Hot to trot in the NOJHL

By Randy Russon
November 14, 2016
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Here ‘n there in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League as we approach mid November.

BUZZ IN BEAVER TOWN

Blind River Beavers have not only won more games this season than last but they have already surpassed the combined win total of the past two years.

Under first-year head coach Kyle Brick, the Beavers have reeled off six successive victories and have a record of 13-9-0 through 26 games, good for third place in the West Division and only six points back of the first-place Rayside-Balfour Canadians and five points behind the second-place Soo Thunderbirds.

This is in sharp contrast to 2015-2016 when the Beavers posted a record of 10-40-4 and 2014-2015 when they went winless with an atrocious mark of 0-55-1.

FLY LIKE THE EAGLES

Surging Soo Eagles have surpassed the skidding Elliot Lake Wildcats to move into fourth place in the West Division with 22 points from a record of 10-13-2.

The Eagles have won three straight games and are 6-2-0 in their last eight outings.

Recently-acquired goalie Kade Phipps has been a difference maker between the pipes for the Eagles.

Phipps has started seven of the eight games since joining the Eagles from the Alberta Jr. Hockey League and has a 5-2-0 record to go with a 2.67 goals against average and .914 save percentage.

VOODOO MAGIC

The team with the best record in the NOJHL is the Powassan Voodoos, who have 37 points from a mark of 18-3-1.

Powassan has won 11 straight games and will put that streak on the line tonight when it plays host to the Cochrane Crunch.

Second-place Cochrane trails Powassan by four points in the East Division standings.

COACH ON THE HOT SEAT?

After two straight strong seasons under since-departed coach Nathan Hewitt, Elliot Lake is struggling big time of late with first-year bench boss Corey Bricknell at the helm.

The Wildcats have lost three straight games and have won just one of their last 10 to drop to 9-14-1 on the season.

Is Bricknell on the hot seat?

Maybe he is, maybe he isn’t.

But consider that while working in tandem with the aforementioned Hewitt, general manager Todd Stencill and the Wildcats posted back-to-back records of 38-11-3 and 35-12-7 the past two seasons.

Stencill, by the way, remains the winningest coach in the NOJHL history of the Blind River Beavers with a three-year, regular-season victory total of 79 between 2007 and 2010. Stencill also coached Blind River to its only playoff-series triumph in an NOJHL franchise history that began in 1999.