Frontenacs take a pass
Kingston Frontenacs general manager Darren Keily is more than happy with the two import forwards that the Ontario Hockey League team has on its roster.
Thus, the Frontenacs — who are poised to become a very competitive OHL team after two seasons of major rebuild — have opted to pass on taking part in today’s Canadian Hockey League import draft.
Instead, the Frontenacs will retain their two players from the 2019 CHL import draft — forwards Martin Chromiak and Vitali Pinchuk.
…[read more]Chris Thorburn: What a story
Chris Thorburn had what might be called an improbable National Hockey League career.
Thorburn was nearing the end of his four-year Ontario Hockey League run in 2003 and had yet to be signed by the Buffalo Sabres, who had taken him two years earlier, in the second round of the 2001 NHL draft.
But the Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario product would finish his OHL career with a flourish after being dealt by the Saginaw Spirit to the Plymouth Whalers at the 2003 trade deadline.
…[read more]Return ticket to Espanola
All aboard the Express! Destination: Espanola.
Espanola Express president and general manager Jason Rapcewicz has confirmed the commitment of four more returning players for the 2020-2021 Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League season.
The planned returned of the four skaters — three defensemen and a forward — brings to eight the number of players that Rapcewicz already has commitments from for the upcoming NOJHL season.
…[read more]Northern lights in Espanola
Jason Rapcewicz, who is the president and general manager of the Espanola Express of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League, says he has and will — along with his scouts — search far and wide for players.
But as the owner and operator of the small market Espanola franchise, Rapcewicz noted that he takes particular pride in having as many capable northern Ontario players on the Express as he can.
And among those who have now committed to board the Express for the 2020-2021 NOJHL season are three returning players with northern roots — forwards Cole Delarosbil and Brennen Martel and goalie Carson Boutin.
…[read more]Back in the Express net
Carson Boutin is slated to return to the Espanola Express of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League for the 2020-2021 season.
The 2002 birth year goalie joined the Express from the Komoka Kings of the Greater Ontario Jr. Hockey League via the Cochrane Crunch of the NOJHL during the 2019-2020 season.
Boutin, who stands in at 6 foot, 185 pounds, hails from the northeastern Ontario town of Iroquois Falls.
…[read more]RBC makes net exchange
Rayside Balfour Canadians of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League have an opening for a goalie.
The first place team in the West Division of the NOJHL from the 2019-2020 season has dealt 2002 birth year goalie Nicholas Heinzle to the Nipawin Hawks of the Saskatchewan Jr. Hockey League in a cash exchange.
With Heinzle headed to the prairies, veteran David Bowen is now the only goalie on the Rayside roster.
…[read more]Soo Eagles nab Nick Jameus
Free agent forward Nick Jameus has a new Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League home.
Hockey News North has confirmed that the Soo Eagles have committed to Jameus ahead of the 2020-2021 NOJHL season.
A Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario native, Jameus spent the 2019-2020 season with the lowly Elliot Lake Wildcats.
…[read more]Eagles confirm tryout camp
Soo Eagles of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League have received the go ahead to hold their main tryout camp later this summer.
Eagles general manager Bruno Bragagnolo has confirmed the main camp dates and details.
The Eagles are one of 11 teams in the NOJHL and its lone American entry.
…[read more]Junior hockey’s new normal
In one way at least, the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League has a potential advantage over the Ontario Hockey League.
That is, should attendance restrictions be mandated once junior hockey is cleared for game activity, the NOJHL would be in a more enviable position than the OHL.
Attendance is the major source of revenue for the OHL. And while NOJHL teams do rely on attendance as a means of survival, they are also enhanced financially as a ‘pay to play’ league.
As well, NOJHL teams are in a favourable geographical region relative to the COVID-19 pandemic.
…[read more]OHL trade reprise
Trade season in the Ontario Hockey League opened on June 1.
And while there has not been a flurry of activity, several seasoned skaters have been swapped from one OHL team to another.
North Bay Battalion has been involved in two significant transactions while frequent trade partners, Flint Firebirds and Guelph Storm, made yet another exchange with each other. In the space of 12 months — from last off season to this one — Flint and Guelph have made no less than five trades with each other.
Meanwhile, Saginaw Spirit pulled off what could be a helluva heist in getting a former first round pick from North Bay for a bargain price.
…[read more]Mauro makes his points
At 5-foot-8, 150 pounds, Justin Mauro isn’t big.
But he has certainly made big contributions as a productive junior hockey forward.
To be sure, Mauro has put up pretty good point totals over two full seasons with the Blind River Beavers of the Northern Jr. Hockey League.
And with a 2002 birth date, the Sault Ste. Marie native still has three years of junior eligibility remaining.
…[read more]Eagles have eyes on Zeppa
Soo Eagles have received permission from the Hearst Lumberjacks to talk to goalie Noah Zeppa relative to a potential transaction between the two Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League teams.
Eagles general manager Bruno Bragagnolo confirmed to Hockey News North that he has received the go-ahead from Lumberjacks coach-GM Marc Lafleur to speak with Zeppa.
Zeppa, who has a December, 2002 birth date, is coming off of a 2019-2020 season in which he played in only nine games because of concussion-related issues.
…[read more]Blind River brother act
Oh, brother. There is double trouble ahead.
Blind River Beavers of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League will have a brother act in place for the 2020-2021 season.
Hockey News North has confirmed that Devin Mauro will join his older brother Justin Mauro in Blind River for the upcoming NOJHL season.
…[read more]Flint, Guelph make a deal
Flint Firebirds have bolstered their blue line brigade via Ontario Hockey League trade with the Guelph Storm.
Highly-touted defenseman Zack Terry is on the move from Guelph to Flint for a pair of 2023 draft picks.
In confirming the trade, Firebirds general manager Barclay Branch referred to Terry as “both an impressive player and person.”
…[read more]News from the North reprise
It is mid June, which is still early in the junior hockey off season.
In fact, the start of the 2020-2021 Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League season is at least three months away — and maybe longer.
Still, some teams in the NOJHL have re-opened for the business of signing players — returning and incoming — ahead of the 2020-2021 campaign.
Following is a reprise of signings and commitments from three NOJHL teams as first reported by Hockey News North.
…[read more]The tree to the Bird house
It is another branch on the hockey tree.
The climb from major midget to junior A hockey is one that some opt to make sooner than others.
But in this case, a pair of more than capable forwards in Michael Chaffay and Ty Zachary took their time in moving up from the Soo Jr. Greyhounds of the Great North Midget Hockey League to the Soo Thunderbirds of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League.
…[read more]Beavers make a nice splash
Blind River Beavers have confirmed a foursome signing of incoming players with northern roots ahead of the 2020-2021 season.
The Beavers are coming off four straight winning seasons in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League including a 37-15-4 mark from the 2019-2020 campaign.
…[read more]Back on the Express line
The train is starting to chug along the Express tracks in the Spanish River town of Espanola.
Espanola Express president and general manager Jason Rapcewicz has confirmed to Hockey News North the commitments of two seasoned skaters with northern Ontario roots for the 2020-2021 season.
The Express had a turnaround term in 2019-2020 and made the playoffs in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League for the first time since the 2015-2016 campaign.
…[read more]Beware the Beavers
They are the junior hockey epitome of small market success. Playing out of a venerable Highway 17 town with a population base of about 3,500, Blind River Beavers have put together four straight winning seasons in establishing the franchise as one of the best in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League.
…[read more]T-Birds to look at local goalie
Once they are cleared to hold their summer ice camp — dependent on restrictions being lifted relative to the COVID-19 pandemic — Soo Thunderbirds of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League plan to take a look at local goalie Zach Prusky.
The 5-foot-10, 165-pound Prusky, who has a 2003 birth date, spent the 2019-2020 season as a rookie with the New Liskeard Cubs of the Great North Midget Hockey League.
Impressively, in true workhorse fashion, Prusky played the most minutes — 1,741 — of any goalie in the Great North loop in 2019-2020.
…[read more]Birds of the Soo nest
There is a lot that can happen between now and the start of the 2020-2021 junior hockey season relative to player personnel.
And just as much can change between the beginning of the season and the end of it.
But as it currently stands, Soo Thunderbirds of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League have no less than nine local kids who could be a part of the team when the first puck drops on the 2020-2021 campaign.
…[read more]T-Birds take in two locals
It is a bonus when a junior hockey team can sign a local player.
It is a double bonus when the team can add two locals at once.
Two of the top four scorers from the Soo Jr. Greyhounds of the Great North Midget Hockey League will stay at home to suit up for the Soo Thunderbirds of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League come the 2020-2021 season.
…[read more]RBC gives $10K to NOFCC
Rayside Balfour Canadians of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League have scored big for the Northern Ontario Families of Children with Cancer group.
…[read more]T-Birds will be set to go
There is mindful optimism — even if it is from reading between the lines — that there will be a 2020-2021 junior hockey season.
And Soo Thunderbirds of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League will be a nice mix of old and new once teams are able to stick handle around the COVID-19 obstacle.
Incoming head coach Denny Lambert and his bench staff will be looking to work from the inside and outside as the Thunderbirds move on from a 2019-2020 season in which they finished in third place in the West Division with a record of 30-19-7.
…[read more]Kingston trio makes music
A troika of forwards stands tall in the talent pool that is poised to help elevate the Kingston Frontenacs into future Ontario Hockey League contention.
Center Shane Wright and wingers Zayde Wisdom and Martin Chromiak are first line pieces of the puzzle that have Kingston ticketed for emergence within the Eastern Conference come the next OHL season.
All three were major points producers with the Frontenacs during the 2019-2020 season — and they all have time on their side in the form of remaining OHL eligibility.
…[read more]Hounds have 50-50 shot
Soo Greyhounds have a better chance of being in the 2021 Memorial Cup tournament than they do of winning next spring’s Ontario Hockey League championship. To be sure, the Greyhounds have to beat out only one team — the Oshawa Generals — to gain automatic entry into the 2021 national championship event.
…[read more]Schlueting to Saginaw
Saginaw Spirit general manager Dave Drinkill has started the Ontario Hockey League trade season with a bargain pickup.
Drinkill has obtained 2002 birth year defenseman Pacey Schlueting from the North Bay Battalion for a fourth round draft pick in 2024 and a 12th round pick in 2023.
The 6-foot-1, 185-pound Schlueting was a first round pick of the Battalion, ninth overall, at the 2018 OHL priority selections draft from his hometown North Bay Trappers of the Great North Midget Hockey League.
…[read more]Dressed for the Knights
He has the hat. He has the t-shirt.
Next, it is the jersey of the London Knights that Mason Chitaroni wants to wear.
That’s because Chitaroni is a plum prospect of the Knights, who took the 5-foot-10, 150-pound defender in the fifth round, 99th overall, at this year’s Ontario Hockey League priority selections draft from the Soo Jr. Greyhounds of the Great North Midget Hockey League.
“I want to show London that they made the right choice in drafting me,” the 15-year old youngster relayed to Hockey News North.
…[read more]Top 12 OHL rookies are …
Ontario Hockey League has confirmed its first and second team all-rookie selections from the 2019-2020 season. General managers from the 20 OHL teams conducted the voting process.
…[read more]Two teams on the upswing
When a team has been at the bottom of the standings, it figures that there is no place to go but up.
Two years ago, the 2018-2019 season, it was the Kingston Frontenacs who finished in last place in the 20-team Ontario Hockey League. And this past season, the 2019-2020 campaign, it was the North Bay Battalion which had the dubious distinction of having the worst record in the OHL.
…[read more]Bulls call on Bronson
Dunaújvárosi Acélbikák Steel Bulls have put in a call from Central Hungary to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario to ask veteran defenseman Bronson Kovacs to play another season of professional hockey in Erste Liga.
And the 29-year old Kovacs — he will turn 30 in July — told Hockey News North that he has made a verbal agreement to return to the Steel Bulls for the 2020-2021 hockey season. The 2020-2021 campaign will mark the sixth season of pro hockey in Hungary for Kovacs.
…[read more]NOJHL and the HCR
Barring any late change or modification, the Hockey Canada Registry will open as usual on June 1 to the 130 or so teams that are a part of the Canadian Jr. Hockey League. CJHL membership includes the 11 teams of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey.
…[read more]Great North to NOJHL
Several skaters from the top team in the Great North Midget Hockey League from 2019-2020 are poised to progress to the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League in 2020-2021.
Forwards Michael Chaffay, Dylan Forsyth, Devin Mauro and Ty Zachary and defenseman Mateo Perri are among the stalwarts from the Great North’s Soo Jr. Greyhounds who may be headed to the NOJHL once the 2020-2021 season gets going.
…[read more]Lambert to lead T-Birds
This is a multiple coaching hire of well known local hockey people.
Soo Thunderbirds of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League will have a new look coaching staff for the 2020-2021 season, Hockey News North has confirmed. And leading the way as the new bench boss of the T-Birds is a man who played the game at its highest level.
…[read more]Guarding the Greyhound net
A pressing question relative to the Soo Greyhounds ahead of the 2020-2021 Ontario Hockey League season correlates with the most paramount position of all.
Who will be the goalies for a Greyhound team that sees itself as a contender to the extent that it is bidding to play host to the 2021 Memorial Cup tournament and be a participant?
…[read more]Ryan Dugas has the numbers
On a Kingston Frontenacs team that posted the worst overall record in the Ontario Hockey League over the past two seasons, it was their youngest goalie who had the best numbers of any puck stopper. By far.
…[read more]Famine of the Frontenacs
General manager Darren Keily has a distant goal of bringing a long-awaited Ontario Hockey League championship to Kingston. So too does head coach Paul McFarland. But that may be much easier said than done considering the Kingston Frontenacs have never — ever — won an OHL title.
…[read more]Top dog in the Hound pound
Soo Greyhounds have confirmed the signing of their first round pick from the 2020 Ontario Hockey League priority selections draft.
…[read more]More of the future in Flint
Fresh from their finest season in a franchise history that began in 2015, Flint Firebirds have added fuel to the future with the signing of two more players from the 2020 Ontario Hockey League priority selections draft.
…[read more]Toots Kovacs to Sault College
It is another level of the game for Zoltan (Toots) Kovacs. A fixture within the local hockey community for decades, the 60-year old Kovacs has enrolled with the Sault College Cougars men’s team as an assistant to head coach Mike Hall.
…[read more]OHL scouts put in the time
It can be a time consuming job as a nightly gig that also includes morning and afternoon assignments on the weekend. But passion and perseverance lies within the pores of the average Ontario Hockey League scout.
…[read more]Chitaroni has a flip side
It is destination unknown for Mason Chitaroni relative to the 2020-2021 hockey season. That is, the 15-year old defenseman with the world-class speed — he does not turn 16 until October 2 — could be playing in the Ontario Hockey League, the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League, or for any one of four teams in the Greater Ontario Jr. Hockey League when the 2020-2021 campaign gets going.
…[read more]NOJHL is still a plus 11
One way of looking at it is, with the Elliot Lake Wildcats announcing a leave of absence for next season, the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League is down one team.
…[read more]Porco in the Nick of time
As dictated by the COVID-19 crisis, time is standing still in the hockey world. Still, as for time away from the hockey rink, Sault Ste. Marie product Nick Porco is putting it to good use.
…[read more]Coaching rerun in Kingston
It took the Kingston Frontenacs less than two weeks to fill their vacant head coach position. And it will be a familiar face manning the bench in Kingston when the next Ontario Hockey League season begins.
…[read more]Serre to skate for Laurentian
The Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League’s most valuable player has confirmed his commitment to play for the Laurentian Voyageurs of Ontario University Athletics come next season.
…[read more]Sting operation nets another
Sarnia Sting of the Ontario Hockey League has snagged a second American skater away from the Michigan State Spartans of the Division 1, National Collegiate Athletic Association.
…[read more]Northern lights of the OHL
It has been said that hockey players from northern Ontario are, on average, overlooked when compared to those from the Greater Toronto Area and the southwestern and eastern parts of the province.
…[read more]Trying for an OHL tryout
Landon Deforge is not what one would call a big kid, standing in at 5-foot-8 and tipping the scales at 155 pounds. Nonetheless, the skilled, smart, speedy skater played a big role for the Timmins Majors of the Great North Midget Hockey League during the 2019-2020 season.
…[read more]