Great North gatherings


By
May 29, 2023

Symmetry could speak to harmony and equality for the Great North Under 18 Hockey League when pucks hit the ice for the 2023-2024 season. Soo Jr. Greyhounds held an extreme balance of power for the 2022-2023 regular season though it was the upstart North Bay U18 Trappers who wound up as playoff tournament champions.

Only three of the eight teams of the Great North U18 HL finished above the .500 mark over the course of the ’22-23 campaign — the Jr. Greyhounds, the U18 Trappers and the Kapuskasing Flyers. Timmins Majors and Sudbury U18 Nickel Capitals both finished within a reasonable range of the .500 level but the Sudbury U16 Nickel Capitals, New Liskeard Cubs and North Bay U16 Trappers were well below the watershed.

Guy Blanchard

It just could be more distinct in ’23-24. If early projections can verbalize for more than just anticipation and expectation, the Great North might well be a four-horse race between the U18 Trappers, the U18 Nickel Capitals, the Soo and Timmins — with Kapuskasing, New Liskeard, the U16 Nickel Capitals and the U16 Trappers in various ranges of pursuit.

North Bay is most likely going to be rather good again in ’23-24 with ageless wonder Guy Blanchard taking over from Doug Sanders as the U18 Trappers merely change one championship coach for another. With the right mix of players from both the ’22-23 U18 Trappers and U16 Trappers, let us count North Bay to be in the contender’s corner for ’23-24.

Over to Sudbury, U18 Nickel Capitals head coach Brian Dickinson told Hockey News North that he and his staff won’t finalize their full roster until August.

Max Campbell

Having made that notation, Dickinson and his assistants will have talent aplenty to choose from. Besides potential returning players from the ’22-23 edition of the U18 Nickel Capitals, there are three skaters from the U16 Nickel Capitals who were all picked at the 2023 Ontario Hockey League priority selections draft.

Sudbury’s ’23 OHL draft picks with 2007 birth dates are defenseman Alexandre Valade (fourth round, Mississauga Steelheads) and forwards Cole Dubowsky (seventh round, Barrie Colts) and Max Campbell (12th round, Erie Otters.)

As for the reigning regular season champion Jr. Greyhounds of the Soo who had seven players taken at the ’23 OHL priority selections draft and two more at the ’23 OHL supplemental draft, the program is in clear transition. Many would-be returning players have, for whatever reason, indicated that they have aspirations of leaving home come the fall to play hockey elsewhere. Which is their call.

But fresh air looms as the Jr. Greyhounds have on board a new head coach in Sean Gagnon, who played in the Ontario Hockey League with distinction as a key member of the 1993 Memorial Cup champion Soo Greyhounds before reaching the pinnacle of playing multiple games in the National Hockey League.

A.J. Borrelli

The Jr. Greyhounds have already signed five local lads who have the background and training of playing in the Great North U18HL in ’22-23. They are forwards Lucas DiBerardino and Griffen Albert from the Jr. Greyhounds, forward Coulson Bell and goalie Nick Marson from the U16 Nickel Capitals and goalie A.J. Borrelli from the U18 Nickel Capitals. DiBerardino, Albert, Bell and Marson all have 2007 birth dates while Borrelli was born in 2006.

Following a recent tryout camp in which the Jr. Greyhounds signed 17 players — the aforementioned five of DiBerardino, Albert, Bell, Marson and Borrelli plus 12 rookies from the ranks of the Sault Major Hockey Association — Gagnon, as the head coach, left three spots open that could potentially be filled by 2007 or 2006 birth year players from here and/or there ahead of main camp in August.

And up in Timmins, general manager Ron Holmes has confirmed the signing of six key players from the ’22-23 edition of the Majors ahead of an August 18-20 main tryout camp. All six can be Major difference makers in ’23-24 under the watch of returning head coach Steve Polyblank and his staff.

Alex Hall

They are goalie Alex Hall, defensemen Cole Ellis and Zach Secord and forwards Teegan Bertrand, Travis Poan and Colten Lane. Hall, Ellis and Bertrand all have 2007 birth dates while Secord, Poan and Lane were all born in 2006. Notably, Ellis was taken by the Kingston Frontenacs in the 15th round of the 2023 OHL priority selections draft.

Clear sailing could well be ahead for the Great North come the next season. There are some good coaches on board on many of the teams in an underrated league that had an impressive 15 players taken by various OHL clubs — 11 at the priority selections draft and four more at the supplemental draft — this year.

And just as the Great North U18 HL develops players for the OHL, so too does it for the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League. Not only do kids from the Great North serve as affiliate players for teams in the NOJHL as 15 and 16 year old youngsters, statistics show that they later go on to become standouts in the league.

It may be underrated by those from the south who can’t be bothered to take the time to venture north. But those who take the time know well — and speak well — of the Great North.


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