Up North comes up first
The second week of September is on the slate for the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League to set the stage for the ’26-27 regular season schedule. The NOJHL is again poised to function as an 11-team league with the return of the Elliot Lake Lake Vikings and the surprise exit of the three-time reigning champion Sudbury Cubs.
Back In Business In Elliot Lake. It has been a long, difficult process but the Vikings are back in the NOJHL as active members effective the ’26-27 season. The Vikings had officially been on a leave of absence from the NOJHL since the 28 game mark of the ’24-25 season. Before that, they had been playing “home” games 45 miles away in the tiny town of Massey since early in the ’23-24 season when their home arena in Elliot Lake was suddenly shut down by the City due to serious structural concerns. Now, led by relentless team president Jef Jarmovitch — who is one of the 2026 inductees into the Hockey North Hall of Fame that was first established in 2025 — the Vikings are once again ready for junior hockey warfare … Taurean White is the head coach and general manager of the born again Vikings. White previously coached in the NOJHL in Iroquois Falls and with an earlier version of the Elliot Lake program … Also with the Vikings in a role that he held before the arena shut down is the affable John Buchanan as Elliot Lake’s assistant GM and director of scouting.
Northern Notations. 2005 birth year forward Noah Aboflan, who played in the NOJHL for both the Blind River Beavers and Elliot Lake Vikings before winning a Memorial Cup championship with the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League, has an invitation to attend the National Hockey League rookie camp of the Chicago Blackhawks … Among the new head coaches in the NOJHL for the ’26-27 season is Sheldon Reasbeck, who takes the helm of the always contending Timmins Rock from Brandon Perry, who has taken the top job with the Queen’s University Golden Gaels. Notably, Reasbeck and Perry used to coach against one another in the under 18 level Great North Hockey League. And as Perry has forged a reputation as an exceptional coach through hard work, dedication, attention to detail and smarts, Reasbeck is said to be no slouch himself … Meanwhile, returning for a third season as the bench boss of the Michigan-based Soo Eagles is Jeremy Rebek. It says here that Rebek just may be the most under-rated head coach in the NOJHL … The NOJHL will again feature head coaches who are also hard working and committed principal owners of their respective teams. Two of them are Jason Rapcewicz of the Espanola Paper Kings and Paul Frustaglio of the French River Rapids … Two of the three goalies signed by the Soo Eagles are area products — 2008 birth year returnee Dalton Hoornstra and incoming 2009 birth year rookie Dylan Szabo … And speaking of hometown goalies, the Soo Thunderbirds have two local lads poised to return between the pipes. They are Cameron Boville and Nathan Maguire. Boville was born in 2006 while Maguire has a 2007 birth date … Another 2026 inductee into the aforementioned Hockey North Hall of Fame is veteran goalie coach Bill Vanderleest. The ageless twine tutor is about to enter his third season with the Espanola Paper Kings following a decade with the Soo Eagles … Powassan general manager Chris Dawson has confirmed that the ’26-27 version of the Voodoos is in position to feature at least 10 northern Ontario products on the opening night roster … One thing is certain when looking ahead at the ’26-27 NOJHL season and that is there will be a new league champion. With owners Mark Burgess and Connor Burgess of the three time reigning champion Sudbury Cubs opting out of the NOJHL, the race for ’26-27 supremacy is wide open … Looking to return to the playoffs this season are the Blind River Beavers and their head coach-general manager Kyle Brick. The ’25-26 season was the first time time that Blind River missed the playoffs since Brick took the reins in the Milltown a decade ago …
