Death: Former NHLer and Jr Trappers championship coach Tom Hockey Has Died
The coach of the last championship-winning North Bay Jr. Trappers club has died. Tom McCarthy, the Jr Trappers’ 2013 NOJHL champion, passed away on Wednesday night. The 61-year-old was living in Mexico with his partner Tina Marchand after retiring.
According to baytoday.ca, “The Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League is mourning the death of the previous coach of the year award recipient Tom McCarthy, who passed away unexpectedly due to complications from a medical ailment,” the NOJHL said in a statement released Thursday morning.
McCarthy was voted the NOJHL’s outstanding coach in 2011-12 after leading the North Bay Trappers to a league-best seven-win increase over the previous season. He guided the Trappers to first place in the NOJHL standings with an excellent 34-7-3-4 record a year later, before helping his team capture the league championship and a berth in the Dudley-Hewitt Cup.
His accomplishments in the NOJHL earned him a spot as the head coach of the CJHL East at the 2013 Canadian Junior Hockey League Prospects Games in Nova Scotia. “During this sad time, the NOJHL extends its heartfelt condolences to Tom’s family and friends,” the release continued.
