MID WEEK NOTEBOOK

A regular, rhythmic write-up covering the exploits of various players, teams and leagues at the rep, junior and collegiate hockey levels.

COUGARS ROAR: Sault College Cougars of the Division 2, American Collegiate Hockey Association will take a record of 10-2-0 into a four game home stand that begins on the November 15-16 weekend and continues into November 22-23.

Ethan Esposito leads the Sault College men in scoring with 11 goals, 10 assists, 21 points. Then it is Brock Santa Maria with five goals, 12 assists, 17 points, Nick Jameus with 3-14-17 totals, Jake Kovacs with 5-7-12 numbers, Dylan Winsor with 7-4-11 statistics and defenseman Michael Starzomski with 10 points, including four goals.

Goalie Gavin Disano has played in eight of Sauit College’s 12 games and has a record of 7-1-0 to go with a 3.05 goals against average and .896 save percentage.

Notably, Santa Maria (Soo Thunderbirds), Jameus (Elliot Lake Vikings and Blind River Beavers), Kovacs (Thunderbirds and Beavers), Starzomski (Soo Eagles) and Disano (Blind River) all played in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League prior to going to Sault College.

TY ONE ON: An all around game that focuses on play with and without the puck along with skill, speed and smarts have about a half dozen Ontario Hockey League teams already scouting Ty Dubreuil, a 2009 birth year forward with the North Bay Under 16 Trappers of the Great North Under 18 Hockey League.

A 5 foot 10, 160 pound forward from Sudbury who opted to play in North Bay this season, Dubreuil has shrugged off a snake-bit start to the ’24-25 campaign and now has two goals, five assists, seven points in eight regular season matches for the Trappers.

One of a number of players within the GNU18HL who loom as potential picks ahead of the 2025 OHL priority selections draft, Dubreuil, in addition to his offensive abilities, covers the neutral and defensive zones much like a moat protects a castle.

The youngster has good hockey roots via his dad, Dale Dubreuil, who played four seasons of Division 1, National Collegiate Athletic Association hockey at Canisius College in Buffalo from 1996 to 2000 and had 69 points in 91 games.

OHL TO NOJHL: The best has become even better. Sudbury Cubs, already in first place among the 12 teams of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League, have added another star player to their lineup.

Nolan Newton, a 2006 birth year forward, has been returned to the NOJHL and the Cubs from the Barrie Colts of the Ontario Hockey League. Newton put up big numbers for the Cubs during their championship season run of ’23-24. In just 47 games — regular season and playoffs included — Newton totalled 40 goals, 44 assists, 84 points.

Newton joins an offensively talented Cubs lineup with the likes of veterans Lucas Signoretti and Sam Assinewai along with rookie Mason Walker all among the top 20 in league scoring. The Cubs lineup now features a total of seven players who have been selected by OHL teams and/or have OHL playing experience.

HOUNDS ARE HOT: After losing their first three games of this ’24-25 OHL season the Soo Greyhounds have won nine of their last 12 outings and are 8-2-0 in their last 10 matches.

Led by veteran forwards Marco Mignosa and Owen Allard and import newcomer Noel Nordh as well as the goalie duo of Landon Miller and Charlie Schenkel, the Greyhounds took two of three road games last week, upsetting the Windsor Spitfires and besting the Flint Firebirds, losing only to the London Knights.

After missing the first 10 games of the season due to injury, Mignosa has five goals, six assists, 11 points in just five outings and is already second on the Greyhound scoring chart. Allard, meanwhile, has three goals, four assists, seven points in five games since returning from the pro ranks. And Nordh has two goals, five assists, seven points in just four games since signing with the Greyhounds as an National Hockey League prospect of the Utah Hockey Club.

SPITFIRE STOPPERS: Windsor Spitfires are seemingly set in the net for the present and future with no less than four goalies under OHL contract and a fifth under team control.

On the current Windsor roster are 2005 birth year veteran Joey Costanzo and 2006 birth year rookie backup Carter Froggett. Costanzo has arguably been the best goalie in the OHL through the first five or so weeks of the ’24-25 regular season.

Developing on the farm are Michael Newlove with the Georgetown Raiders of the Ontario Jr. Hockey League and Jake Windbiel with the LaSalle Vipers of the Greater Ontario Jr. Hockey League. Newlove has a 2007 birth date and Windbiel was born in 2008.

Notably, Newlove has attracted the attention of NHL Central Scouting ahead of the 2025 draft. The 6 foot 3 puck-stopper is on the NHL’s early season watch list of prospects for next year’s draft.

Also in the Spitfires crease picture is Cam Ingram, a 2024 OHL priority selections draft pick who is currently with the Halton Hurricanes of the Ontario Minor Hockey Association. Ingram, who has a 2008 birth date, hails from the nearby Sault Ste. Marie town of Echo Bay. After tending twine as a young lad for the North Channel Lightning, Ingram played at the Under 14 and Under 15 AAA levels in the Sault before joining the Under 16 Toronto Jr. Canadiens of the Greater Toronto Hockey League in ’23-24. It was his play with the U16 Jr. Canadiens in the GTHL that led to Ingram becoming a draft pick by the OHL Spitfires.