Only 2 from Soo at OHL Cup
The numbers tell the story. Of the nineteen 2001 birth-year players from the Great North Midget Hockey League who are representing Team NOHA at the OHL Cup Showcase Tournament, only two are from the Soo Greyhounds.
They are defenseman Tristan Cicchello and forward Camaryn Baber.
The annual OHL Cup features 24 teams and a plethora of Ontario Hockey League general managers and scouts are in attendance for the event, which begins today in Toronto and goes until March 20.
Conversely, while there are only two Greyhounds on Team NOHA, the Sudbury Wolves boast eight players and the North Bay Trappers feature seven. Kapuskasing Flyers and New Liskeard Cubs have one player apiece.
Of note, Kevin Panco of the Greyhounds is the head coach for Team NOHA.
Part of the issue with the low Soo numbers is that the Greyhounds chose to go with only three 2001 birth-year players for the 2016-2017 season.
The Greyhounds finished in third place during the Great North regular season and then lost in the second round of the playoffs.
Maybe a better developement program is needed. They are getting one going in Windsor, Ontario.
This city needs to do something. Only taking a couple kids in their midget minor year is unacceptable. We need to be developing these kids!!
That’s why Minor midget teams make sense.
Also my opinion is why is it down south they allow the kids to play all sports and in the North u can only play hockey. AAA teams wont allow to play any others and we don’t allow our students to play high school hockey but down south they do. When u go to OFSAA all teams are full of AAA kids maybe that would fix ur lack of midget problems in the North. I help out ref hockey up here when not coaching and last week I did a playoff game Hearst High School vs Kirkland Lake High School. Hearst had 6 AAA players playing as Kap allowed them to play both as long as AAA came first and KL who has Kids play AAA in New Liskeard wont allow the kids to do both.
Un-fu–kingbelievable!
What has happened to Minor Hockey in SSM ??? !!! ??? !!!
We need CHANGE !!!
No comment, good luck Tristan and Camyrn good luck boys!
I think things changed a couple years ago. If I’m not mistaken, the high school league would let the AAA players play but now the AAA league said no to letting the high school kids play. A lot of southern Ontario high school teams are very strong because of the AAA players. The Soo needs to come together and negotiate so that they can send their strongest teams to tournaments
Porco and Mackay would of made a big difference for Soo team.
The blame for lack of Sault Ste Marie players being drafted to the OHL lays squarely on Panco’s shoulders. The main concern of any Midget program is to develop players to project to the Junior level. Selfish coaches that would rather see a team made up of 2000 and 99 birth year players (2 years past their OHL draft eligibility) as our local midget team was made up of , are short sited and are only concerned with their own status and to win the league. North Bay has a great hockey program and got it 100% correct and Panco should take notes. I can’t possibly imagine how the NOHA would give the regional minor midget head coaching position to an individual that has totally neglected to give an opportunity to our local hometown minor midget aged players…a total disgrace. As mentioned earlier 2 of our best 99’s left the Sault to play in southern Ontario…..hmmmm wonder if this coach had anything to do with that!
BTW great article Randy and thanks for shedding light on our local minor midget program that needs a complete overhaul. Also congrats to Baber and Cicchello. I would ‘predict’ Porco Mackay and Baber will all be drafted this year. Porco high first round, Mackay third, and Baber 3rd to 5th.
I could be way off on this, but who knows?…
From the Sault Star (February 8, 2017).
“According the Statistics Canada’s latest data, Sault Ste. Marie’s population is 73,368, down from 75,141 in 2011.
The 2.4 per cent decline in population equates to almost 1,800 people.”
How many of those were hockey families boasting strong hockey players? I don’t quite know if this has anything to do with the hockey program itself, but if you’re losing roughly 1,800 people, one has to ask themselves how many of that 1,800 were in fact AAA caliber players (or potential ones). Dwindling numbers hinder a hockey program or the strength of it. Again, I am not too sure if this would have anything to do with talent pool in the Sault, maybe someone could weigh in on this.
It was disappointing to only see 2 Sault players on the team this year. Hoping for better next year…
LDNSSM.
Now compare those figures to North Bay’s population, which is also shrinking, and is at about 50,000 or so.
Exactly……North Bay with a population of approximately 50000, Panco selects 7 players, Kap with a population of 8000, and New Liskeard population 10000, he selects a player each to his Team NOHA that will compete at the OHL Cup? So LDNSSM, your theory doesn’t hold water as per capita, NB KAP and NL is much much higher of kids selected to that team. Ironically Panco, who has coached this 2001 age group in the past, is well aware of the talent pool that was there such as ex NHLr Aaron Gavey’s son, ex OHLr Dave Doucette and Dave Ritchie’s sons to name a few are all 2001s. Sadly he chose to turn his back on all those kids…….At minimum, why didn’t he select the third 01 player, Armstrong , who he coached this year??? Hmmm
Hey Gordie…You sound like another one of this cities many uneducated hockey critics, who feel it’s of dire importance to flap your gums and call out people without any real foundation or basis for your accusations….Randy Russons latest article, has him trying to somehow place blame on the AAA Midget program and my friend Kevin Panco in particular, for some of the hockey issues the city is dealing with, instead of looking at the turbulent climate and tone amongst the many other divisions, leagues and associations within this city…..blaming one person is asinine and completely inaccurate….let’s be honest, communities like North Bay and Sudbury have improved and have made strides in the past few seasons….their minor hockey associations seem to have grown and improved whereas our hockey community is wavering and is trending backwards due to the growing number of selfish, egotistical, and ignorant people who would rather argue, fight and backstab instead of looking for the answers….there was a time when I could go to the rink, coach and try my best to develop players without worrying about a backlash or some person questioning every decision that was made…. people are quick to judge and point fingers haphazardly. Coaching is a passion and it is something Kevin takes seriously, as do I and the rest of our staff…..it takes, commitment, dedication and a willingness to learn and grow as an educator of the game…. We take great pride in our responsibility to further see these kids grow as players and people, and to have some fun along the way….I wish people could put the players progress and development first, instead of casting blame on a single individual….it doesn’t matter where I go, there seems to be griping and negativity….SO Gord, before you decide to call out someone for their supposed shortcomings, do yourself a favour and realize how absolutely dumb you sound by blaming one person for the problems you see with minor hockey in the soo. The group we coached this past season was a quality squad and did receive some proficient coaching along the way, before we ever had the opportunity to provide our knowledge and assistance. There were also strong groups in 3 other communities in our league…. the competition was great and we all had successful seasons in the tournaments we played in down south..Ultimately, it is in our hands to try and continue to develop whoever ends up on our team as 15, 16, and 17 year olds! The fact you believe that the problems are solely on the existing Midget coaches’ inadequacies, shows yourtotalb lack of intelligence…. it’s hard to sit back and listen to this nonsense….so before you want to blemish the name of my fellow coach and friend, realize how ridiculous you sound…. and it’s gutless to not put your full name to the post too, GORD!
To Dominic Deluca,
You should learn how to read more carefully before you pontificate on such a matter.
All I did was state the facts on the number of players from the Soo on Team NOHA v. the number from North Bay and Sudbury.
In no way did I try to somehow place blame on the AAA Midget program and Kevin Panco as per your allegation. Not sure what you thought you read but that is not what I wrote or suggested. The only reference to Kevin is that he is the coach of the Greyhounds and Team NOHA.
Don’t shoot the messenger, Dominic. What I wrote are the facts, no more, no less.
Regards,
RR
Randy, I can read and I can read between the lines….I will leave it at that!
Dominic,
You can leave it however you want. And you can read whatever you choose to read between the lines.
But facts are facts. And if you have issues with the facts then that is your issue.
Regards,
RR
The issue started when Soo minor named a certain person director of aaa player development and gave him a head coach position as well…. He only focused on a few kids… One in particular while anyone who was as good was put aside so only one could shine… Or was allowed to… Then as his child grew he bailed on the Sault and took his son down south…. As his son never truly developed in until he went south away from his “coach”… So yes… The city had a director only focused on one kid… Sad really…. The 01 group has a lot of talent…look at that AA team… Talk to those coaches… They will tell you what they are capable of…. To bad they weren’t allowed to from the beginning
Dominic: Thank you for your passionate reply which I totally understand your position being an assistant with the major midget team. However, I would like to offer you my “uneducated hockey critic” response and that is…..in the real sports world when a team does respectably well in the regular season and then come the playoff season they fail miserable 2 years in a row (and I’m not talking losing out in the final game in overtime of the final series) , typically the coach gets shit canned in that real sports world. He also has to bare the brunt of theresponsibility and criticism whether he likes it or not as this is what he signed up for. Now another post stated that there may have been problem in player development leading up to the midget year, I would argue that the 01 group was one of the stronger groups that have come through the system lately as proven with the root river team and I’m sure the root river coaches would attest to. Also, the likelihood of 3 of those players going very high, highest in years, in the upcoming OHL draft. Sadly the rest of the talent laden 01s from that root river team will not ever get any exposure to the OHL draft based on the decisions of one person…..the facts speak for themselves Dominic and if that coaching staff cannot handle the criticism then it certainly is time for change.
I would beg to differ…. we did not fail miserably….. we could have won 3 of the 4 games in the Sudbury series….we ended losing out to a solid team and though it’s never fun to lose, I was still feel we had opportunities to win the series…. as for your comment about development, I stated that many of our players were exposed to quality development….. I can handle the criticism Gord…. I have been the coach of many winning teams in my day, and I have no problems losing to a good team and playing against talented competition…… ya win some, ya lose some!
This comment bothers me a lot!! “The issue started when Soo minor named a certain person director of aaa player development and gave him a head coach position as well”
My kids played for this person and they also played for Kevin Panco. These coaches we owe a lot too!! Mine were cut from “Minor Midget” but that didn’t stop them from perusing their goals and their dream.
There are a lot of issues with hockey in general. Lets put the blame where it belongs not on a few who give it their all.
Parents tell your kids if your good enough they’ll find you!! Not 1 coach can change that.
completely different scenarios when i assume that coach did not have a horse in the race for that age group but most certainly did have a horse in the race as with the 01 group from…what I am told..
Tari: I don’t buy the argument that if you’re good enough they will find you…many many great local hockey players fell through the cracks and got lost and never ‘found’ . For that reason it’s important that we showcase and expose our minor midget aged players to the southern scouts at every opportunity. Unfortunately, if these talented minor midget aged kids don’t make this AAA midget team, their chances are likely nil. Hockey has become a big business from the minor leagues and on. Very tough to compete against southern Ontario money and even tougher not living in or near those big centres. Making an OHL team as a ‘walk on’ is certainly the exception and not the rule…..Congrats to kids like the Pilons for defying the odds……;)
Dominic: The unfortunate reality as stated in my first post is Sault Ste Marie’s hockey players will continue to fall behind the “OHL draft 8 ball” allowing coaches and leagues to make bad decision after bad decision. In my opinion the major midget coach made a very bad decision that slammed the door shut on many potential local kids. Many of those kids are highly skilled and have worked extremely hard to get a shot at the draft. So “Dom” we can continue to keep quiet and let the current system fleece the parents for years and then the most important year they slam the door shut on the kids or as you say we can start “flapping our gums” , “calling those out” that are responsible and hold them accountable!
Gordie. ..I noticed my buddy “Dom” uses his real name…you hide behind a fake name…why are you hiding? Can’t fix problems when you’re hiding
Jim: Please provide proof that this is a fake name? Whose to say your real name is ‘Jim Monico’….and what real relevance is it when discussing this topic?? Have a good day ‘Jim’.
To Gordie.
You obviously have a connection to the ’01 group. Can you tell me why that you feel that a ’01 should be picked before a “AAA” quality ’99 & ‘2000? Where is the justification in that and where should the ’99, 2000 play?
Same justification why this same coach in the year 2015-16, chose 7 or 8 – 2000 birth year players (rookie minor midgets first year players). To give those minor midget players a shot at the OHL draft. To answer where they should play? The same place the 98 and 99s played the year before when they got bumped off the very same team by the 2000s. You would have to ask those 98, 99s where they played. Likely downtown in the Sault Major midget league or try out for a regional junior team….eagles, beavers thunderbirds etc.
Brian: In the 2015-16 , and correct me if I’m wrong, I believe these first year (2000 born) minor midget aged players at the time, were selected by Panco …..Gervasi, Caruso, Stevenson, Bowman, Rouleau, Theriault, Wood, Bellini, Cook.
As ‘you obviously’ have a ‘personal connection’ to the 2000 group, can you tell me why was it ok to select the above 2000 born minor midget aged players in 2015/16 as opposed to ‘AAA’ quality 98 and 99 players that season??? I can answer that question for you…because Panco actually made the right decision that season and gave 8 or 9 players exposure to the OHL draft. For some reason this year he decided to slam the door shut on a very talented pool of 2001 players?? You have to wonder if he had a personal agenda against this group??