Wikipedia

2017–18 NOJHL season

The 2017–18 NOJHL season was the 40th season of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL).

2017–18 NOJHL season
LeagueNorthern Ontario Junior Hockey League
SportIce hockey
DurationSeptember–March
Games336
Teams12
Total attendance138,585
Finals championsCochrane Crunch
NOJHL seasons

Matthew Neault of the Rayside Balfour Canadians set a league record for the most regular season games played with 268 over the course of his NOJHL career, which spanned from 2013–2018. The previous record of 243 was set by Chris Pontes of the Sudbury Jr. Wolves in 2009–10.[1]

Giordano Finoro of the Rayside Balfour Canadians became the 3rd player in league history to score 3 shorthanded goals in a single game. The other players to do so were Rob Demers of the Elliot Lake Vikings and Denis Castonguay of the Rayside Balfour Canadians in the 1983–84 season.[2]

The franchise formerly known as the Iroquois Falls Eskis relocated to the Town of Hearst, Ontario and were rebranded as the Hearst Lumberjacks.[3]

Regular season

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Each team played 56 season games, including 4 or 5 games against the teams in their division, and 2 games against teams in the other division. The top 5 teams in each division advanced to the playoffs.[4]

East division
Team GP W L OTW OTL GF GA Pts
Powassan Voodoos564574129917194
Cochrane Crunch5636173223316575
Kirkland Lake Gold Miners5624212716318059
Hearst Lumberjacks5623301221522649
Timmins Rock5619314314218444
French River Rapids5613382516428731

Source: "2017–18 NOJHL standings". hockeydb.com. Retrieved 2 January 2025.

West division
Team GP W L OTW OTL GF GA Pts
Rayside Balfour Canadians5637142422213979
Soo Thunderbirds5636160319513476
Soo Eagles5635208022214771
Blind River Beavers5633194419515570
Elliot Lake Wildcats5625276417220454
Espanola Express56252011143446

Source: "2017–18 NOJHL standings". hockeydb.com. Retrieved 2 January 2025.

Post-season

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2018 League championship
Copeland Cup – McNamara Trophy
Tournament details
Dates9 March – 24 April 2018
Teams10
Defending championsPowassan Voodoos
Final positions
ChampionsCochrane Crunch
Runners-upRayside-Balfour Canadians
Semifinalists
Tournament statistics
Games played46
Goals scored239 (5.2 per game)
Attendance25,665 (558 per game)
Awards
Playoff MVPConnor Lovie

The first, second and third place teams from each division after the regular season advanced to the quarterfinals, while the fourth and fifth place teams from each division played against each other in a best-of-three series. The winners from each best-of-three series advanced to the quarterfinals to play the first place team from their division.[5]

First round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
Powassan Voodoos 2
Hearst Lumberjacks 1 Timmins Rock 4
Timmins Rock 2 Timmins Rock 1
Cochrane Crunch 4
Cochrane Crunch 4
Kirkland Lake 1
Cochrane Crunch 4
Rayside-Balfour 2
Rayside-Balfour 4
Blind River Beavers 2 Blind River Beavers 2
Elliot Lake Wildcats 0 Soo Thunderbirds 2
Rayside-Balfour 4
Soo Eagles 3
Soo Thunderbirds 4

Source: "2017–18 NOJHL playoff results". hockeydb.com. Retrieved 2 January 2025.

Regional championship

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The 2018 Dudley Hewitt Cup regional championship tournament took place in Dryden, Ontario. The field of competition included the OJHL championship Wellington Dukes; the NOJHL championship Cochrane Crunch; the SIJHL runners-up, the Thunder Bay North Stars; and the hosts and SIJHL championship Dryden Ice Dogs. The format consisted of a preliminary round-robin, followed by the single-elimination semifinal and final rounds. The Cochrane Crunch were the first team to be eliminated from competition after losing three straight games in the preliminary round. In the final round, the Wellington Dukes defeated the Dryden Ice Dogs by a score of 7-4 to win the tournament. The Dukes advanced to the 2018 Royal Bank Cup national championship tournament in Chilliwack, where they lost to the Chilliwack Chiefs of the British Columbia Hockey League by a score of 4-2 in the final round.[6]

Individual awards

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Most valuable player
Connor Lovie, Cochrane Crunch
Top defenceman
Connor Lovie, Cochrane Crunch
Rookie of the year
Harrison Israels, Powassan Voodoos
Most improved player
Jacob Kelly, Powassan Voodoos
Top defensive forward
Matthew Neault, Rayside Balfour Canadians
Best goals against average
Carter McPhail, Soo Eagles
Team goaltending
Brandon Gordon & Eric Schuch, Soo Thunderbirds
League scoring champion
Kyle Herbster, Cochrane Crunch
Most gentlemanly player
Shane Beaulieu, Powassan Voodoos
Best overall team player
Nick Techel, Soo Eagles
Scholastic player of the year
Evan Krassey, Rayside Balfour Canadians
Coach of the year
John Parco, Soo Thunderbirds
Executive of the year
Darren Smyl, Soo Thunderbirds

References

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  1. ↑ Leeson, Ben (14 December 2017). "Canadians captain makes history". thesudburystar.com. Postmedia. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
  2. ↑ "Player records". nojhl.com. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
  3. ↑ "NOJHL announces transfer of Iroquois Falls franchise to Hearst for 2017–18 season". nojhl.com (Press release). 8 April 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
  4. ↑ "NOJHL releases its 2017–18 regular season schedule". frenchriverrapids.com (Press release). 14 June 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2025.
  5. ↑ "NOJHL announces 2018 playoff format/timeline". nojhl.com. 8 February 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2025.
  6. ↑ Svoboda, Paul (8 May 2018). "The ABC's of the RBC: National Jr. A hockey field finalized as Steinbach captures ANAVET Cup". Intelligencer. Postmedia. Retrieved 2 April 2025.

Sources

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  • Svoboda, Paul (26 May 2017). "Rock release Woodward". The Belleville Intelligencer. Postmedia. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
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