Bright NOJHL lights
Here ‘n there in the first few days of the 2015-2016 Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League regular season:
…Cochrane Crunch lit the lamp with regularity in a home-and-home, season-opening sweep of the nearby Iroquois Falls Eskis. Cochrane scored 18 goals en route to 7-1 and 11-2 wins over Iroquois Falls.
…Forwards Hunter Atchison and Dustin Cordeiro sparked the Crunch to its crush of the Eskis. Atchison scored three times and set up six others in the two wins while Cordeiro connected for five goals in the 11-2 triumph.
…While Cochrane was finding the back of the Iroquois Falls net, Crunch goalie Brett Young stood tall in the two wins, stopping 76 of 79 shots for a .962 save percentage.
…Iroquois Falls and the Soo Eagles both topped the 800 mark in attendance for their respective home openers. But it was the Timmins Rock that drew the biggest crowd with 1,046 fans showing up at McIntyre Arena for a 6-1 win over the arch-rival Kirkland Lake Gold Miners.
…Forward Sean Paterson has scored four goals for the Blind River Beavers, who are off to a 1-1 start with their first win since March, 2014.
…Rayside-Balfour Canadians are off to a 2-0 start following a home-and-home sweep of the Espanola Express. Kyle Fransen had the hat trick in Rayside’s 4-3 home-ice win, which followed a 3-1 road decision over the energetic Express.
…I took in both games of the Soo Thunderbirds-Soo Eagles, cross-border battle on the weekend. The Thunderbirds were the better team in both games though the Eagles showed considerable hustle. In fact, with better goaltending, the Eagles would have made the 5-2 and 6-3 setbacks a lot closer. By my count, the Eagles gave up six goals — three in each game — that were of the questionable variety. Which might explain why Eagles coach-general manager Bruno Bragagnolo plans on bringing in another goalie for a workout this week.
PHOTO: Cochrane Crunch scored 18 goals en route to a pair of wins over the Iroquois Falls Eskis to begin the 2015-2016 NOJHL season. (Photo by Timmins Daily Press.)
Thanks Randy!!!
Timmins Rocks: You don’t get enough say in the timmins press? …. just saying Go eskies Go
Go ESKIES Go ….. ….. ….. forget about the 1st 2 Games ….. and listen to the Coach!!!!!
Randy those 2 kids you talked about from Cochrane will be in the top 5 scoring all year. I watched them play 2 games and they both have talent and can skate, and will be hard to contain, they both can score 50.
Chad, good scouting on the part of you, Ryan and the Crunch.
Very Impressive win last night by the Voodoos over the Bobcats.
I must say the Bobcats look like the real deal.
Their big players ( and they have many) are all skilled and are filled out.
One of the differences in the game in the Cats favor was, they were sort of like men vs boys. The taller Voodoos, need to fill out ( but are probably younger as well).
The goalie change woke up the Cats and put them back in the game.
On the flip side. the Voodoos have good talent and a fairly solid tender in the pipes last night.
Their smaller players seem to work the hardest, and made the difference. The Dee man Whitcomb, and forward Siracuse, (the two smallest players), have the biggest hearts. (At least in last nights game, and never take a shift off).
It was a great game by two of the better teams in the league, for sure.
Just my 2 cents 🙂