Rayside aims at Powassan
Rayside-Balfour Canadians have added a seasoned skater to their roster as they take aim at a Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League championship.
The Canadians, who are a solid third in the NOJHL’s West Division, five points behind first place Blind River but with seven games in hand on the Beavers, have acquired 1997 birth year forward Gabriel Rheault from the French River Rapids.
Rheault, who began the 2017-2018 season with the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners before being recently acquired by French River, has 16 points in 19 games thus far.
He heads to Rayside-Balfour from French River in a cash exchange.
Rayside-Balfour owner and president Adrian Gedye told HockeyNewsNorth.com that the Canadians continue to have “championship aspirations” for this season.
Powassan Voodoos are the reigning NOJHL champions and are in first place overall this season with a 23-3-2 record. But Gedye thinks Powassan can be beaten.
“I think Powassan is ripe for the picking,” Gedye told HockeyNewsNorth.com. “Our goal this season is to win the league championship and if we have to go through Powassan to do so, then so be it.”
If they can only consentrate on playing hockey Rayside would be a good team. They are a dirty team full of cheap shots. The ownership and coaching staff should be embarrassed. Terrible team to watch play. The league should be holding that team accountable for their actions!!!
Dirty? I don’t believe so. This team plays tough, hard hockey> Once upon a time, you could check somebody, and that is gone from hockey. If this team is dirty, they will get penalties, and they do, but minus a few injuries of late, this will be the team to beat.
A New coach that actually knows the game, the best goalie in the league, best power play and PENALTY KILLING, with a few more additions and subtractions, they’re going to be pretty un-beatable.
This team is going to the Dudley……
Honest Fan. I’m a bit of a stats/analytics guy and your comments seemed interesting. I looked at the number of games Rayside players have been suspended and as a team they have the 2nd lowest # of suspensions in the league. Went a step further and saw that the Rayside players have been suspended for a total of 5 games this year and their opponents they have played in those games have a combined total of 12. Incase your argument is that they are getting away with cheap shots, the league has a 2 man ref system and every game is video reviewed by the league and many are attended by off ice referee evaluators. Teams are also able to send in video review to the league for offenses they feel merit a suspension. Facts don’t lie.
Nojhl Fan Mia: I’m wondering if the poster was referring to the fact that the top-two league penalty leaders come from RBC. And as a team they are averaging 16.8 PIM’s a game. Would that also be the league high?
No easy wins in the NOJHL, and Rayside is a very good team. With that said, I do like what the Powassan Voodoos are doing.
There is absolutely no chance the Rayside Balfour Canadiens even make the league final. Kyle Brick is too good of a coach to lose to RBC. He will outcoach them in a 7-game series and if not him, the talent of the Soo Thunderbirds will be too much for the Canadiens to handle.
As for the Powassan Voodoos, they better figure out a way to beat the Cochrane Crunch or else they won’t be repeating as league champions.
My prediction is Voodoos or Crunch from the east and the Thunderbirds or Beavers from the west.
Rayside is not done adding to the puzzle. Who says any series will go seven games. After the Christmas, the Canadiens will go on a roll. What many people forget is that nobody cares who out of the gates first, it’s who crossed the line first that counts. The gong show of a team in French River taught many that.