Black Bears to Indians to NOJHL champs
BY RANDY RUSSON
RR Media Service
From the ashes of the Northern Michigan Black Bears, the Soo Indians have fashioned an improbable
first season in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League.
The intrepid Indians will represent the NOJHL as league champs at the Dudley Hewitt Cup Central
Canada Playdowns, scheduled for April 24-28 in Iroquois Falls.
Purchased by Charles Perdicaro last summer just as the franchise was about to be mothballed,
the Black Bears became the Indians -- and eventually had a strong finish to the '06-07 NOJHL regular season, which resulted
in them snaring first place on the final night of the schedule.
Then, after a first-round playoff bye, the Indians defeated the North Bay Skyhawks in seven games
in the semi-finals before ousting the defending champion Sudbury Kal Tire Jr. Wolves in five games in the finals, culminating
with a 5-4 win on home ice last Saturday night.
Sean Farley scored the winner with less than 5:00 to play in the third period to give the Indians a
come-from-behind victory -- and the league title.
A balanced team with no real star, the Indians came together with 20 games left in the regular
season when Kevin Cain took over as head coach from the released Jim Capy. Under Cain's steady hand, the Indians posted a
14-6 record, including a 9-2 mark down the stretch to vault from third place to first.
Players came from near and far to form this see-saw edition of the Indians. The 20 players who
were on board when the Indians clinched the championship last week are the products of six states -- Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota,
Missouri, New York and Wisconsin.
Eight of the players are holdovers from the old Northern Michigan franchise as recruits
of former director of player development Charly Murray and erstwhile coach Jerry Lortie, both from Sault Ste. Marie. The other 12 players were brought in this season as free agents or through trades by Capy, Perdicaro and Cain,
making the Indians somewhat of a rag-tag team of resilient champions.
On a team without stars, the Indians do have leaders, including former Black Bears Farley, Isaac
Viau, Pete Landem and J.D. King.
Viau, the captain, leads by hustle and example and Farley is the team's main goal-scoring threat.
Landem is arguably the Indians' top defenceman and King, a defender, is one of the more-popular players in the dressing room.
In winning the NOJHL title, the Indians did so with a top-notch goaltending tandem of Elliott
Hogue and Brennan Poderzay. Hogue is another holdover from the Northern Michigan franchise.
"We are who we are because we work hard and play as a team," said Cain, who gets considerable
help behind the bench from assistants Al DiPasquo and Warren LaVoy. Cain, DiPasquo and LaVoy are all
Sault Ste. Marie residents.
As for moving on to next week's Dudley Hewitt Cup playdowns, the Indians will be joined by the
NOJHL's Abitibi Eskimos, who are the host entry, as well as the champions of the Ontario Provincial Jr. Hockey League and
the Superior International Jr. Hockey League.
