T-Birds bring Zeppa home
Veteran goalie Noah Zeppa has been signed by the Soo Thunderbirds of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League as a free agent, Hockey News North has confirmed.
A medium size net-minder with a 2002 birth date, Zeppa, who was the most valuable player in the entire Great North Under 18 Hockey League in 2018-2019 while tending twine for the Soo, played briefly for the Renfrew Wolves of the Central Canada Hockey League in 2020-2021.
Before going to Renfrew during the abbreviated 2020-2021 season, Zeppa played part of the 2019-2020 campaign in the NOJHL with the Hearst Lumberjacks only to suffer a season-ending concussion.
Zeppa was taken by the Soo Greyhounds in the second round of the 2019 Ontario Hockey League under-18 draft.
Now, in signing with the Thunderbirds, Zeppa will form a net tandem with 2004 birth year rookie Noah Metivier.
Like Zeppa, Metivier is also a local product.
Thunderbirds general manager Jamie Henderson, who previously coached Zeppa, knows what he has in the good young goalie.
“We are really excited for Noah and his family to bring him home to play for the Thunderbirds program. Noah was an outstanding goalie for our local under 18 and under 16 programs and we are confident he will find that form and be a great goalie and teammate for us. We know he will come in highly motivated and he is really excited to come home,” Henderson told Hockey News North.
Wow. Nice to see. He deserves to play.