SIJHL This Week

By: Lucas Punkari, Sports Reporter for the Fort Frances Times

Howarth Back in Charge in Thunder Bay

The most successful coach in the history of the SIJHL is set to return behind the bench of the Thunder Bay North Stars.
In a move that was first reported in the Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal on Thursday morning, five time league champion head coach Todd Howarth is set to return behind the bench of the North Stars, after the team parted ways with bench boss Kevin Kahoot on Wednesday night.
Kahoot, who took over the coaching duties prior to the start of this season, had guided the team to a 10-9-0-0 record at the time of his firing, but the squad had lost four of their last five games and had been mauled by the league-leading Minnesota Wilderness 9-0 at the Fort William Gardens on Wednesday.
What makes Howarth's hiring so interesting at this point of this season is the fact that he was ousted by the team previously back in January of this year.
At that time, both Howarth and the team's ownership had differing viewpoints on how the situation went down, but at the end of the day former NHL'er Lonny Bohonos would find himself taking over the reigns of a squad that made it into the semis of the Dudley Hewitt Cup.
During his nine-and-a-half year stint with the North Stars prior to then, Howarth was far and away the top of the heap when it came to coaches in the SIJHL, has he had a regular season record of 363-94-32, five Bill Salonen Cups and a Dudley Hewitt Cup from 2006 in his trophy case.
In addition to his success, Howarth is known for his intense style of coaching the bench, as you can quite often hear him yelling throughout the arena and reacting over-the-top at times over certain plays that take place on the ice.
And on a personal note, Howarth has a no-nonsense and tell-it-like-it-is approach during his interviews with the press, which makes him one of my favourite people in sports that I have ever encountered.
As former SIJHL forward Garrett Nystedt said to me on Twitter on Thursday, "He is a man that is not short for words or in expressing his opinion."
So while the hiring of Howarth is an exciting one, the question remains, what does this mean for the North Stars going forward?
Compared to the glory days where the North Stars brought in talent from all over the place, this year's squad is mainly of players from the Thunder Bay area, and the overall age is younger than what is has been in the past.
And standings wise, the North Stars are basically in a dog fight for second in the league table to Fort Frances and Dryden at the moment, though the Lakers and Ice Dogs thumped them in recent affairs.
While the Wilderness, who are ranked fifth in the CJHL at the moment, are far off in the distance when it comes to the race for first in the SIJHL, the North Stars might have a chance to make some noise once they get a full roster once again, as the team has been missing a few bodies due to injuries.
But with Howarth now behind the bench again, Thunder Bay might not be someone you would like to face when the playoffs start up in March.