Muddle in middle of NO West


By
January 16, 2017

Soo Thunderbirds have first place to themselves in the West Division of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League while three teams are jockeying for second, third and fourth spots.

Just one point stands between the Blind River Beavers, Soo Eagles and Rayside-Balfour Canadians in the wild West.

The Beavers and the Eagles both have 47 points while the Canadians have 46. But the catch is that the Eagles have played five more games than the Canadians and four more than the Beavers.

Still, the Michigan Soo seems to be soaring after a so-so first half of the season. The Eagles have a record of 4-0-1 in their last 5 games and are 7-2-1 over their past 10 outings.

At stake as the three teams vie for positioning is home ice advantage for the first round of the playoffs that comes with finishing second. And all three teams are trying to avoid finishing fourth, which would force a best-of-three, preliminary-round playoff with the fifth-place finisher, which as of now are the Elliot Lake Wildcats.

To be sure, Elliot Lake appears destined to finish fifth in the West. With 33 points, Elliot Lake is 13 points out of fourth spot and 16 points up on the last-place Espanola Express.

Elliot Lake cannot be taken lightly as the Wildcats are a tough team to play against and better than their sub-par 14-20-5 record might indicate.

Back to the Beavers, Eagles and Canadians — all are well-coached teams, without question. And in Blind River, Beavers rookie bench boss Kyle Brick is a serious coach-of-the-year candidate for his work in totally transforming the on-ice fortunes of a team that totaled only 10 wins the past two years combined.

As the NOJHL heads into the final third of the regular-season schedule there is a lot at stake, not only in the West Division but in the East Division.

Granted, the playoff races are probably over as Espanola has a ways to go to catch Elliot Lake in the West while in the East, the French River Rapids are all-but-eliminated from the playoff picture.

But the Express and Rapids could well play spoiler as teams above them battle for positioning and home-ice advantage as the playoff rounds loom.


What you think about “Muddle in middle of NO West”

  1. French River and Espanola are out. Kirkland Lake and Iroquois Falls will battle it out in a best of three. The west is very close with Elliot Lake, Rayside-Balfour, Soo Eagles and Blind River all fighting for the 2 playoff spots in the West.

  2. Yes Randy, we sure are in a muddle in the middle.
    The rest of the season for these 3 teams should see exciting and excellent hockey being played. Fans will be sitting on the edges of their seats I am sure.
    With the Beavers beating the T-Birds and Powassan this past week it just goes to show that they have the skill and talent to move up to second place in the West. Wow, beating T-Birds in their barn, way to go. Such an improvement with this team since they played Powassan last fall. Thank you for 2 excellent games this past week. Playing the Wildcats last Friday was a good game, it could have went either way.
    Coaching staff and scouts have done a super job for the Beavers. Thank you!
    I think we can all agree that Kyle is an excellent candidate for Coach Of the Year,
    he has earned it. He is also well resected in the Beaver community.
    Beavers, keep your heads up and continue to make us proud.

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