NOJHL leaders have talent, heart

So much skill.

So much heart.

It’s a tough combination to beat.

Talented and tireless, no team in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League works harder than the Soo Thunderbirds.

Winners of 20 straight games, the Thunderbirds are atop the NOJHL standings with 78 points in 44 games from a record of 38-4-2 going into action this weekend. …[read more]

Here ‘n there on January 31

From both sides of the Soo to Coulee Region to Flint we go…

…Soo Thunderbirds have the best record in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League and have all but clinched first place in the eight-team loop. Barring a late-season collapse, the Thunderbirds will finish first under 28-year old head coach Jordan Smith, who does not look or act like a rookie bench boss. Wise and mature beyond his years, Smith’s stay in the NOJHL doesn’t figure to be an extended one. This is an up-and-coming coach who is destined to be behind an Ontario Hockey League bench sooner than later.

…As the NOJHL Thunderbirds have assumed control of the Soo entry that will return to the Great North Midget Hockey League in 2014-2015 after sitting out this season, one of the first orders of business will be finding a suitable coach. One man that bears strong consideration is veteran bench boss Jim Capy. Capy, who stepped away from the game in 2012 after coaching for years in the NOJHL with the Thunderbirds, Soo Indians and Blind River Beavers, is known as an attention-to-detail coach. Whether Capy has any interest in returning to coaching and whether the Soo midgets might provide a good fit is a scenario worth following.

…The numbers don’t lie. With veteran goaltenders Colin Brennan and Paige Skoog handling the goaltending through the first 28 games of this 2013-2014 North American Hockey League season, Soo Eagles were in last place in the six-team North Division with a record of 9-14-5. …[read more]

NOJHL Notes: Haines on fire, Trecroce on air

…To say that Darcy Haines has been lighting it up for the Soo Thunderbirds since the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League team acquired the skilled centre in a trade with the Pembroke Lumberkings of the Central Canada Hockey League earlier this season would rank as a major understatement.

Haines, who is in his final season of junior eligibility, is averaging two points a game through 20 outings with the Thunderbirds. …[read more]