Heading into the final month of the regular season in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League there is one certainty and several probables.
What we know is that the Manitoulin Islanders will again finish last in the West Division and with the worst record in the NOJHL.
What is probable is that the East Division will finish [...]

A sportswriter’s short list of Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League favourites:

UNSUNG HEROES: Brett Campbell, Dereck Hurley and Grant Paulson of the Blind River Beavers, Colin Barnauskas of the Soo Thunderbirds, Anthony Raymond of the Soo Eagles, Dan Zawacki of the North Bay Trappers, Geoff Gieni of the Abitibi Eskimos and Luc Comtois of the Sudbury [...]

Soo Thunderbirds coach Pat Carricato is fond of telling me how much his team likes playing in the cozy confines of John Rhodes Community Centre.
Little wonder.
The West Division-leading Thunderbirds have the best home record in the eight-team Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League to date, having posted a 17-1-3 mark.
The Thunderbirds don’t draw big crowds at [...]

Of all the transactions that have been made this Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League season — and there have plenty, with the Blind River Beavers alone having been involved in 23 trades totalling 27 players and tens of thousands of dollars in cash — the biggest moves have involved Marc-Alain Begin.
Begin, if you recall, began [...]

News and views from the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League All Star game in Temiscaming, Quebec:
…For many, it was a day that began at 7 a.m. on Saturday when the bus left Sault Ste. Marie and didn’t end until 5 a.m. on Sunday when the old iron lung rolled back into the Soo. But I [...]

Here ‘n there in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League as 2009 approaches 2010:
…National Hockey League scouts at NOJHL games is no longer a rarity. Two seasons ago, more than one NHL scout was tracking big centre Brett Perlini of the Soo Thunderbirds before he ventured off to Michigan State University on a four-year, full-ride, [...]

…I have no doubt about the calibre of play when Team East meets Team West in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League All-Star Game on Sat. Jan. 2 in Temiscaming. I have no doubt that the Town of Temiscaming and the NOJHL Royals will put on a good show as hosts of the All-Star Game. [...]

I’ve heard the talk, read the comments.
Apparently, the hometown referees are a big reason why the Michigan Soo Eagles currently have the best record within the West Division of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League.
I beg to differ.
First off, a note about the officiating.
There is a certain Michigan Soo referee that teams have had issues [...]

Jim Capy says moving players is a facet of the job he doesn’t like.
“It’s part of the game and you always want to try to improve your team if you can but it’s hard to tell a player that he no longer fits into your plans,” said Capy, the coach/general manager of the Blind River [...]

WHO’S HOT: The Abitibi Eskimos, obviously. Sooner or later the Eskimos are going to lose in regulation time but the fact of the matter is Abitibi is a fast, skilled, experienced, well-coached team. Benchmaster Paul Gagne is as good a coach as the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League has seen and this is probably the [...]