NORTH BAY- The NOHA Development Weekend for players with 2012/2013 birth years is back in North Bay, and from August 7–9, Northern Ontario’s top young players will step into an environment built to challenge, inspire, and prepare them for what’s next.
Hosted at Boart Longyear Memorial Gardens, this three-day experience is where elite potential meets elite opportunity, the first true step into the NOHA Program of Excellence.
For players, it’s a chance to train, compete, and be evaluated in a high-performance setting. For families, it’s a firsthand look at the standard, structure, and support behind the NOHA development pathway.
Learn From the Best in the Game
This isn’t a typical summer camp; it’s a professional development experience led by some of the most respected coaches in Canadian hockey.
Players will work directly with:
Ryan Oulahen – Head Coach, North Bay Battalion (OHL)
Mike McParland – Head Coach, Nipissing Lakers Men’s Hockey
Tim McWhirter – High Performance Skills Coach, Hockey Canada
Brian Kment – Goaltending Coach, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL)
Matthew Bourgeois – High Performance Goalie Coach, Hockey Canada
Caleb Mady – Head Strength & Conditioning Coach, North Bay Battalion
A True Team, High-Performance Experience
Players are placed on teams prior to the event and stay with those teams for the entire weekend, training, competing, and growing together in a realistic high-performance setting.
What the weekend includes:
On-Ice Development
Team practices
Skill-focused sessions
Three competitive games
Off-Ice Performance
Strength & conditioning and nutrition education
Off-ice fitness testing
NOHA performance and development presentations
Team Culture
Team-building activities
Group meals
Classroom and leadership elements
Every piece of the weekend is designed to prepare players not just for the next season, but for the levels ahead.
NEW THIS YEAR: Track Your Development Over Time
For the first time, the NOHA will collect and store player fitness testing results during the Elite Development Weekend.
These results will be:
Accessible to players and families
Tracked over a player’s three-year NOHA Development Camp eligibility
This long-term tracking gives athletes a clearer picture of their growth and provides families with tangible insight into how development progresses year over year.
Built for Every Stage of the Pathway
The Elite Development Weekend follows a clear, age-specific progression that mirrors the NOHA pathway:
U13 – Introduction to the next level of competition and expectations
U14 – Advanced experience building on prior exposure and the U14 OHL Cup
U15 – Entry into the NOHA/OHF Program of Excellence structure
U16 – Preparation for the Team NOHA Summer Program
Each age group is challenged appropriately while being pushed to understand what the future demands.
More Than a Weekend, A Launch Point
The NOHA Development Weekend is about more than drills and games.
It’s about:
Seeing what elite hockey looks like
Understanding what it takes to succeed
Gaining the tools, habits, and confidence to chase bigger goals
For many players and families, this is where the vision becomes real.
Deadline June 1st
Questions to be directed to NOHA Director of Hockey Operations – Jacob Brown jbrown@noha-hockey.ca
NORTH BAY- Team NOHA proudly carried the Northern Ontario banner onto one of the biggest stages in minor hockey, competing at the 2026 OHL Cup in Toronto from March 30 to April 4. Widely recognized as one of North America’s premier U16 AAA showcase tournaments, the OHL Cup brings together elite programs from across Ontario and beyond, all competing under the watchful eyes of hundreds of scouts and hockey personnel.
Showcasing Northern Talent
Comprised of top players from across the Great North U18 AAA Hockey League, Team NOHA entered the tournament with a strong sense of regional pride and a determination to measure itself against the province’s best. Facing opponents that had spent an entire season developing chemistry, the Northern Ontario squad embraced the challenge.
Throughout the week, Team NOHA demonstrated resilience, teamwork, and growth, qualities that are essential in a high-pressure environment where every shift matters and every game is an opportunity to learn.
Tournament Results and Key Moments
Team NOHA concluded round robin play with a record of one win and three losses, highlighted by a hard-fought victory over the Brantford 99ers in the team’s final game of the tournament. While the overall results did not fully reflect the depth of talent on the roster, the experience proved invaluable for player development and exposure.
Director of Hockey Operations Jacob Brown emphasized that the OHL Cup is about more than wins and losses. With OHL scouts and Major Junior personnel in attendance throughout the week, the event provides athletes with a critical opportunity to adapt, compete, and grow at an elite level.
Individual Highlights
Several players from the North Bay U16 AAA Trappers made meaningful contributions to Team NOHA’s efforts, including Aidan Duchesne, Reed Sauvé, Seth Verbiwski, and Trey Bigelow. Each earned their spot through strong regular-season performances and demonstrated their ability to compete against top-tier talent.
Sudbury Jr. Wolves defenseman Tayden Smith also stood out on the national stage. Fresh off being named NOHA’s U16 AAA Player of the Year, Smith recorded three points in four games, further highlighting the strength of Northern Ontario development programs.
A Valuable Development Experience
The OHL Cup remains a cornerstone event in the high-performance player pathway, with over 200 scouts in attendance and a long list of alumni who have gone on to play in the Ontario Hockey League and ultimately the National Hockey League.
For Team NOHA, the tournament is about opportunity, providing players with exposure, experience, and a clear benchmark of what it takes to succeed at the next level.
Looking Ahead
Although Team NOHA’s tournament run ended in round robin play, the impact of the experience will extend far beyond the final buzzer. Competing against the best in the province and beyond helps shape the next generation of Northern Ontario athletes preparing for provincial and national stages.
The NOHA remains committed to developing high-performance players and creating opportunities like the OHL Cup that allow young athletes to showcase their abilities and continue their hockey journey with confidence and pride.
On April 1, 2026, Hockey Canada will expand The Shift Forward: Evolving Hockey Culture, a new learning and development program that is the home for national education and training courses.
The program was piloted with five Member Branches for the 2025-26 season, and will expand to 11 Members in 2026-27, with courses for new coaches, rostered staff, officials and parents and guardians.
The Shift Forward is an enhanced education program that was created following an extensive consultation process with stakeholders in Hockey Canada-sanctioned programs to understand how education and training can better support participants and the key objective of changing unhealthy behaviours in the game.
As part of the response from the national Training Needs Analysis that was conducted by Hockey Canada, there was overwhelming feedback that national education and training courses should be age-appropriate, modernized, engaging, specific to the how participants engage with hockey, and be progressive as they go through their hockey journey, with content that seeks to change unhealthy behaviours on and off the ice.
In an effort to support a successful transition to The Shift Forward, Hockey Canada will continue to recognize existing training as an equivalent as part of a multi-year phase before all participants engaging with hockey will be required to participate in the national education and training courses.
To ensure that the new national content is achieving its desired impact, Hockey Canada is committed to working with the 13 Member Branches and their membership to evaluate The Shift Forward through surveys and other participant-driven methods of feedback.
Hockey Canada has also created a Frequently Asked Questions document for our website to answer any questions you may have about the transition to this new national platform.
The evolution to The Shift Forward reflects our proactive aspirations to shape a healthier hockey for all involved in our National Winter Sport, and we look forward to this new era in education and training for hockey participants.
