gillespie will begin serving his suspension after this weekend’s games.

…Methinks there are teams in other Canadian Jr. A and American junior leagues that would love to have the fan following that at least three NOJHL squads do, namely the Soo Eagles, North Bay Trappers and Abitibi Eskimos. The Michigan-based Eagles lead the NOJHL in average attendance per game with 648, followed closely by North Bay with 639 and Abitibi with 631.

…Soo Thunderbirds may be in first place but general manager Kevin Cain has confirmed to me that he would trade ace defenceman Corey Jackson if he thought it would improve his team. The freewheeling Jackson has 26 points in 23 games this season.

…Soo Eagles goalie Chris Truehl – who began the season in the North American Hockey League — told me on the most-recent edition of the Hockey North Show, which airs on Tuesdays at 6 p.m. on ESPN 1400 Radio, that from what he has seen, the level of play in the NOJHL is every bit as good as it is in the NAHL. Truehl, by the way, is one of those kids who just looks like a goalie. He’s tall, at 6-foot-3, slender at 180 lbs., and very agile.

…Of note, Truehl, who is from Madison, Wisconsin, is a 1993 birth year who is quietly being checked out by a National Hockey League scout who makes a point of keeping tabs on the NOJHL. Lest you think NHL scouts have never heard of the NOJHL and don’t pay attention to it, I have twice sat with Detroit Red Wings scout Dave Kolb at an NOJHL game. Once was to see Soo Thunderbirds forward Brett Perlini (who is now a  senior at Division 1, Michigan State University and an NHL draft pick of the Anaheim Ducks) and the other time was to take a gander at Eagles defenceman Adam Phillips, now a sophomore at Division 1, UMass-Amherst. Interestingly, Jim Roque, the head coach at Division 1 Lake Superior State University (which is located in the Michigan Soo), missed out on both Perlini and Phillips, even though both plums were right in his own backyard. The fact that Roque played in the NOJHL years ago and got a scholarship to LSSU because of it, makes his ignorance of the league all that more baffling.

Is the rest of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League starting to catch up to the Soo Thunderbirds?

Let’s hope so.

After losing just two of their first 23 games to start the 2011-12 NOJHL season — both to the reigning champion Soo Eagles — the Thunderbirds dropped three straight games on a weekend road trip to northeastern Ontario.

The Thunderbirds lost 7-6 to the Kirkland Lake Blue Devils, 10-4 to the Abitibi Eskimos and 3-0 to the North Bay Trappers.

To be honest, I think the three straight losses by the Thunderbirds is good for the NOJHL. It’s probably good for the Thunderbirds as well.

Just as the NOJHL does not need a team to win four games in a season as the Manitoulin Islanders were wont to do, it doesn’t need one of those too-stacked Rayside-Balfour Sabercats teams either.

Interesingly, neither erstwhile, lowly Manitoulin or formerly, powerful Rayside are part of the NOJHL any more.

At any rate, I’m rather happy that the Thunderbirds now how have a record of 21-5 instead of 24-2. The race for first place is actually a race now.

And how about Kirkland Lake knocking off the Thunderbirds? Touch wood, but it does appear that Kirkland Lake really is becoming competitive.

The better Kirkland Lake is, the better the NOJHL will be for it. Ditto, Blind River.

Ah, those Beavers, they are a-struggling. Time for them to turn it around and from what I have seen and heard, the Beavers are but a good, solid goalie away from winning some of the games that they have been losing.

Let’s hope so.

I’m for as much parity as is reasonably possible in the NOJHL.

If you are a fan of the NOJHL and not just one team, you should be too.

…The top four scorers in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League have things in common — all are 20-years old and all spent considerable time playing major junior hockey. Marc-Alain Begin of the Abitibi Eskimos skated for Val D’or in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, Jordan  Carroll of the Sudbury Cubs has played for both Moncton of the QMJHL and Sault Ste. Marie of the Ontario Hockey League, Micky Sartoretto of the Soo Thunderbirds has lined up in the OHL for both Kitchener and Saginaw, while Nick Esposto of the Cubs spent time in the OHL with Oshawa.

…Sources tell me that there have been discussions within Hockey Canada circles about allowing NOJHL teams to carry a number of European players, beginning with the 2012-13 season. Should that happen, it would be a victory for the NOJHL over the so-called Outlaw League, which has a big advantage with its unlimited European/Import rule.

…A few NOJHL governors who I have talked to are quietly optimistic that the league could be made up of 10 teams come the 2012-13 season. New NOJHL teams could well debut in Alpena, Mich., Marquette, Mich. and Elliot Lake, Ont. next season.

…So, who is the best team in the NOJHL this season? I say the Soo Thunderbirds and not just because of their 21-2 record. Only one team has beaten the Thunderbirds this season — the Soo Eagles have done so twice. The Thunderbirds are big, skilled and experienced. Hell, their top five defencemen alone have a combined 16 years of junior experience.

…Condolences are extended to the family of Blind River Beavers head coach Jim Capy. Jim’s brother-in-law passed away early this morning. Jim is currently on an indefinite leave of absence from the Beavers.

Is this the last season in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League for the Blind River Beavers?

The reason this question is being asked in the first place is because high-ranking members of the Beavers hockey department have not been shy in saying that they wouldn’t be surprised if Blind River was not part of the NOJHL come the 2012-13 season.

I have since been advised by sources with knowledge of the situation that while money is tight — as it usually is — within the small-market Blind River franchise, it is definitely the intention of the Beavers organization to continue to operate next season and beyond.

To be sure, attendance is down in Blind River this season, and in the NOJHL’s smallest market, every penny counts.

Personally, I am a fan of the Blind River Beavers. I have good friends and good contacts who live there and who have been supporters of the Beavers since the franchise came into existence. And back in 1975-76, I did some work as colour commentator for Beavers play-by-play broadcasts on erstwhile radio station CJNR.

To me, Blind River — and the NOJHL — just would not be the same without the Beavers.

Perhaps, though, what the Beavers have been lacking the past couple of seasons is the presence of franchise founder and erstwhile majority investor Don Lees Jr.

Don vacated his roles as Beavers general manager and member of the Board of Directors at the beginning of last season, citing that he needed to devote more time to the Milltown Motors General Motors car dealerships that his family operates in both Blind River and Elliot Lake.

Don is from Blind River, he and one of his sons, Brock Lees, are both former goalies with Beaver teams from the old International Jr. Hockey League as well as the NOJHL. Without question, Don is a well-respected hockey and businessman within the community.

Methinks — and I am far from alone — that the Beavers would be well-served by the return and the presence of Don Lees.

At present, the Beavers hockey department is made up of head coach Jim Capy, assistant coach Rusty Joncas and general manager Jim Yardanoff. Only Joncas resides in Blind River, with Capy and Yardanoff both living and working in Sault Ste. Marie, which is a three-hour round-trip away.

Which, to some, is cause for consternation in Beavertown.

If the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League adds another team or two for the 2012-13 season, the expansion could lead into the state of Michigan.

Sources tell me that no less than four northern Michigan towns are possible sites for NOJHL expansion teams, including Marquette, Alpena, Cheboygan and Gaylord.

Marquette and Alpena formerly had teams in the North American Hockey League but left because of the high cost of doing business in the United States-based loop.

The NAHL is comprised of 28 teams spanning several states from New York in the East to California in the West to Alaska in the North to Texas in the South.

Marquette is a tidy town of about 20,000 residents, while Alpena’s population is just over 10,000.

The other two towns that are being explored by investors as potential sites for NOJHL franchises have smaller populations. Cheboygan has just over 5,000 residents and Gaylord’s population is just under 4,000.

Marquette, Alpena, Cheboygan and Gaylord are all located within a 90-180 mile distance from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. and Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. which are home to two NOJHL teams, the Thunderbirds and Eagles.

The interest that potential investors have in acquiring NOJHL expansion franchises for any of Marquette, Alpena, Cheboygan and Gaylord is tied to the success that the Michigan Soo Eagles have enjoyed on and off the ice, sources tell me.

Under the second-year ownership of Ron Lavin, Gerry Fraser and National Hockey League Hall of Famer Pat Lafontaine and a hockey department led by coach-general manager Bruno Bragagnolo and also featuring Dennis Bolton, Michael Barbeau and Tom Farnquist, the Eagles are not only reigning NOJHL champions but are now averaging more than 600 fans a game at Pullar Stadium, which is the second highest attendance figure, trailing only the Abitibi Eskimos.

The Michigan Soo is a town of about 17,000 residents.

Sources tell me that the Eagles on-ice and marketing model is being closely studied by those interested in being a part of Michigan-based, NOJHL expansion franchises.

Right now, the NOJHL is a seven-team league, with six Northern Ontario-based teams plus the Michigan-based Eagles.

As for any possible expansion by the NOJHL within Ontario, a Manitoulin-based group led by Jim Stringer has decided not to proceed with expansion plans for the 2012-13 season, citing a lack of support from municipal government.