Summer breeze up north
Winds of summer are shifting through the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League. As in winds of change from one season to another.
Since the 2017-2018 season ended, there have been coaching changes that include Shawn Frappier taking over from Ken Strong as bench boss of the French River Rapids and the Soo Eagles hiring Doug Laprade to replace Jim Capy as head coach.
Major change is also on the horizon in Espanola where the Express is looking for a new head coach to take over from the veteran Tom McCarthy while also starting fresh within the hockey operations department under president and general manager Chad Clarke.
Meanwhile, at the league level, Hector Seguin is out as administration officer as the NOJHL prepares for its annual general meeting in Sudbury on June 7-9 with long-time commissioner Robert Mazzuca at the helm.
Ahead of that, effective June 1, all 12 NOJHL teams can begin signing players to Hockey Canada registration cards preparatory to the 2018-2019 campaign.
Then, on June 14, as per the Canadian Jr. Hockey League, NOJHL teams can begin making player trades ahead of next season.
So I take it Iroquois Falls isn’t going to see a return of NOJHL hockey. If there were new teams, or changes we would’ve known by now…
Anymore insight into what is going on in Espanola? What does”starting fresh within the hockey operations department ” mean? Hopefully the Express are going to place more emphasis on recruiting.
Look for another story on the Express in a day or so.