Can Eagles build off playoff run? — NOJHL Preview

Coming off a huge playoff series win against the rival Thunderbirds; the Soo Eagles are looking to build from that momentum in 2017-18.

Since moving from the NAHL back to the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League in time for the 2015-16 season, the Eagles have not particularly enjoyed that cross-border rivalry with the ‘other’ Soo.

Sault Ste. Marie Thunderbirds, from the Canadian side have gotten the better of its American foes often and last season the T-Birds finished atop the NOJHL West Division with 43 wins in 56 games in its 88-point total left it 31 points clear of the fourth place Eagles.

But it was the Eagles enjoying the last laugh last season. After getting past the fifth place Elliot Lake Wildcats in a Best-of-Three play in series that went the distance, the Eagles moved on to the West Division semis against a rested Thunderbirds team that enjoyed a first round bye.

The Eagles didn’t just beat the Thunderbirds in that round, it moved on with a shocking four-game series sweep, but clearly was either spent or over-satisfied afterward and proved easy pickings for the Blind River Beavers who captured the West Division title with a five-game series win against the Eagles.

Meanwhile, the East boasted some heavyweight contenders including the Powassan Voodoos with 46 regular season wins.

The Voodoos advanced past Kirkland Lake Gold Miners and the Timmins Rock in series sweeps and ran the table with another sweep against Blind River to claim the league’s Copeland Cup-McNamara Trophy and move on to the Dudley Hewitt Tournament.

This season, the Eagles are hoping its upset from the spring can carry over into a new campaign. The rivalry heated up a bit in recent days as teams split a pair of pre-season contests, home ice being the prevailing factor (see related story).

The regular season begins for the Eagles on home ice Saturday (Sept. 9, 2017) against the Elliot Lake Wildcats.