A look to the week ahead, Feb. 9 – 15

by Dave Harrison
NOJHL Historian

LAST WEEK’S FEATURE GAME OF THE WEEK

Fri Feb 5 North Bay Trappers 6 vs Soo Eagles 4

The North Bay Trappers got a pair of goals from Jonathon Aubertin and Mike Bodley and singles from Justin Dicks and Stan Smrke on their way to a 6-4 victory over the hometown Soo Eagles.

Anthony Raymond scored a pair for the Eagles and singles went to Brian Depp and Eric Cox

The two teams battled evenly through the first period with the Trappers scoring the first two goals of the game and the Eagles replying with a pair all in the final five minutes of the period.

The Trappers scored the lone tally in the second period and then added two goals early in the third before the Eagles cut the margin to one goal with ten minutes remaining in the final period.

Bodley registered the winning goal on the power play in the 12th minute of play.

Michael Mitchell picked up the net victory making 31 saves while John Kleinhans took the loss making 33 saves.

Each team scored a pair of power play goals and the Eagles registered a shorthanded marker.

Wed Feb 10 Temiscaming Royals vs Kal Tire Sudbury Jr. Wolves 7.30 PM

Two games left in the season series and each team has won four games setting the stage for a couple of good battles in the next ten days to gain bragging rights for the season.

Three of the four Royals victories have come by one goal and the other a two goal margin while the Jr. Wolves victories have been by one, two, three and five goal differences.

The Jr. Wolves have won the last two games of the series outscoring the Royals in the final period 6-3 to gain the pair of victories after the games were tied after forty minutes.

Erik Belanger has been the game breaker for the Jr. Wolves recording three of the four game winning goals while Andre Leclair has potted a pair for the Royals.

Jim Murray of the Royals and Chris Kaye of the Jr. Wolves each have three net victories to their credit.

Chris Kangas has points in seven of the eight games and is on a seven game point streak amassing a total of nine goals and nine assists to lead the Jr. Wolves while Belanger has eight goals and four assists and Tyler Arps four goals and eight assists.

Shane Golden leads the Royals in scoring with four goals and six assists, Benoir Fiset has a pair of goals and seven assists and Kelvin Blackned has two goals and six assists.

Season Schedule
Sep 18 – Sudbury 3 at Temiscaming 4
Sep 23 – Temiscaming 6 at Sudbury 5 OT
Oct 21 – Temiscaming 3 at Sudbury 5
Nov 20 – Sudbury 4 at Temiscaming 5
Dec 2 – Temiscaming 2 at Sudbury 7
Dec 11 – Sudbury 2 at Temiscaming 4
Jan 8 – Sudbury 7 at Temiscaming 4
Jan 13 – Temiscaming 5 at Sudbury 6
Feb 10 – Temiscaming at Sudbury
Feb 19 – Sudbury at Temiscaming

Wed Feb 10 Blind River Beavers vs North Bay Trappers 7.00 PM

The North Bay Trappers have won four of the five meetings between the two squads with the Beavers recording a 7-6 overtime victory the last game in Blind River.

Michael Mitchell has all four net victories for the Trappers and Sam Foley the lone win for the Beavers .

Jonathon Aubertin has a pair of game winners for the Trappers and Brodie Barron a pair of insurance markers while Brett Findlay has the Beavers game winner.

Brett Findlay leads the Beavers with a five game point streak intact against the Trappers recording five goals and seven assists and Matt Dozois has a goal and seven assists. Drew MacMillan has chipped in with four goals and two assists.

A five game goal and point streak intact has Brodie Barron leading the Trappers in scoring in the series with eight goals and three assists, Jonathon Aubertin has points in all five games four five goals and four assists and Dan Zawacki has four goals and four assists.

Season Schedule
Sep 20 North Bay 3 at Blind River 2
Oct 17 – North Bay 8 at Blind River 5
Nov 8 – Blind River 4 at North Bay 7
Dec 12 – North Bay 6 at Blind River 7 OT
Jan 17 – Blind River 1 at North Bay 4
Feb 10 – Blind River at North Bay

Thu Feb 11 Manitoulin Islanders vs Kal Tire Sudbury Jr Wolves 7.30 PM
Walden

A rescheduled game that will be part of the Walden Winter Carnival Celebrations sees the Wolves having won all four games handily outscoring the Islanders 33-11 in the four games.

Nick McMullen and Chris Kaye each have two net wins for the Jr. Wolves and McMullen has recorded a shutout.

Erik Belanger leads the Jr. Wolves with a four game point streak and four goals and 11 assists while Chris Kangas has a goal and ten assists and Chris Pontes with five goals and five assists and a four game point and assists streak intact.

Michael Schiavone and Blake Pederson lead the Islanders with a pair of goals and an assist.

Season Schedule
Oct 2 – Sudbury 5 at Manitoulin 0
Nov 4 – Manitoulin 4 at Sudbury 9
Nov 13 – Sudbury 11 at Manitoulin 5
Jan 17 – Sudbury 8 at Manitoulin 2
Feb 24 – Manitoulin at Sudbury

Fri Feb 12 Soo Eagles vs Manitoulin Islanders 7.30 PM

The opening game of a home and home series to close out the regular season meetings between the two clubs with the Eagles holding an eight to two lead in wins to date.

John Klienhans has four net victories including the last three for the Eagles while Max Bouffard has one of the two Islanders wins.

Aaron Leonard leads the Eagles scoring with five goals and 15 assists and Brian Depp has seven goals and 12 assists. Ryan McAleese and Kevin Michelcavage each have 14 points for the Eagles.

Michael Schiavone has recorded points in nine of the ten games to lead the Islanders with five goals and 11 assists and Blake Pederson has two goals and four assists.

Season Schedule
Sep 19 – Manitoulin 2 at Soo Eagles 9
Oct 10 – Manitoulin 2 at Soo Eagles 6
Oct 30 – Soo Eagles 2 at Manitoulin 6
Nov 6 – Soo Eagles 6 at Manitoulin 3
Nov 28 – Manitoulin 4 at Soo Eagles 9
Dec 11 – Manitoulin 4 at Soo Eagles 3 OT
Dec 18 – Soo Eagles 7 at Manitoulin 5
Jan 10 – Soo Eagles 8 at Manitoulin 6
Jan 22 – Soo Eagles 6 at Manitoulin 2
Jan 30 – Manitoulin 1 at Soo Eagles 7
Feb 12 – Soo Eagles at Manitoulin
Feb 14 – Manitoulin at Soo Eagles

FEATURE GAME OF THE WEEK

Fri Feb 12 Kal Tire Sudbury Jr. Wolves vs Abitibi Eskimos 7.30 PM
Timmins

Marc-Alain Begin, Joshua Clancy and Felix Boutin have been the driving force behind the Eskimos domination of the Jr. Wolves this season series with Clancy leading the way with ten goals and 12 assists and a ten game point streak. Boutin has points in nine of ten games and has five goals and 12 assists and Begin, despite missing three games when he moved to the QMJHL has seven goals and nine assists.

Eddie Davey has been the netminder in all eight of the Eskimos victories while Chris Kaye and Nick McMullen each have one for the Jr. Wolves.

Erik Belanger leads the Jr. Wolves with five goals and nine assists and Evan Daciuk and Chris Pontes each have eight points.

Season Schedule
Sep 9 – Abitibi 5 at Sudbury 3
Sep 12 – Sudbury 3 at Abitibi 4 SO
Oct 10 – Sudbury 4 at Abitibi 3 SO
Oct 14 – Abitibi 6 at Sudbury 0
Nov 11 – Abitibi 6 at Sudbury 3
Nov 28 – Sudbury 2 at Abitibi 4
Dec 16 – Abitibi 3 at Sudbury 5
Dec 22 – Sudbury 1 at Abitibi 6
Jan 6 – Abitibi 8 at Sudbury 3
Jan 10 – Sudbury 1 at Abitibi 4
Feb 12 – Sudbury at Abitibi
Feb 17 – Abitibi at Sudbury

Fri Feb 12 North Bay Trappers vs Temiscaming Royals 8.00 PM

The North Bay Trappers have eight victories in the nine games played to date in the series and have recorded three straight three goal margin victories.

Brodie Barron leads the Trappers scoring race with five goals and eight assists and Sacha Guimond with six goals and five assists and Dan Frawley with five goals and six assists have been other contributers.

Andre Leclair leads the Royals scoring with four goals and seven assists and Kory Cashaback, Robin Mendelsohn and Cedric Boutin have chipped in with five points.

Season Schedule
Sep 11 – North Bay 2 at Temiscaming 1 SO
Sep 27 – Temiscaming 3 at North Bay 5
Nov 1 – Temiscaming 1 at North Bay 2
Nov 6 – North Bay 3 at Temiscaming 6
Dec 4 – North Bay 3 at Temiscaming 2
Dec 6 – Temiscaming 2 at North Bay 4
Jan 3 – Temiscaming 0 at North Bay 3
Jan 21 – North Bay 8 at Temiscaming 5
Jan 31 – Temiscaming 6 at North Bay 9
Feb 12 – North Bay at Temiscaming
Feb 14 – Temiscaming at North Bay
Feb 27 – North Bay at Temiscaming

Sat Feb 13 Soo Thunderbirds vs Abitibi Eskimos 7.30 PM

The battle of division leaders has the Thunderbirds leading the series with a pair of home ice victories while the Eskimos have won their only home ice appearance.

Eric Pye and Ryan McDonald have the net victories for the T-Birds while Eddie Davey has the Eskimos net victory.

Joshua Clancy leads the Eskimos in goals with four and has added an assist while Michael Fecteau has recorded five assists to lead the Eastern division leaders while Felix Boutin has a pair of goals and assists.

Kutis Travaglini leads the T-Birds with four goals and an assist and Andy Grypma has points in all three games and has a pair of goals and assists and Justin Thomas has a goal and three assists.

Season Schedule
Nov 7 – Soo Thunderbirds 3 at Abitibi 5
Dec 4 – Abitibi 2 at Soo Thunderbirds 3
Jan 17 – Abitibi 3 at Soo Thunderbirds 6
Feb 13 – Soo Thunderbirds at Abitibi

Sat Feb 13 Soo Eagles vs Blind River Beavers 7.30 PM

The Beavers lead the season series five games to three with three of their victories coming on home ice while the Eagles have won a pair at home.

Will this be a playoff preview only time will tell as the top three teams in the Western division battle things out.

The series has been high scoring and have gone down to the wire in each game with very little to choose between the clubs after forty minutes of play.

Matt Dozois leads the Beavers with an eight game point streak and nine goals and ten assists while Brett Findlay also has an eight game point streak and five goals and nine assists.

Drew MacMillan has chipped in with five goals and eight assists and Nathan MacLeod has four goals and seven assists.

Ryan McAleese has points in six of eight games and leads the Eagles with four goals and nine assists and Aaron Leonard has four goals and seven assists. Brian Depp has eight points and Ryan Teal and Eric Cox each have seven points.

Season Schedule
Oct 2 – Blind River 4 at Soo Eagles 5 OT
Oct 25 – Blind River 4 at Soo Eagles 5 SO
Oct 31 – Soo Eagles 4 at Blind River 5 OT
Dec 19 – Soo Eagles 4 at Blind River 7
Jan 6 – Blind River 6 at Soo Eagles 5
Jan 9 – Soo Eagles 4 at Blind River 6
Jan 23 – Soo Eagles 5 at Blind River 4
Feb 7 – Blind River 7 at Soo Eagles 2
Feb 13 – Soo Eagles at Blind River
Feb 19 – Blind River at Soo Eagles

Sun Feb 14 Soo Thunderbirds vs Blind River Beavers 7.00 PM
Game 11 Carmen Provenzano Cup

The Beavers have two games remaining at home to even up the series against the Thunderbirds for the coveted Carmen Provenzano Cup.

The Thunderbirds currently lead the series six games to four and have a pair of victories prior to Christmas in Blind River to set the stage for an interesting finish to the season series.

Sam Foley has backstopped the Beavers to three victories in the last four games and held the T-Birds to a total of six goals in those contests.

Ryan McDonald has five of the six net victories for the T-Birds with Eric Pye picking up a shutout in his first appearance against the Beavers.

Brett Findlay leads the Beavers scoring with two goals and eight assists and Matt Dozois has two goals and seven assists. Cody Zorzi has also added three goals and three assists.

The scoring has been evenly spread out on the Thunderbirds side with Michael Schug potting four goals and five assists while Kurtis Travaglini has three goals and six assists. Bronson Kovacs, Chad Thibodeau, Jerry Petingalo and Justin Thomas have added eight points.

Season Schedule
Sep 17 – Soo Thunderbirds 6 at Blind River 5 SO
Sep 25 – Blind River 2 at Soo Thunderbirds 5
Oct 3 – Soo Thunderbirds 3 at Blind River 4
Oct 14 – Blind River 1 at Soo Thunderbirds 2 SO
Nov 21 – Soo Thunderbirds 4 at Blind River 1
Nov 25 – Blind River 4 at Soo Thunderbirds 8
Dec 5 – Soo Thunderbirds 2 at Blind River 3
Dec 16 – Blind River 4 at Soo Thunderbirds 3 OT
Jan 13 – Blind River 0 at Soo Thunderbirds 6
Jan 27 – Blind River 3 at Soo Thunderbirds 1
Feb 14 – Soo Thunderbirds at Blind River
Feb 20 – Soo Thunderbirds at Blind River

Sun Feb 14 Manitoulin Islanders vs Soo Eagles 2.00 PM
See February 12th writeup.

Season Schedule
Sep 19 – Manitoulin 2 at Soo Eagles 9
Oct 10 – Manitoulin 2 at Soo Eagles 6
Oct 30 – Soo Eagles 2 at Manitoulin 6
Nov 6 – Soo Eagles 6 at Manitoulin 3
Nov 28 – Manitoulin 4 at Soo Eagles 9
Dec 11 – Manitoulin 4 at Soo Eagles 3 OT
Dec 18 – Soo Eagles 7 at Manitoulin 5
Jan 10 – Soo Eagles 8 at Manitoulin 6
Jan 22 – Soo Eagles 6 at Manitoulin 2
Jan 30 – Manitoulin 1 at Soo Eagles 7
Feb 12 – Soo Eagles at Manitoulin
Feb 14 – Manitoulin at Soo Eagles

Sun Feb 14 Temiscaming Royals vs North Bay Trappers 7.00 PM
See February 12th writeup.

Season Schedule
Sep 11 – North Bay 2 at Temiscaming 1 SO
Sep 27 – Temiscaming 3 at North Bay 5
Nov 1 – Temiscaming 1 at North Bay 2
Nov 6 – North Bay 3 at Temiscaming 6
Dec 4 – North Bay 3 at Temiscaming 2
Dec 6 – Temiscaming 2 at North Bay 4
Jan 3 – Temiscaming 0 at North Bay 3
Jan 21 – North Bay 8 at Temiscaming 5
Jan 31 – Temiscaming 6 at North Bay 9
Feb 12 – North Bay at Temiscaming
Feb 14 – Temiscaming at North Bay
Feb 27 – North Bay at Temiscaming