By Sam Laskaris /
ONTARIO JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
The Couchiching Terriers have gone from a middle-of-the-pack club last year to possibly THE team to beat in the OJHL this season.
The Terriers posted a 29-15-5 record a year ago and placed fifth in the then nine-squad North Conference.
As for this season, the Orillia-area squad, coached by former National Hockey League defenceman Greg Hotham, had won 32 out of its first 41 contests. The Terriers had also picked up points in seven other matches – they lost five games via a shootout and another pair in overtime.
With their 71 points, Couchiching was atop the league’s 10-team Phillips Division in early January. The Terriers were also tied with the Gerogetown Raiders for first over-all in the 37-club OJHL.
Couchiching is led offensively by an American player, 19-year-old forward Matt Smyth, who hails from Orlando, Fla.
Smyth was averaging almost two points per match. He had 71 points (31G, 40A) in his first 36 contests.
The Terriers also had three other forwards who had already cracked the 20-goal barrier by early January. They were Tyler Swan (29), Josh Cousineau (24) and Mackenzie Micks (20).
Not surprisingly, Couchiching was also one of the league’s highest-scoring teams with 213 goals.
Only four other clubs – Hamilton, Oakville, Georgetown and Kingston - had scored more times.
CENTRAL JUNIOR A HOCKEY LEAGUE
Perhaps the Pembroke Lumber Kings will not be the runaway winners in the over-all league standings again this season.
The defending CJHL champs were once again atop the standings in mid-January with 70 points, thanks to their 33-8-1-3 mark.
But the Lumber Kings’ Yzerman Division rivals, the Nepean Raiders, were a close second.
Nepean, which had played one game less than Pembroke, had compiled 65 points through its 30-9-0-5 record.
Meanwhile, none of the five teams in the Robinson Division were posing a serious threat for top spot in the CJHL standings. The 26-15-2-2 Cumberland Grads were leading the division with 56 points.
Nepean, coached by ex-NHL blueliner Garry Galley, has made gigantic strides this season. With 16 matches still remaining this year, the club was expected to easily surpass the 69 points it picked up last season in its 60-game campaign.
Whether the Raiders can catch and pass the Lumber Kings could very well depend on how Nepean fares in its final two regular season meetings with Pembroke.
The series is deadlocked at 2-2 thus far. Nepean had eked out identical 2-1 victories in their first two matchups with the Lumber Kings. But Pembroke registered a 3-1 triumph the third time the two rivals met. And then the Lumber Kings prevailed 3-2 in a shootout in the next outing.
NORTHERN ONTARIO JUNIOR A HOCKEY LEAGUE
The North Bay Skyhawks have shown few signs of slowing down.
The Skyhawks, who won all six of their league matches in December, also began the new year with a pair of victories.
Despite dropping a pair of games after that, North Bay rebounded to register three straight victories. Thus, the Skyhawks had won five of their first seven matches in ’09.
As a result North Bay had built a comfortable 10-point lead in the league’s Eastern Division standings over the Abitibi Eskimos.
Also, the Skyhawks, who had a 30-6-2 record, had played two fewer games than the Eskimos, who were sporting a 24-12-4 mark.
The Skyhawks though were being challenged for the lead in the over-all NOJHL standings.
The 29-9-0 Soo Thunderbirds were atop the league’s Western Division standings with 58 points, just four back of North Bay. North Bay and the Soo squad had played an equal amount of games.
Both the Skyhawks and T-Birds have been a force at home. The Soo side had won 18 of its first 21 matches while North Bay had won 16 of its first 19 contests. But the Skyhawks had the lead in the over-all standings as they were performing better on the road as well.
The Skyhawks were 14-4-1 in away games while the T-Birds were 11-6-0 on the road.
SUPERIOR INTERNATIONAL JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
The Mailman delivered.
Thanks to an overtime goal by Brad Mailman, the expansion Sioux Lookout Flyers registered their first win of the year on Jan. 2.
Yes, it was the Flyers’ first game of 2009. But the triumph was also the first time the Sioux Lookout squad had tasted victory during the entire 2008/09 season.
Mailman’s goal, at the 2:19 mark of the extra session, enabled the Flyers to edge the host Dryden Ice Dogs 5-4. Mailman had also scored a third-period goal which sent the game into overtime.
The only other points the Flyers earned this season were via a pair of shootout losses. Sioux Lookout was beaten 5-4 on Nov. 7 by the Schreiber Diesels and by an identical 5-4 count against Dryden on Jan. 14.
Sioux Lookout, however, was not able to make it back-to-back wins. One day after the Flyers’ victory, Dryden avenged that setback with a 5-3 victory in Sioux Lookout’s home rink.
There’s no doubt it’s been a frustrating season for the Flyers, who lost 33 out of their first 34 contests. Sioux Lookout has suffered several embarrassing losses, including a 20-0 decision against the host Fort William North Stars on Dec.19.
The Flyers’ opponents also hit the double-digit mark in goals in six other games. Sioux Lookout, which had scored just 62 goals in 34 games, had also allowed a league-high of 243 goals. |