In the rinks of the NOJHL

THE NOJHL ON FEBRUARY 15

Randy Russon — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 18:32:15 +0000

…What has been a rocky first season for the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League in Kirkland Lake has just got a bit rockier. The new Kirkland Lake Gold Miners, who took over from the Kirkland Lake Blue Devils when they folded just over a month ago, have fired head coach Dave Gillespie. Gillespie had been a positive constant throughout all of the turmoil of the troubled regime of original owner Bob Kasner. But Gillespie was advised on Tuesday by the new Gold Miner ownership that the team would be going in a new direction. Which is fine and well as new owners and new management have the right to hire their own people. But what is not right is that Gillespie allegedly received less than half of the $40,000 salary that he was promised to leave his Southern Ontario home last fall to move to Kirkland Lake and coach the NOJHL team. I have a letter in my possession from Gillespie’s wife, Joanne, that details a number of alleged promises related to salary and accomodations that were made to Gillespie by Kasner that she claims were not kept. For now, all I will say is this: The NOJHL as a league and Kirkland Lake as a franchise needs to take steps to ensure that the Gold Miners are not a continuation of what was a very bad experience with the Blue Devils. I have heard a lot of good things about the folks who are in involved with the Gold Miners and here’s hoping they can make the Kirkland Lake franchise the success that many within NOJHL circles believe it can be.

…As the regular season winds down and the start of the playoffs about three weeks away, one potential matchup that I am anticipating is an East Division series between the Abitibi Eskimos and North Bay Trappers. The two teams are presently in a battle for second place in the East Division and really, aside from Abitibi points machine Marc-Alain Begin, there is not much to choose from between the two teams in taking a close look at what they have and don’t have.

…With five games to play in the regular season, Sudbury Cubs forward Jordan Carroll needs six goals to reach 70 on the season. As 70 goals in today’s hockey is an amazing feat, the NOJHL’s all-time record for goals in a season may never be broken. It was back during the 1983-84 campaign that Rayside-Balfour forward Denis Castonguay piled up 196 points, including 97 goals.

…Is it better to have one very-good veteran goalie or two very-good goalies who are in their first season in the NOJHL? That’s a question I ask myself as I look ahead to a looming playoff series between the Soo Thunderbirds and Soo Eagles. The Thunderbirds boast third-year guy John Kleinhans – who played his first two NOJHL seasons with the Eagles — as their workhorse, first-stringer. The Eagles, on the other hand, have the dandy double dip duo of Luis Puig and Chris Truehl.

JUNIOR HOCKEY SURVIVAL IN NORTH BAY

Randy Russon — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 15:32:41 +0000

Their current three-year lease with the City of North Bay and Memorial Gardens expires after the 2011-12 season and the North Bay Trappers are seeking a new long-term deal.

The Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League team shares the city-run Memorial Gardens with the Nipissing University Lakers, who are finishing up their own three-year lease in their third year of existence as a Ontario Universities Athletics hockey team.

Trappers president and general manager Chris Dawson told me that his team hopes to be a part of North Bay and the NOJHL and to play at Memorial Gardens “for years and years to come.”

Let’s hope so.

North Bay has a lengthy junior hockey history at both the Jr. A and Major Jr. levels.

Personally, I can remember watching the Trappers as a grade school kid as far back as 1963 when the high-scoring duo of centre Marty Reynolds and right winger Randy Prior were lighting it up for a North Bay team that was coached by a gentleman by the name of Howie Parker.

At any rate, that was then and this is now and junior teams in North Bay have survived various leagues and the politics of hockey.

Speaking of politics and hockey, it surprises me that no one within the North Bay media has ever seriously questioned a possible conflict of interest that Mayor Al McDonald now has in that he is one of the private investors who launched the hockey program at Nipissing University three years ago and continues to have it in direct competition with the NOJHL Trappers for advertising dollars and fan support at city-run Memorial Gardens.

Oh well, perhaps that is another story for another day, depending on who will be financing the hockey program at Nipissing University after this season. What I have been told by Nipissing University’s manager of integrated marketing communications Lisa Drinkwalter is that the school is committed to its hockey program for the forseeable future.

But back to the Trappers and their quest for junior hockey survival in North Bay.

I’m not from North Bay but I have family who is and we have always thought of the Gateway City as a junior hockey town. And I am quite sure that there are hundreds of folks in North Bay who feel the same way.

By the way, this isn’t about pitting the Junior Trappers against the University hockey team. Rather it’s about stating that North Bay has long been a junior hockey town and that the Trappers should be as big a part of the city as they are of the NOJHL.

No more, no less.

SOURCES SAY…RUMOURS ARE…

Randy Russon — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:48:54 +0000

As a sportswriter who has been around the game since 1975, I have maintained this credo: Where there is smoke, there is fire.

To be sure, there is plenty of smoke billowing throughout the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League these days. So, let’s add a little fuel to the fire:

…North Bay Trappers may once again be the major tenant at Memorial Gardens next season. Multiple sources say the Trappers’ major competition for the hockey dollar in North Bay — the Nipissing University Lakers — will be folding the tent after this season as far as their private ownership is concerned. Which could mean no more financial backing from outside the university. Which would be good news for the Trappers and the NOJHL in North Bay, which has been such a good junior hockey town for so many years.

…There will definitely be an NOJHL team in Sudbury next season. But it will be moving from McClelland Arena in Copper Cliff to the more fan-friendly Countryside Arena, which is located just off the well-travelled Long Lake Rd. bypass in Sudbury. Also, Sudbury’s NOJHL franchise will be under new ownership for next season and a few legendary alumni of the city’s Ontario Hockey League team will be a part of the new group.

…Huntsville Otters will contract from the Ontario Jr. Hockey League and the Muskoka town will have a franchise in the NOJHL as early as next season. Sources say a former Huntsville town councillor is involved in a would-be ownership group that would put a franchise in the NOJHL. Huntsville is perfect from an NOJHL point of view: Folks from Southern Ontario think it’s in Northern Ontario and folks from Northern Ontario think it’s in Southern Ontario. Fact is, with the new four lane highway, travel time from Huntsville to North Bay is a mere 55-minute drive. Huntsville, to be sure, would be good for the NOJHL in that it would be a very-attractive gathering place for Major Junior and Division 1, National Collegiate Athletic Association scouts.

THE NOJHL ON JANUARY 19

Randy Russon — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:38:08 +0000

…Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League commissioner Robert Mazzuca confirmed to me during the most-recent edition of the Hockey North Show, which airs Tuesdays at 6 p.m. on Sault Ste. Marie radio station ESPN 1400, that he is working on a pilot project that would allow NOJHL teams to use two “non North American” import players beginning with the 2012-13 season. The two “non North American” imports would be in addition to the eight North American import players that NOJHL teams can currently carry.

…As Mazzuca continues to work at gaining approval through the different levels of provincial and national hockey boards, sources tell me that if Hockey Canada were to grant the NOJHL permission to use the two “non North American” imports, that at least one team from the non-sanctioned Greater Metro Jr. Hockey League (aka the Outlaw League) would apply to join the NOJHL for the ’12-13 campaign.

…So, the Kirkland Lake Blue Devils are now the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners, a new franchise with a new ownership group and new board of directors. Gone from the Kirkland Lake junior hockey scene is Bob Kasner, who was owner-general manager. Kasner, it would seem, will not be missed by many. I have had a number of e-mails sent to me, not only by fans and supporters in Kirkland Lake, but by NOJHL personnel, suggesting that Kasner’s departure basically amounts to addition by subtraction.

…We should know by the end of the month whether the Soo Eagles will remain in the NOJHL or be a part of the North American Hockey League come the 2012-13 campaign. I have heard conflicting reports as to the future of the Eagles but let me say that if they do leave, it will be a big loss for the NOJHL. The Eagles are a well-run, tidy operation from co-owner Ron Lavin to coach-general manager Bruno Bragagnolo on down. My gut feeling? Methinks the Eagles will stay right where they are.

…Kudos to 20-year old Sudbury Cubs offensive whiz kid Jordan Carroll on surpassing the 100-point mark this season.

…Rumour has Soo Thunderbirds owner Albert Giommi considering moving his team for next season. While attendance for Thunderbirds games this season has improved quite a bit over previous campaigns, Giommi is said to be exploring other venues for his NOJHL club. I know that rumours can just be rumours but when I asked Giommi the other day about possible relocation for his team, he didn’t deny it.

…The rumour mill also has Thunderbirds general manager Kevin Cain leaving the team after this season. Cain, who was recently married, works full-time at Canada Post and once told me that he puts in more hours with his volunteer position with the Thunderbirds than he does with his day job. I will say this: I know of two GMs in the Ontario Hockey League who would jump at the chance to add the hard-working, highly-respected Cain to their scouting staff. I will add this: If I had any say in the operation of a junior hockey club I would want Cain on board, be it as a manager, coach, or scout. He may be a bit abrasive and grouchy at times but to me, there is no one more loyal or hard-working when it comes to junior hockey than Cain. And I have been around this game as a sportswriter and sportscaster since 1975.

WHICH IS THE NOJHL’S BEST TEAM?

Randy Russon — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 20:47:58 +0000

I live in a border town that features three casinos, yet I am not a gambler.

To be sure, I’m much too frugal to even think of gambling my hard-earned cash away.

And I even if I was a gambling man, I wouldn’t be all that willing to wager a bet as to who I think will emerge as the eventual champions in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League this season.

The way I see it, a strong case can be made for any five of the NOJHL’s seven teams to win out as league champions come late March.

Right now, the Soo Thunderbirds are in first place in the seven-team NOJHL though I don’t see them as being that much better than the third-seeded Sudbury Cubs.

And let’s not forget about the second-place Soo Eagles, not to mention the fourth-and-fifth ranked Abitibi Eskimos and North Bay Trappers.

All five teams have a lot going for them. All five teams have areas in which they are the best in the league or, at least, second best.

Ergo, I wouldn’t dare to try to pick a clear-cut favourite to win the NOJHL title this season.

OK, OK, if you really push me I might say that the Thunderbirds have the best shot at winning it all.

While Sudbury has firepower that is downright scary, the Thunderbirds are no slouches when it comes to lighting the lamp. And plain and simple, I believe the Thunderbirds have the best goalie in the NOJHL in John Kleinhans.

What about the reigning champion Eagles you ask?

In my mind, the Eagles have one of the NOJHL’s two best coaches in Bruno Bragagnolo. (Paul Gagne of the Abitibi Eskimos is the other.)

But the Eagles don’t have a clear-cut no. 1 goalie and besides, their top scorer, Brock Raffaele, recently took a hike to the North American Hockey League in a move that smacks of parental pressure.

Abitibi? I love any team that features Marc-Alain Begin and has the handprints of Coach Gagne on it.

North Bay? Chris Dawson has steadily improved the Trappers since Day 1 of the season and may be the most under-rated general manager in the NOJHL.

So for now, I’ll play the first-place card and — at the expense of being called a homer — say that if I was cornered and offered a nice cold beer in exchange for my pick as to who will win the this season’s NOJHL title I would reply with a single word and offer no further explanation: Thunderbirds.

QUESTION PERIOD IN THE NOJHL

Randy Russon — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 23:11:59 +0000

Questions worth asking as the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League drops the puck on the year 2012:

…Are there problems in Kirkland Lake, where the first-year Blue Devils are facing challenges, mostly of the off-ice, non-hockey nature? Let me reply by saying that no franchise is built in a day. Having said that, there are those at the top of the Kirkland Lake franchise who need to give their head a shake. Man, Kirkland Lake is a junior hockey gold mine just waiting to be tapped, just like the Town itself was more than 95 years ago — and is again.

…Are the first-place Soo Thunderbirds the most-talented team in the NOJHL right now? No, the Sudbury Cubs are. But Sudbury had the most talent of any team last season and was, plain and simple, out-worked and out-played by the Soo Eagles in the 2010-11 championship series.

…Will the reigning champion Eagles still be a part of the NOJHL come the 2012-13 season? It’s a very-good question worth asking because rumours have the Michiganders leaving the NOJHL for the North American Hockey League after the current 2011-12 campaign.

…Do I think the Eagles are definitely headed to the NAHL after this season? No I don’t. But we should all have a definite answer by the end of this month.

…Do I think the NOJHL is an under-rated league? Yes I do. But it’s time that the NOJHL found a why to improve its overall image with a better marketing plan. By committing to its new Commissioner for the next few years, methinks the NOJHL is progressing.

MID DECEMBER IN THE NOJHL

Randy Russon — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 16:07:25 +0000

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.

THE NOJHL ON DECEMBER 1

Randy Russon — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 18:46:24 +0000

…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.

HEY, WHAT’S GOING ON HERE?

Randy Russon — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 18:33:31 +0000

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.

MID NOVEMBER IN THE NOJHL

Randy Russon — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 19:03:39 +0000

…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.