Junior hockey is a form of religion for tens of thousands of Canadians and Americans.
The junior hockey continent contains owners, managers, coaches, players, sponsors, supporters, suppliers and officials, not to mention the sportswriters and sportscasters who write and talk about the game and give their point of view.
From where I watch, write and ramble, players and various teams from the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League, North American Hockey League and (to a lesser extent) North American 3 Hockey League are in my range of cross-border coverage.
While the ages of the players are the same, the levels of play and brand of hockey are leagues apart, literally and otherwise.
To begin, the NOJHL is unique in that all eight of its teams are geographically located in northern Ontario.
Another display of the NOJHL is that three of its teams — Soo Thunderbirds, Sudbury Nickel Barons and North Bay Trappers — are in cities where there is also an OHL franchise present.
It says here that the NOJHL is an under-rated league.
Despite being a regular developer of talent to OHL teams and National Collegiate Athletic Association schools (mostly Division 3), the NOJHL is seen as being a step below some of the other Canadian Jr. A hockey leagues.
The NOJHL, though, has a lot to offer its players beginning with a balanced, 56-game, regular-season schedule. And besides having an existence in three OHL cities, the NOJHL has teams in the historic, player-friendly, highway towns of Blind River, Elliot Lake, Espanola, Iroquois Falls (Abitibi) and Kirkland Lake.
In addition to having “name” coaches such as Abitibi’s Paul Gagne and Espanola’s Tom McCarthy (as players, they were first-round draft picks to both the OHL and the National Hockey League) the NOJHL is commissioned by Robert Mazzuca, a well-spoken, well-educated, well-connected individual who just happened to be a star defenceman during his OHL playing days.
Mazzuca has his detractors, including some who say he is a micro-manager with a confident disposition that borders on arrogance and vanity. But those same detractors will say that Mazzuca is by far the best commissioner the NOJHL has had since the powerful Joe Drago, who is now a vice chair with Hockey Canada.
I am often asked how the NOJHL compares to the OHL, the NAHL and the NA3HL.
My answer is this: On a scale of 1 to 10, if the OHL is a 10, the NAHL would be an 8.5, the NOJHL would be a 7.5 and the NA3HL would be a 6.
The 20-team OHL and its track record of producing draft picks and players for the NHL and minor pro ranks speaks volumes.
A high-profile, high-stakes, major junior league, the OHL can also be extremely cold-blooded and ruthless in dealing with coaches, players and its own member teams.
Truth be told, there are very few with an association to the OHL who I like or trust (and that starts in the office of commissioner David Branch) though Sudbury Wolves general manager Blaine Smith and Soo Greyhounds hockey boss Kyle Dubas are two men who have never given me reason to doubt their good word.
Like the NOJHL, the 24-team NAHL is also somewhat under-rated.
It is in comparison to the Tier 1, United States Hockey League that the Tier 2, NAHL is under-rated as a junior loop. Still, there are multiple NCAA coaches and NHL scouts who have told me that as the NAHL is under-rated, the USHL is over-rated.
To be sure, the NAHL sends more than its fair share of players to Division 1, NCAA programs. The NAHL plays an exciting, puck-possession style of hockey and is a virtual haven for high-end goaltenders, moreso than the USHL.
The NAHL also boasts a number of men who are not only good hockey people but individuals who are honest and trustworthy. Coach-general managers who I frequently deal with who fall into that category are Bruno Bragagnolo of the Soo Eagles and Moe Mantha of the Michigan Warriors, among others.
As for the NA3HL, it has its share of well-run programs led by the 2012-2013 champion North Iowa Bulls.
And the time-honoured Flint Jr. Generals of the NA3HL are now being overseen by Firland Management, which does the same for the Flint-based Michigan Warriors of the NAHL.
The 18-team NA3HL fulfills a mandate as a league that develops players for both the NAHL and Division 3, NCAA schools.
Given my druthers, I would much-rather deal with known individuals from the NOJHL, the NAHL and the NA3HL than the many snakes who slither through the OHL.
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