Photo: Justin Cairns
SUDBURY, Ont. – The upcoming Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL) quarter-final match-up between the No. 2 Powassan Voodoos and No. 7 Soo Eagles begins Friday at 7 p.m. at the Powassan Sportsplex.
Featuring a couple of well-balanced squads, the best-of-seven affair boasts a combined 13 players who amassed 40, or more, points offensively throughout the season for their respective clubs, including seven skaters who scored goals 20-plus times.
For his part, Powassan captain Justin Rousseau had this to say entering the series: “We’re very excited to get things started. It’s the best time of year, and we can really feel the excitement and support from our fans. We’re heading into the playoffs playing some great hockey, and we’re hoping to carry that momentum into the postseason.”
Here’s a look at the Voodoos – Eagles get together:
SEASON RECORDS
Voodoos: 36-13-1-2 (2nd overall)
Eagles: 23-26-2-1 (7th overall)
HEAD COACHES
Voodoos: Peter Goulet
Eagles: Jeremy Rebek
HEAD-TO-HEAD: It was Powassan who claimed the season set against Sault Ste. Marie, taking three of the four games played.
In all, the Voodoos outscored the Eagles by a margin of 15 to 6.
RESULTS
Sept. 13: @ Powassan (Voodoos 5, Eagles 1)
Oct. 31: @ Soo (Voodoos 3, Eagles 0)
Nov. 15: @ Powassan (Eagles 4, Voodoos 2)
Feb. 20: @ Soo (Voodoos 5, Eagles 1)
SERIES SCHEDULE
No. 2 Powassan Voodoos vs. No. 7 Soo Eagles
Best-of-seven series
Game 1: Friday, March 20 @ Powassan 7 p.m. (Powassan Sportsplex)
Game 2: Saturday, March 21 @ Powassan 7 p.m. (Powassan Sportsplex)
Game 3: Tuesday, March 24 @ Soo 7 p.m. (Pullar Stadium)
Game 4: Wednesday, March 25 @ Soo 7 p.m. (Pullar Stadium)
Game 5*: Friday, March 27 @ Powassan 7 p.m. (Powassan Sportsplex)
Game 6*: Sunday, March 29 @ Soo 6 p.m. (Pullar Stadium)
Game 7*: Tuesday, March 31 @ Powassan 7 p.m. (Powassan Sportsplex)
*-if necessary
THE TEAMS
THE VOODOOS: The well-disciplined Powassan side were in the bottom three in terms of fewest penalty minutes picked and were the only team in the NOJHL this season to not have a player incur a suspension. … Going 8-2-0-0 in their final 10 games to secure the No. 2 seed for the playoffs, the Voodoos finished with an overall record of 36-13-1-2. … They had the fifth-best record on home ice 18-6-1-1 and were 18-7-0-1 on the road. … Powassan were second in the league on the power play, clicking at a success rate of 27%. … Their penalty kill percentage was even better, finishing in top spot there, on a NOJHL-best rate of 83.6%. … Special teams saw Powassan connect 58 times while up a skater and banged in eight more when they were shorthanded. … When scoring first in games throughout the campaign, the Voodoos went 24-5-1-0. … In holding the lead after one period of play, the club was 24-0-1-0 and 30-1-1-0 when ahead after 40 minutes.
FORWARDS: Pacing Powassan up front is second year forward Ryan Saginaw. … He topped the club in offensive production, supplying personal single season bests in goals (35); assists (39) and points (74). … That tied him for sixth in NOJHL scoring and he sat fifth in tallies. … He also tied for the league-lead in game-winning goals (8). … Veteran Caleb Dawson also had a career year for the Voodoos, finishing second on the squad in numbers, while setting new personal totals in markers (26); helpers (35) and points (61). … A couple of skilled rookies chipped in nicely as well as Jax Pereira collected 49 points in just 31 outings while Benjamin Coupal had 38 in 50 contests. … Pereira was second in league rookie scoring while Coupal was ninth. … Captain Justin Rousseau was over a point-per-game performer having 48 in 44 games and Anthony Boyes collected 40 in 51 match-ups.
DEFENCE: Marcus Krats was a model of consistency on the back end throughout his second campaign with the team. … He established personal highs in goals (13), including several superb individual efforts, assists (38) and points (51). … Krats was second in scoring among league D-men. … Rookies Dylan Rousselle and Braeden Begley were third and fourth in points by blueliners with 48 and 47 respectively. … Rousselle’s 19 tallies tied him for the most among NOJHL defencemen, while Krats was third. … Begley finished second in power play points, racking up 21. …Krats was fifth in this department with 17. … Having three game-winners apiece, Rousselle and Krats tied for top spot by rearguards. … Rousselle led all rookie defencemen in points (3rd overall) while Begley (Tie 5th overall) was second. … The duo shared second in power play markers from the point with seven each. …
GOALTENDERS: Derrick Champagne led all NOJHL netminders in both wins (20) and shutouts (4). … He registered a 20-7-1-0 record with a 2.85 goals-against average and a save percentage of .914. … Champagne sat sixth in minutes played in the league at 1,642. … Cole Vreugdenhil meanwhile went 13-6-0-1 and had one shutout in 1,230 minutes of work.
THE EAGLES: After starting the campaign at 0-8-0-1, Sault Ste. Mare went 23-18-2-0 the rest of the way but were just 3-7-0-0 in their final 10 games. … At Pullar Stadium, the Eagles were 17-9-0-0 and only 6-17-2-1 away from home. … They sat seventh in goals-scored with 196 and allowed the seventh fewest against at 200. … Special teams saw the Soo end up eighth on the power play at 18.3%. … They were also eighth on the P.K. at 75.6%. … In all, the Eagles scored 39 times on the man advantage notched nine more while shorthanded. … The Michigan Soo went 17-6-0-0 when scoring first in a contest and sported a 19-5-0-0 mark when up after one period and were 19-2-0-0 when holding the lead through 40 minutes.
FORWARDS: Four Eagles’ forwards were point-per-game performers-plus, while another was just shy of the mark. Topping that contingent was Lucas Caulfield, who is in his third season with the club. … Caulfield collected a team-high 58 points in 50 outings. … In all he banged in 20 tallies and helped set-up 38 others. … Tied for second in offensive production was Anden Marceau with 53 points in 45 games. … His 32 goals led the squad. … He was joined by Nolan Nemecek, who collected his 53 in 49 appearances. … You also had Alex Povorozniouk with 36 points in 35 games. … Four of his eight markers were game-winning efforts, which paced the Eagles. … Logan Stawizynki meanwhile contributed 45 points in the 48 times he took to the ice for the Soo. … His 23 goals put him second on the Eagles. … He also tied for sixth in NOJHL rookie scoring and sat second in tallies by a first-year skater and was No. 1 in man advantage efforts by a rookie.
DEFENCE: Micah Seery led all Soo defencemen in scoring with 41 points in 52 games on 10 goals and 31 assists. … That placed him sixth among all league blueliners as well as third by a rookie. … Seery sat fifth in helpers from the back end and was second by a first-year D-man. … Gabriel Clark was next on the squad in scoring with 24 points 49 appearances. … After him was Colton Huckson at 22; Liam Watson with 19 and C.J. Zaharias, who came in with 18.
GOALTENDERS: Jace Knoerle led the NOJHL in minutes played (2,002). … He made the fourth-most saves with 1,098. … Knoerle’s overall record was 14-18-0-0 and had a 4.05 goals-against average, to go with a save percentage of .891. … Knoerle has 30 league victories in his two seasons with the Eagles. … You also had rookie Dalton Hoornstra go 7-6-2-0 with a GAA of 3.07 and a save mark of .922. … Fellow rookie Jett Loechler was 2-1-0-0 late in the regular season where he boasted a 1.96 average, a .922 save percentage and collected his first NOJHL shutout.
UP NEXT: The series winner will move on to compete in the NOJHL’s semifinals.
BROADCASTERS
Voodoos: Kortney Kenney, Harrison Clements & Ben Long
Eagles: Joey Nolan & Rob Horn
WHERE TO WATCH: All NOJHL playoff games are streamed live online via its official broadcast partner, at FLOHockey.tv.
