Ontario Junior Hockey League resident writer Ron Valentine is profiling the four teams competing in the 2019 Dudley-Hewitt Cup, April 30 to May 4, in Cochrane, Ont.

By Ron Valentine

Meet the Cochrane Crunch of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League:

HOW DID THEY GET TO THE DUDLEY-HEWITT CUP?...

The Crunch are the host team of this year’s edition. Cochrane is an eight-hour drive due north of Toronto.

THE CRUNCH'S REGULAR SEASON....  

It was a very competitive NOJHL East Division this season with the Crunch ending up in fifth spot. The Hearst Lumberjacks topped the table with 73 points, one ahead of the Soo Thunderbirds. The Powassan VooDoos came next on 70 points, just one more than the Timmins Rock. All the four teams who finished ahead of the Crunch had 33 regulation wins, while the Crunch had 31.

The Crunch scored 200 goals while allowing 186. Their leading regular season scorer was their captain, Nicholas Flanders from Pembroke Pines, Florida, who registered 44 points. Austin Whelan, 20, had a team-leading 29 goals and 43 points. Both were in their third season in a Crunch uniform. Zach Hayes, from Bartlett, Illinois, had 15 goals and 40 points. Netminders Zach Wickson of Calgary and Bradley Dobson from Moose Factory combined to post a 3.22 GAA.

The 2018-19 season was the Crunch's fifth in the NOJHL after the franchise transfer from Elliot Lake where they were known as the Bobcats, former members of the GMHL. 

THEIR NOJHL PLAYOFFS...

The postseason would be a short one for the Crunch as they fell in the preliminary round, two games to nil to the Rock, 5-2 in Timmins and 2-1 in extra time at the Tim Horton's Event Centre in Cochrane.

THE OWNER/COACH/GM...

Ryan Leonard is the Owner/GM/Head Coach of the Crunch. He started his bench career as an Assistant Coach of the Blind River Beavers, the NOJHl team founded by his father. He operated the Elliot Lake Bobcats franchise, starting in 2007-08 in the GMHL. They became members of the NOJHL in 2012-13 before moving to Cochrane in 2014. A year later, they finished first in the six-team East Division before following that up with two second-place finishes. 

I got a chance to talk to Ryan, a Sault Ste. Marie native, about his club: “We led the division until late in the season, in a really closely contested battle, but we had a tough time late on with several injuries and suspensions that did us in. In one game, we had just 13 regular skaters and had to use affiliated players. This carried through to the preliminary round playoffs, but now we are at full strength again. The break has been really good for us (they played their last game on March 10) we have got in lots of ice time and the group has bonded closer than ever. I'm not concerned about the layoff. We are ready to go. We had a very good record against Hearst (7-2-1) and beat the Soo three times in as many games. Despite not winning a game in last year's Dudley I felt we were very competitive and we look for better things this time around. Our fan support has been strong and that will be a big plus for us.”

With a small local pool to draw on, Ryan and his staff cast their scouting net far and wide and you will see players on the roster who originate from Alaska, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, B.C., the Yukon and Alberta.

The club did not have a single player in the top 20 NOJHL pointgetters during the regular season but the scoring balance from four lines was a big plus for them. To be successful at the Dudley, Ryan says that his players have to give 100 percent all the time on familiar ice. 

With a mostly small but fast group of forwards, a strong defense and two more than reliable goalkeepers, the Crunch should give a god account of themselves this time around. 

COMMITMENTS...

Ryan is justifiably proud of the record of his teams in sending players to further education. In 2018-19, five players got commitments, four to Division III schools in the U.S. and one to the University of Waterloo. In 2017-18, seven moved on to Division III schools. In both 2016-17 and 2015-16, six players got commitments. Seamus Maguire went to RMC (USports) in 2016 and Cody Gratton in 2015 went to Nipissing. A total of 24 over the last four seasons. 

SCHEDULE...

It all starts for the Crunch on Tuesday, April 30, at 7.30 p.m. against the champs from the Superior International Junior League, the Thunder Bay North Stars. Ranked No. 2 in the CJHL for this past regular season, the North Stars advanced to the tournament with a 4-1 series victory over the Red Lake Miners in the SIJHL final. The North Stars lost 6-3 to the eventual champion Wellington Dukes of the OJHL in last year’s Dudley semifinal in Dryden.

This year’s OJHL champs, the Oakville Blades, play in the tournament opener against the NOJHL champions on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. The Hearst Lumberjacks lead the Soo Thunder Birds 3-2 in the NOJHL final. Game 6 goes tonight in Hearst. A seventh game would be played in the Soo on Wednesday night.

For the Dudley-Hewitt Cup website CLICK HERE

Follow Ron Valentine on Twitter @ronandlynda