NOJHL Insider: Birds have eyes on big prize
Submitted By Randy Russon on Saturday, February 04, 2012
Barring a major meltdown, Soo Thunderbirds are poised to finish atop the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League standings for the second season in succession.
With 10 games to go in the regular season, the Thunderbirds have an eight-point lead on the second-place Soo Eagles and a 10-point cushion on the third-seeded Sudbury Cubs.
The Eagles have a game in hand on the Thunderbirds, while Sudbury has played the same number of contests to date as the league-leaders have.
At any rate, while another first-place finish would no doubt be sweet for the Thunderbirds, it is far from the ultimate goal of the team.
“Anything less than winning the championship will be a big disappointment,” said Thunderbirds general manager Kevin Cain, who watched his team finish first a year ago only to lose a six-game thriller to the cross-river Eagles in the second round of the playoffs.
While the Eagles are the reigning champions and have a team that is just as talented as last season’s edition, the feeling is that the Thunderbirds have the best overall lineup in the NOJHL.
Offensively, the Thunderbirds have plenty of weapons and a good collection of shutdown forwards.
Micky Sartoretto and Matt Amadio, both 20, are the major lamplighters; fellow veteran forwards Brett Campbell, Kevin Michelcavage, Nick Romano and Greg Sartoretto are all proven scorers, while rookies Kurtis Barbarie and Derek Battagin have 14 and 13 goals, respectively.
Then there are shutdown forwards Jake Wright, Cody Zorzi and Darcy Casola. While being three of the Thunderbirds better forwards away from the puck, Wright has tallied 11 goals to date, Zorzi has chipped in with 10 and Casola has nine.
The fearless Wright, an Ontario Hockey League draft pick of the Sarnia Sting, is seen by some as a future Division 1, National Collegiate Athletic Association player.
Also around to add a devilish dimension to the Thunderbirds is Quebec import Joey Couture, an early January acquisition from Brockville of the Central Jr. Hockey League.
In goal, John Kleinhans is the best in the NOJHL and he has the numbers to back up that assertion with a record of 22-7 to go with a .913 save percentage and 2.85 goals against average. Kleinhans is backed up by Remo Febbraro.
On the blueline, the Thunderbirds have been without grizzled, injured veteran Dylan Connolly for the past several games.
But there’s quality depth back there that features Junior A vets Corey Jackson, Brad Pascall, James Delayer and Kris Barclay and rookies Josh Hicks, Jeremy Solomon and Fraser Turner.
In short, Cain has done a thorough job in putting together another championship contender.
Whether it’s enough to wear the crown that the purloining Eagles snagged last season depends on a number of factors, among them:
• Can Kleinhans, who in back-to-back seasons while with the Eagles was supplanted as the No. 1 goalie just prior to the playoffs, rise to the occasion this post-season?
• Can Thunderbird head coach Preston Mizzi match wits and strategies with Eagles bench boss Bruno Bragagnolo come playoff time?
• Will the Thunderbirds be as physically-conditioned for a playoff run as the Eagles were last season?
