Crunch time for goalie
Tomi Gagnon is back in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League without having ever really left. The 2000 birth-year goalie has signed with the Cochrane Crunch.
Gagnon was a backup to league most valuable player Nic Tallarico with the NOJHL champion Hearst Lumberjacks in 2018-2019 and posted a record of 9-6-1 with an .895 save percentage and 3.40 goals against average.
He parted ways with Hearst during the off season but was inactive when Cochrane coach-general manager Ryan Leonard came calling earlier this week after the Crunch traded goalie Cody Levesque to the Red Lake Miners of the Superior International Jr. Hockey League.
In signing with Cochrane, Gagnon will form a tandem with 1999 birth-year goalie Zach Wickson.