NOJHL names its Eastlink TV 3 Stars of the Week

SUDBURY, Ont. – The Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League announced Monday that defenceman Connor Toms of the Soo Thunderbirds, goaltender Kohl Reddy of the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners and Blind River Beavers’ forward Noah Minns have been selected its Eastlink TV 3 Stars of the Week for the period ending December 20.

CONNOR TOMS, (D) SOO THUNDERBIRDS – Efforts on both ends of the ice by the 16-year-old first-year NOJHLer helped the Thunderbirds skate to a trio of victories, in four outings, during the time frame.

In all, the Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., product dished out five assists for the Thunderbirds to help pace his club offensively while also displaying a strong back-end presence for the Soo.

Toms presently leads all NOJHL rookie defencemen in offensive production with nine points in eight games, including two goals, one of which was a game-winner.

He is also sitting third overall among all league blueliners with his scoring totals.

KOHL REDDY, (G) KIRKLAND LAKE GOLD MINERS – Just over a week removed from seeing their initial game action of the season, Kirkland Lake got big efforts from their goaltending to help them shake off some early rust and wrap-up the week with back-to-back victories.

Reddy, along with his younger brother Zachary, combined for a 29-save shutout against Cochrane Friday night before he handled 37 of 38 attempts in another Gold Miners’ triumph vs. the Crunch Saturday.

The 20-year-old netminder from Vancouver, B.C., had a 2.24 goals-against average for the week and sported a solid .935 save percentage.

This included stopping 45 of the last 46 shots he has faced to help the Gold Miners have their mini two-game run heading into a home encounter tonight vs. Cochrane.

NOAH MINNS, (F) BLIND RIVER BEAVERS – Leading all league skaters in offensive production last week, Minns racked up 13 points in total for Blind River in a four-game affair against Rayside-Balfour.

The 20-year-old forward, who hails from Barrie, Ont., tallied four times and doled out nine helpers for the Beavers, which helped him move into the NOJHL’s scoring lead heading near the holiday break.

Minns has five goals and 14 assists to his credit overall, including six multi-point performances.

Now in his third season in the league, he has produced at well over a point-per-game clip with 108 in 79 outings, including 75 assists.

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Eastlink TV 3 Stars

Regular season

Week 1
Quinton Hill, (F) Hearst Lumberjacks
Jack Tos, (F) French River Rapids
Brendan Boyce, (D) Timmins Rock

Week 2
Tyler Masternak, (G) Timmins Rock
Olivier Cloutier-Faucher, (F) Hearst Lumberjacks
Jared Dupuis, (F) Blind River Beavers

Week 3
Devon Savignac, (F) Espanola Express
Alex Bugeja, (G) Soo Thunderbirds
Michael Nickolau, (G) Cochrane Crunch

Week 4
Tyson Moore, (F) Cochrane Crunch
Josh Dickson, (F) Timmins Rock
Sebastien Ouimet, (F) Cochrane Crunch

Week 5
Connor Toms, (D) Soo Thunderbirds
Kohl Reddy, (G) Kirkland Lake Gold Miners
Noah Minns, (F) Blind River Beavers