Across the Great North

By Randy Russon
February 16, 2023
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There are three weekends of regular season play left on the Great North Under 18 Hockey League schedule. Then, in the third week of March, the eight teams of the Great North will congregate in Sault Ste. Marie for a round-robin championship tournament.

HOUNDS IN FIRST: With three games to play, the Soo Jr. Greyhounds have clinched first place. The Jr. Hounds have a record of 23-2-0 and are a stacked team that scores a lot and does not allow many shots on goal. Through 25 games, the Soo has scored 132 goals and allowed just 39. Again, what is most impressive about the Jr. Hounds is how they limit opposing teams to quality and quantity of scoring opportunities.

SECOND AND THIRD: North Bay U18 Trappers have a five point lead on the Kapuskasing Flyers for second place. Both teams have five games remaining and are ahead of the fourth place Timmins Majors as teams above the .500 mark.

NET WORTH: Among the older goalies with 2006 birth dates, the Great North has a number of good ones led by Michael McIvor of North Bay, Alexandre Boivin of Kapuskasing and Maverick Fletcher of the Soo. McIvor is also the top goalie prospect of the North Bay Battalion of the Ontario Hockey League.

As for the rookie goalies with 2007 birth dates, there are five of them in the Great North. And to me — and more than a few others — the best two are Nick Marson of the Sudbury U16 Nickel Capitals and Alex Hall of the Timmins Majors. Both Marson and Hall have grown in height since the start of the season and both now stand in at 5-foot-10.

It is worth noting the difference in age between Marson and Hall. While both were born in 2007, Hall is more than 10 months older than Marson. Hall was born on February 2, 2007 while Marson was born on December 16, 2007.

Marson is also playing for a U16 Nickel Capitals team that gives up an average of 40 shots per game. At any rate, an OHL team would not go wrong by taking Marson or Hall with a late round pick at this year’s priority selections draft.

SCORING RACE: Hudson Chitaroni of the Soo has a one point lead on fellow forward Nate Gravelle of North Bay U18. Chitaroni has 19 goals, 20 assists, 39 points while Gravelle has 19-19-38 numbers. Gravelle does have an advantage with five games to play as opposed to three for Chitaroni.

U18 CAPS ARE HOT: Sudbury U18 Nickel Capitals have a record of 5-2-0 over their past seven outings to improve to 10-16-0 with two games to play in the regular season. The U18 Nickel Caps are being led by second-year forward Caden Dubreuil, who has nine goals, 11 assists, 20 points in his last 12 games. All together, Dubreuil has 13 goals, 15 assists, 28 points in 24 games. The U18 Caps also boast a high-end goalie tandem of Keiran Ouellette and rookie A.J. Borrelli.

(action photo of Sudbury U16 Nickel Capitals v. Soo U18 Jr. Greyhounds by Bob Davies.)