SUDBURY, Ont. – The Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL) announced Monday that goaltender Anthony Zolezzi (Soo Eagles); defenceman Owen Arnold (Blind River Beavers) and goaltender Patrick Boivin (Timmins Rock) have been named its Eastlink TV 3 Stars of the Week, for the period ending February 11.
ANTHONY ZOLEZZI, (G) SOO EAGLES: The 19-year-old Naperville, Illinois product led the Eagles to a pair of victories including a shootout victory and a key road win in Timmins in his two starts.
Zolezzi started the week with a 31-save win over the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners, where he also made a pair of shootout saves to secure the road win at the Joe Mavrinac Community Centre on Friday.
The Eagles netminder was even more impressive on Saturday night as he turned away 29 of 30 shots as his Soo squad upended the Timmins Rock 2-1 at the McIntyre Arena in Timmins.
Through 28 games, Zolezzi has a record of 15 wins, 8 losses and 2 shootout losses along with a 3.17 goals against average and a .900 save percentage.
OWEN ARNOLD, (D) BLIND RIVER BEAVERS: The 20-year-old Highland, Michigan product played a big part in two Beavers’ overtime victories scoring one on his own and setting up another as they swept the Soo Thunderbirds last week.
Arnold scored a highlight reel game-winner in the extra session on Friday night at the John Rhodes Community Centre in a 5-4 Beavers win.
Then on Saturday, Arnold had an assist on Jesse Dupuis’ overtime game-winner in Blind River.
Through 17 games, Arnold has 4 goals and 7 assists for 11 points.
In two seasons in the NOJHL, Arnold has 6 goals and 30 assists for 36 points in 71 games.
PATRICK BOIVIN, (G) TIMMINS ROCK: The Timmins Rock veteran netminder Patrick Boivin was stellar in a pair of Rock wins early last week.
The 20-year-old Blind River, Ontario product was perfect with a 20-save 4-0 win over the visiting Kirkland Lake Gold Miners on a rare Tuesday home start.
It was Boivin’s 10th career NOJHL shutout.
However, Boivin saved his best on the road in Powassan where he made multiple highlight reel stops as part of his 49 saves as the Rock dumped the Voodoos 4-1 on Wednesday night.
With the two victories, Boivin improves to 16 wins, 9 losses and 1 overtime loss this season along with a 3.16 goals against average and a .897 save percentage.
In his long NOJHL career, Boivin has now accumulated 57 regular-season victories.
