NOJHL notes, votes, anecdotes
Here and there and in and around the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League:
…High-scoring forward Justin Brazeau will be going to high school in North Bay during the 2015-2016 season. What remains to be seen is whether the 6-foot-2, 180 pound, 1998 birth-year skater plays for the North Bay Battalion of the Ontario Hockey League or the Powassan Voodoos of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League. Brazeau, who was selected by North Bay at the 2014 OHL draft, is fresh from a dominant campaign in the Great North Midget Hockey League where he scored 20 goals, 47 assists, 67 points in 36 regular-season games and added 4 goals, 7 assists, 11 points in 7 playoff contests for the New Liskeard Cubs.
…First it was general manager Kevin Cain who left the reigning champion Soo Thunderbirds at the end of the 2014-2015 season. Since then, head scout Dave Lisk and southwestern Ontario scout Nik Sakellis have also departed the Thunderbirds. Lisk left the Thunderbirds to concentrate on his scouting position with the minor pro Brampton Beast. Sakellis moved on from the Thunderbirds to become a London-based scout for the Espanola Express of the NOJHL.
…Espanola general manager Chad Clarke advises that the Express will be holding a one-day, summer tryout camp on July 25 in Burks Falls, Ont. Cost is $100 and players can register via espanolaexpress.com.
…Did you know that Rayside-Balfour Canadians co-owner Mike Mooney played at the Division 1, National Collegiate Athletic Association level? That is right, the now-45-year-old Mooney was a high-scoring defenceman for the Alabama-Huntsville Chargers from 1989 to 1992.
…If I had a say in who would be the next commissioner of the NOJHL I would hold a vote to ask Robert Mazzuca if he would re-consider his resignation and return for a fifth season. Failing that, my next choice for commissioner would be former Thunderbirds GM Kevin Cain, who is now a senior advisor with the Iroquois Falls Eskis. To be sure, Cain has applied for the vacant commissioner’s job.
Hopefully the pieces keep coming together here in Eskiland before Mr. Cain departs….so far so good from what we are seeing. KL has a camp in the Bay this weekend so we may see some more quality signings out of there. Mr. Leonard is also pounding the pavement. Anything going on in Timmins?