SIX PACK! Minnesotans help Soo Indians to first place in NOJHL
BY RANDY RUSSON
RR Media Service
(ED. NOTE: This article was originally written for Let's Play Hockey,
a popular Minnesota publication.)
A half dozen Minnesota products all played varying key roles in helping
the Soo Indians clinch first place during the '06-07 Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League regular season.
The six are goalie Brennan Poderzay and forwards Shane Bailey, Joe Larson,
Ky Moje, Sam Yearsley and Nick Zilka.
Poderzay, named NOJHL first all-star team goalie, is from Bob Dylan country
in Tower. Bailey is from Eagan, Larson is from Apple Valley, Moje is from Minneapolis, Yearsley is from White Bear Lake and
Zilka is from Mound.
All except Bailey and Zilka have Jr. A eligibility remaining after
this season.
Zilka finished second on the Michigan-based Indians in scoring with
40 points, including 18 goals, while playing in 40 of the team's 44 games. Moje was third with 14-18-32 totals in just 31
games. Larson, who has also played defence, produced 10-15-25 totals in 29 games, while Yearsley was 8-15-23 in 25 games
and Bailey was 10-12-22 in 25 games.
Poderzay emerged as the Indians' starting goalie down the stretch, playing
a bit more than his friend and goalkeeping partner, Elliott Hogue. Poderzay has the NOJHL's best numbers with an eye-popping
17-3 won/loss record to go with a .906 save pct. and 2.72 goals against average.
"Minnesota has been a good hotbed of talent for us," said Indians' head
coach Kevin Cain.
The NOJHL is a seven-team league and competitiveness is a major strength. Five
of the seven teams finished the regular season at or above the .500 mark and a sixth team, the North Bay Skyhawks, were just
a game below with a 23-24-1 record.
"It's a quality league, it doesn't have the number of teams as the North
American Hockey League but the level of play is on par," said Jim Roque, head coach of the Lake Superior State Lakers, whose
team made it to the Central Collegiate Hockey Association final four playdowns with two NOJHL grads in the lineup -- leading
playoff scorer Jeff Rainville and senior defenceman Barnabas Birkeland.
"I'm impressed by the level of play in the NOJHL," noted Michigan
State head coach Rick Comley, who has been pursuing Soo Thunderbirds' centre Brett Perlini, recently named NOJHL rookie of
the year
