Best of the NOJHL West
Call them the Four Tops. As in the top four teams from the West Division of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League.
With records well above the .500 mark, Soo Thunderbirds, Blind River Beavers, Rayside-Balfour Canadians and Michigan Soo Eagles are setting the stage for what could be a photo finish to the 2017-2018 NOJHL regular season.
With the Christmas break looming, the surprising, well-coached Thunderbirds have a tidy lead atop the West Division thanks to, in no small part, a current streak of nine straight wins.
In what was pegged as a regroup season, first-year head coach John Parco and his trusted assistants, Toots Kovacs and Marc Disano, instead have the Thunderbirds setting the pace among the four contenders in the six-team West Division.
But only a scant few points stand between the Beavers, Canadians and Eagles as they go high and low between second, third and fourth spots, while aware of the fifth-place Elliot Lake Wildcats, a talented crew that has underachieved through 35 games thus far this season.
While the Thunderbirds have no doubt benefited from the coaching wisdom and overall hockey experience of Parco, the erstwhile major junior star and world class player and coach from his professional days in Italy, the Soo owes a good deal of its current standing to the 1-2 goal-tending tandem of veteran Brandon Gordon and rookie Eric Schuch.
Kevin Cain, a former, multiple NOJHL champion from his time with both the Thunderbirds and the erstwhile Michigan Soo Indians, now operates Cain Hockey Management and serves as a mentor to amateur level players. And Cain, who keeps close watch on the NOJHL, said in a West Division that features above-average players at the goalie position, the Thunderbirds have the edge.
“And I say that while taking note that both Blind River and the Soo Eagles both have two really good goalies,” Cain began. “It’s just that the Thunderbirds, with Gordon and Schuch, have two exceptional goalies, in my opinion.
“Right now,” Cain continued, “I would say that the Thunderbirds not only have the best 1-2 goal-tending tandem in the West Division but the best pair in the entire league in Gordon and Schuch.”
Cain noted that if it comes down to goal-tending, he taps the Thunderbirds as the favourite to maintain their perch atop the West Division of the NOJHL.
Still, it should be noted that the Thunderbirds, despite their standing, have only one player that has scored goals in double digits thus far and that is second-year forward Nick Smith, who has found the back of the net 23 times.
Then again, third-year junior forward Mark Tassone has proven to be a major addition for the Thunderbirds since being re-acquired from the Trenton Golden Hawks of the Ontario Jr. Hockey League. In 11 games with the Thunderbirds this season, Tassone — who has the same 1999 birth year as Smith does — has 8 goals, 8 assists, 16 points.
At any rate, there is little doubt that Blind River, Rayside-Balfour and the Michigan Soo — not to mention Elliot Lake — will have considerable say as to how the 2018 portion of the regular season schedule eventually plays out.
Eagles general manager Bruno Bragagnolo used the well-worn, “there are no easy games” phrase when asked about the level and balance of the NOJHL in general.
“In our division you have the Thunderbirds, Blind River, Rayside and us among the top four right now but you can always count on a tough game from Elliot Lake whether they are at home or on the road,” Bragagnolo pointed out. “Even Espanola (which is a distant last in the West Division) is a pesky team that is getting better, little by little, with a veteran coach in Tom McCarthy.”
Bragagnolo added that getting points on the road is always tough.
“As a team we play real well at home and we have had some success on the road as well,” Bragagnolo pointed out. “But I’ll tell you, it’s hard to win on the road. It’s real tough playing at the Rhodes Centre (home of the Thunderbirds) and it’s no treat having to go in to Blind River, Rayside or Elliot Lake … and even Espanola, for that matter.”
With 20 first-year NOJHL players on their roster, Bragagnolo likes what the Eagles have been able to do through more than half of the 2017-2018 regular season slate.
“For sure, our kids have done a good job,” Bragagnolo said. “This is a real good league and a tough division that we play in and our kids have adjusted well.”
Bragagnolo agreed that “in a league with so many good goalies, that is a position that can ultimately decide where a team finishes.” And Bragagnolo added that he and the Eagles coaching staff “are more than happy” with their goalie duo of Carter McPhail and Shane Brancato.
“We like our goalies,” Bragagnolo continued. “But I am sure that the Thunderbirds, Blind River and Rayside like who they have in net as well.”