SUDBURY, Ont. – The Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League announced Tuesday the four individuals selected as its Player of the Month award recipients for February.
PLAYER OF THE MONTH: BRIAN FIDDES, (F) SOO EAGLES: The 19-year-old forward, who calls Lake Barrington, Illinois home, produced a NOJHL-best 18 points during the time frame on seven goals and 11 assists, in 10 games played.
Fiddes etched his name on the game sheet in nine of those outings and produced five multi-point performances. This included a personal-best five-point night back on Feb. 10 at home versus French River.
He also supplied a pair of game-winning markers and helped set-up two others.
The month also saw him easily double his earlier point totals on the season and now has 33, in as many contests, including 14 tallies.
Honourable Mention: Cooper Foster, (F) Soo Thunderbirds; Robbie Rutledge, (F) Hearst Lumberjacks
Monthly recipients
September: Cameron Lemcke, (F) Powassan Voodoos
October: Chase Tallaire, (F) Soo Eagles
November: Cooper Bowman, (F) French River Rapids
December: Robbie Rutledge, (F) Hearst Lumberjacks
January: (No games due to provincial COVID regulations)
February: Brian Fiddes, (F) Soo Eagles
DEFENCEMAN OF THE MONTH: JADEN RAAD, (D) HEARST LUMBERJACKS – In nine games, which were all victories by the Lumberjacks, Raad doled out a dozen assists in helping sizzling Hearst run an impressive winning streak to 12.
Hailing from Burlington, Ont., the Lumberjacks’ blueliner provided five multi-point efforts for his club in February while stabilizing his team’s defensive corps.
The 19-year-old is also playing at over a point-per-game clip so far this season with 40 in 39 contests.
Raad’s contributions see him sitting second in scoring among league defencemen, while being tops in assists and power play helpers from rearguards with 33 and 20 respectively.
Honourable Mention: Andrew Gibson, (D) Soo Thunderbirds; Trevor Davis, (D) Soo Eagles
Monthly recipients
September: Brandon Hass, (D) French River Rapids
October: Bode Dunford, (D) Timmins Rock
November: Jaden Raad, (D) Hearst Lumberjacks
December: Cameron Dutkiewicz, (D) Timmins Rock
January: (No games due to provincial COVID regulations)
February: Jaden Raad, (D) Hearst Lumberjacks
GOALTENDER OF THE MONTH: NOAH ZEPPA (G) SOO THUNDERBIRDS – A perfect 5-0-0-0 record in five starts for the Thunderbirds’ netminder saw him allow only six goals to get by him during the month.
The 19-year-old Zeppa, who hails from the Soo, sported a 1.20 goals-against average and a crisp .932 save percentage in his time between the pipes in February.
His play helped him raise his overall record this season to 10-1-0-1, with his lone defeat in regulation coming all the way back on October 17.
Zeppa currently leads all NOJHL goalkeepers in average at 2.03
Honourable Mention: Matteo Gennaro, (G) Hearst Lumberjacks; Joel Rainville, (G) Greater Sudbury Cubs
Monthly recipients
September: Alex Bugeja, (G) Powassan Voodoos
October: Noah Metivier, (G) Soo Thunderbirds
November: Ryan Gilmore, (G) Soo Eagles
December: Konrad Simard, (G) Timmins Rock
January: (No games due to provincial COVID regulations)
February: Noah Zeppa, (G) Soo Thunderbirds
ROOKIE OF THE MONTH: COOPER FOSTER, (F) SOO THUNDERBIRDS – A stellar first year in the NOJHL continued for Foster in February as he amassed 16 points in the 10 games he played.
Skating for his hometown Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., side, the 16-year-old forward scored six times last month and went on to dish out 10 assists along the way.
Two of his tallies were game-winners and he went on to provide six multi-point efforts in February.
Foster will enter March tied for fourth in NOJHL scoring, among all skaters, with 47 points on 14 goals and 33 assists.
Honourable Mention: Andrew Gibson, (D) Soo Thunderbirds; Pierson Sobush, (F) Greater Sudbury Cubs
Monthly recipients
September: Christopher Engelbert, (F) Timmins Rock
October: Dominik Godin, (F) French River Rapids
November: Mike Levin, (F) Powassan Voodoos
December: Mathieu Comeau, (F) Hearst Lumberjacks
January: (No games due to provincial COVID regulations)
February: Cooper Foster, (F) Soo Thunderbirds
