As a 16-year old, he was a championship goalie in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League.
As a 17-year old, he moved up to the Ontario Hockey League and followed his rookie season by becoming a National Hockey League draft pick.
As an 18-year old, he’s one of three goalies who will represent Team Canada at the World Jr. Hockey Championships.
The ride to the top continues for Jake Paterson, who backstopped the Soo Eagles to the 2010-2011 NOJHL championship as one of the youngest players in the league that season.
Paterson, a 1994 birth year goalie who is now in his second OHL season as the starting goalie with the Saginaw Spirit and regarded as the top, junior-aged, netminding prospect for the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings, will play for Team Canada at this year’s World Juniors, which get underway on Dec. 26.
To be sure, Paterson’s selection to the Team Canada roster comes as no surprise to the man who coached him with the Soo Eagles during that ’10-11 championship season.
“Nothing that Jake will do in his hockey career will surprise me,” said Bruno Bragagnolo, who now coaches an Eagles team that has since left the NOJHL for the North American Hockey League.
Bragagnolo is quick to recall Paterson’s performance in leading the Eagles to the ’10-11 NOJHL title.
“One of the reasons I made him the starting goalie is the way he handled the pressure,” Bragagnolo said of Paterson. “I remember telling you back then that the kid had ice in his veins.”
Bragagnolo added that Paterson showed a way of bouncing back from a so-so outing.
“You knew that if he didn’t have one of his better games that it was a guarantee that he would come back and we would win the next game. Guaranteed, that’s what would happen,” Bragagnolo added.
Paterson was at his best during the NOJHL semi-final playoffs that ’10-11 season when he and Soo Thunderbirds goalie Michael Doan put on an absolute clinic in an epic, six-game series that the Eagles eventually won.
Paterson and the then-19-year old Doan traded highlight-reel games in the six-game thriller, which the Eagles won before going on to defeat the Sudbury Jr. Wolves in the finals to win the NOJHL crown.
“That’s some of the best goaltending I have ever seen from two kids in the same series,” Bragagnolo said of Paterson and Doan.
As Paterson has since left the NOJHL for the OHL and become an NHL draft pick and Team Canada member, Doan too has moved upward and onward and is now a freshman on a full-ride scholarship with the Division 1, National Collegiate Athletic Association, Northern Michigan Wildcats.
Categories: General
latest RR column just posted on http://www.juniorhockey.com:
Just win, baby
Just saw the PPR suspension on the NOJHL web site. 2 games, ok – but 4? C’mon commish! The officiating in the game with horrible at best, and then after he gives the kid a 10, the ref makes sure he stands about 10 feet away from the box on the face off to antagonize the kid so he can toss him. Not the first time we seen these shananigans from this particular guy either.
U cant chirp a ref, he lost it on ref , Dodds got 4 games so the league is equal with everyone.
Doan got the same 4 games. Nobody in here has clarified what exactly he did in the game vs the Soo a few weeks back (no Soo fans in here anymore?).
I do find it interesting that a 5 minute major and game for a slash by Comtois gets 0 games, 2 assaults by Lizotte only get him 1 and 2 games, other verbal abuse of officials game misconducts warrant 0 games.
What gives Robbie? Maybe you can clarify some of these suspensions on the website.
Seems like sticks and stones are aloud to break bones; but call names to an incompetent official and pay the price.
That should be Dodds…
Thinking Doan as part of this article!!
Well the commish is consistant as he did the same thing with the Trapper netminder Dodds after he disputed a call with a ref.
The last NOJHL player to play in the world junior since Patterson must be Derek Mackenzie. Hope he does Canada well in the World Juniors.
What it comes down too is the player has to put the team first and bite the bullet. PPR should have shut his trapper once he got the 10. He had unleashed one verbal assault on the ref and that should have been sufficent. But not putting the team first in a very close game he had to unleash another discussting rant. One would almost think he wanted to get the boot. Bottom line he has really hurt his team and if I was the captain he would be getting a ear full.
i agree with you kong. when a player gets a 10 min for yapping its time to suck it up and move on. referee,s are not perfect and do make mistakes but they will not tolerate verbal abuse and really, who would??? sometimes we forget(myself included) that they are human and they do make mistakes just like the coaches and the players do. its a very fast game and they have split second decisions to make. we often only see it one sided as well. when it happens to our team it seems alot worse than we our team does something to the opposing team. overall the league is as competitve as its been in a long time and looking forward to the second half as we gear up for the final stretch. happy holidays to all fans, players,coaches,refs etc
kong…
Agreed, but when does a violent act (with its only intent being to injure someone) warrant a far less severe penalty than a verbal act?
Another great article Randy! I think we have the makings for another similar goaltending battle this season.
Dodd was upset because the net was off during for a goal and all night the refs were blowing the play down when the net came off and they didn’t this tiime. Dodds questioned and dropped a couple of F bombs that were not directed at any one of the officials. He wouldn’t be the first or the last one to use colourful language when frustrated.
What about the penalties on Strong in KL Sunday night? A fighting major and instigator for fighting himself?? He tries to protect one of his players that was brutally hit from behind and gets a fighting major when there was no fight??
hockeyfanatic were you at the game Sunday night? I seen the incident through eski fan eyes and he did fight himself, the eski player just took punches behind the head.
As for the hit it look to me like the KL player tripped up a little as he was going to the boards and got hit at the same time which made it look bad. No penalty was called on the original hit, ref must have seen it the same way!
Looking like the Trappers are for sale. It appears that there is some local interest in keeping the team in North Bay and playing out of the West Ferris arena.
i saw it from 15 feet away and it was a very bad hit from behind , he did not trip in any way .Strong did go in has 3rd man in to defend is teamate. which any other teamate would of done or suppose to do.
Yes I made it to the game! Out of all that to put KL down for 5mins I didn`t find right at all. Give 4`s for roughing aside so they all wash out would have seemed more fair to me.
It seems as tho this North Bay situatien will play out as RR said it would – Tim Clayten sells the Trappers to a group (Kris Dawson etc.) that will leave the team in North Bay and Clayten himself then sets up with a new team in Espanola. As usual Randy was on top of this way before anybody else.
Is Marcel Oudette is intrested in keeping the Trappers in North Bay? any sale clears the way for McCarthy & Claydon to go to Espanola or North Michigan.
First off let me start by saying I read this blog regularly and I never felt the need to comment until now. Secondly I’ve been an on ice official in the league dating back to the days of the Timmins Golden Bears (recently retired ) I was at the game on Sunday night and eskis01 you definitely saw (not seen) the events through the eyes of a typical Abitibi fan. The KL player was hit with a cheap shot from behind. It wasn’t called because the lead official was completely out of position behind the net and didn’t see the play. The back official was on the other side of the ice at the far blue line and didn’t have an angle to make the right call. Check the fast hockey archives if you
don’t believe me and not only will you see the hit but you will also see the nice 2 hander that the Abitibi player gave the KL kid and the players on the Abitibi bench that were throwing punches. I also spoke with one of the linesman after the fact and he agreed the refs missed the call. Bottom line is they are human and do make mistakes.
As far as PPR is concerned I will say this. It been my experience that when
players get the call to the big club and then find themselves back in the NOJHL they seem to have this over inflated sense of self worth and that they think they are bigger than the game and the rules. If PPR shuts his mouth after getting 10 than its over with. But no because he feels he’s bigger than the game and his teammates the rules shouldn’t apply to him. Kudos to the ref for calling the verbal abuse and kudos to the commish for investigating and adding supplemental discipline. PPR selfish move doesn’t help his team while they are struggling they way they are.
KL has a nice team, appear very well coached, and play excellent defensive hockey which is evident by holding the Soo to 19 shot ( and shutting them out) and then holding Abitibi to 21 shots. The Eskis on the other hand seem to have some real defensive issues. 107 shots against and 17 goals against in their last 2 games not to mention the discipline issues.
NBT1975 u cant even spell my name right , and dont start stories.
Good comment OLDREF, totally agree. In the end, KL lost 2 dmen on that play while IF got a 5 min powerplay and couldn’t score. Coach Paul continues to berrate the officials the whole game once again saying they owe him one while what I saw was every penalty they got they deserved. KL is well disciplined. Then, next day, I hear Paul crying in the dailypress, saying how he doesn’t have to practice his PK cause he was on it all night. Well, maybe he should since he got 3 goals scored on him that night while his PP can’t score on KL once again just like the game in Timmins. Bottom line is KL are still down 2 dmen(one hurt, one suspended) but you don’t hear them cry in the media do you.
suspension on Strong has been lifted after review of the game….
If I were to make a wager on this I would say that Mr. Tim Clayden sells his steak in the North Bay Trappers to a Group which keeps this franchise in North Bay. Then Mr. Clayden puts a new team in Espanola . This is just as Randy Russon has been saying in his Articles and I have a feeling that he is in the loop as to what is going on! We shall see as there is a buzz in the air that the NOJHA is coming back to town!
Oldref, thanks for correcting my spelling! My point was that depending who you cheer for, your opinion on the refs are not the same. How come both refs were not in position to make the right call (your opinion) but yet all the KL fans were? You’re obviously a KL fan. I will admit that at the time of the hit I glanced at both refs and was very surprised that neither raise the arm to make a call.
KL has a very good team right now and I enjoy seeing them play.
That was my first time at the complex, was that a normal crowd? I was expecting a larger crowd.
Eski01 I’ve got news for ya. My opinion on the refs has nothing to do with who I cheer for and everything to do with my 25 plus years experience on the ice as a one. Both refs were out of position because they are both weak skaters and do not have any feel for the game. The two cannot anticipate the play well enough to make up for there lack of skating ability. I’ve been on the ice with both of them and believe me having the two of them together is not a good idea as everyone in KL found out on Sunday. When I saw the two of them come out I knew there would be problems. There were definitely bad /missed calls on both sides. I’m telling you check the tape, obviously the commish did and he sees it the exact same way. Why else would he override and nullify Strong’s.
Obviously a K.L fan ? What makes you say that ?
I call them as a see them.
From the game sheet in Suds the Eskis only had 8 forwards and 8 d’s ??
They where only missing 2- 4th line and PPR.
are the games tonight cancelled do to that nasty weather here in the North ? if not be safe everyone its just game no need for anyone to get hurt. take care everyone !
PPR suspended! Borden, Windsor, A Kerr were sick and didnt play, R keer and Sweeny played despite being sick!
Get over it Eskisfan. Change the tune, you guys always have an excuse. When it’s not the refs it’s the injuries. All teams have injuries.KL has been without in my opinion their best dman(Scherer) for 2 months and you haven’t heard a peep from us until now. Fact is, Sudbury is playing a lot better and last wednesday night, they were better than your team. Is it that hard to accept?
Jagr all i was doing was simply correcting another inaccuracy! had you even opened ur eyes for second and read the 2 posts before mine, you would of seen that. I have zero issue saying the eskis are not playing their best hockey! Its been down right hard to watch the past week!
Peachy go Iraqwa Falls thisafternoon by 2 bottles wine for lady frend & parlay voos humma humma ahahahahahahahahahahahaha & then we go watch game & cheer for Peskimos ahahahahahahahahahaha
Was having coffee at Tims near the Espanola turnoff this morning and there was a table of 4 guys talking about the Nojhl returning to Espanola for next season. One guy was wearing an NOHA jacket and one guy looks like it might have been Mazzuca his-self!
“They where only missing 2- 4th line and PPR.”
More inaccuracies from McFly…………..
latest RR column — with NOJHL content — just posted on http://www.juniorhockey.com:
Best of the season
Espanola would need permission from Sudbury to put a team in the NOJHL because of the territory rights rule altho I would hope that would not be a problum. A good hockey operater like Tim Claydin could make a go in Espanola imho. Mazzucca should be all over getting Espanola into the League and forget about this Northern Michigan bullsh-t.
more whinning from stix601 — plz stop whinning all the time, its not gonna get any better for you . hehe . sorry i forgot kerr , i should of said 2 4th liner ppr and a 3rd liner. Merry Christmas to everyone have safe holidays.
Why would they Espanola is in District 2 and Copper Cliff is in district 7.
Hope you had a Merry Christmas RR and all NOJHL fans, players and staff.
I’m looking forward to more insights and scoops in the Junior hockey world from RR. Keep up the great job Randy.
Thanks Ken.
Let’s try to meet up for a few NOJHL and NAHL games in the New Year. Best of the season to you and the Theriault masses.
Regards,
Randy
Just gotta blow my horn here.
What about those pesky Beavers on Saturday night.
What a game againt the T-Birds
Could have been anyones game
But we did it again
So what if it did take two periods of OT
When your on your on
What a Christmas gift to all the fans that night
Beavers also pinged the post twice
We are proud of all you Beavers and coaching staff.
Let us continue in the New Year.
After Saturdays game we lost one of our defensemen.
Jonathan Lavigne left to go play in the Q League for Gatineau. I am sure he will be a good fit there.
We are proud to have another player step up to the higher league. Do us proud Jon( I’m sure you will).
Jon follows Andrew Tessier and Brent Findlay up the ladder.
We will continue to be very proud of you three young men.
Hope everyone has a great holiday and see you all in January.
new Blog just posted:
Hull of a player from Blind River