All posts by Randy Russon
NCAA star to NOJHL coach
Just 25 years of age, J.T. Henke has moved on from being a standout Division 1, National Collegiate Athletic Association center with the Lake Superior State Lakers to become a first-year assistant coach with the Soo Eagles of the Northern Ontario Hockey League.
…[read more]Locken did the blockin’
A recent excursion to London allowed me the opportunity to meet up with my old friend Mark Locken, who was a standout Ontario Hockey League goalie from 1975 to 1978. Locken won a Memorial Cup as a rookie with the Hamilton Fincups before playing for the Soo Greyhounds and the Niagara Falls Flyers in the OHL.
…[read more]Soo kids shine in London
Martineau Masonry, a novice major team representing the Soo Pee Wee Hockey League, opened a lot of eyes at a weekend tournament in London.
…[read more]Kanata Lasers for sale
Three separate factions are in talks to take over ownership of the Kanata Lasers of the Central Canada Hockey League, Hockey News North has confirmed.
…[read more]Greyhound goalie numbers
Since arriving in town about a week ago, import goalie Nick Malik has a received a virtual hero’s welcome from a faction of the local media. And that’s okay. But the numbers show that, over the course of this season, Soo Greyhounds have a much better winning percentage when overager Bailey Brkin is the goalie of record.
…[read more]Chaffay churns out the goals
He is one of six players on the Soo Jr. Greyhounds who have passed the 20-point plateau through 25 games of Great North Midget Hockey League play.
…[read more]Happy new year in Liskeard
New Liskeard Cubs have taken to 2020 in style. The Cubs have a record of 3-1-0 thus far in the new year to move closer to their arch-rival Timmins Majors in the Great North Midget Hockey League standings.
…[read more]Close quarters of the N.O.
It is like the playoffs before the playoffs have even started. Regular-season play in the 12-team Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League carries through until March 1. But the close quarters of the NOJHL make it seem as though the playoffs have already arrived.
…[read more]OHL trade recap
More than a dozen deals — several of an impact nature — were made over a frantic span of a few recent days as the annual Ontario Hockey League trade deadline came and went.
…[read more]Hounds add, subtract
Here they go. Soo Greyhounds have set their roster for the stretch section of the 2019-2020 Ontario Hockey League season.
…[read more]Spirit rising to the top?
Of the many contending teams in the Ontario Hockey League’s powerful Western Conference, the Saginaw Spirit just may have become the favourite.
…[read more]Daylon Groulx to Ottawa
The first-place team in the Ontario Hockey League has added to its skill, spunk and seasoning. In what sets up as a shrewd, calculated move, the Ottawa 67’s have obtained 2000 birth-year forward Daylon Groulx from the Owen Sound Attack.
…[read more]Akil Thomas traded
The trade winds continue to blow through the Ontario Hockey League ahead of the fast-approaching deadline. In one of several moves made today, the Niagara IceDogs dealt Team Canada forward Akil Thomas to the Peterborough Petes.
…[read more]Here come the OHL trades
As the Ontario Hockey League trade deadline approaches — Thursday for overage (1999 birth year) players and Friday for all others — the deals are happening in a fast and furious manner.
…[read more]How to pick a rep team
It can be a toxic topic. And it seems as though it is a constant cause for consternation. As in, coaches of certain AAA rep hockey clubs who not only pick their own son for the team, but kids of their friends as well.
…[read more]Ten for the Timmins Majors
It is progress. Not great progress, perhaps. But positive progress, nonetheless. That is, the Timmins Majors of the Great North Midget Hockey League have now matched their victory total of last season.
…[read more]Western Conference dog fight
In what is an embarrassingly unbalanced Ontario Hockey League — the Western Conference is supremely superior to the Eastern Conference — Soo Greyhounds are above the .500 level.
…[read more]New Liskeard snaps skid
An eight-game losing streak that produced but a single point from an overtime setback ended for the New Liskeard Cubs on Friday night at Don Shepherdson Memorial Arena.
…[read more]Miller time for Sault Reps
Preston Miller potted a pair of goals to help support the nifty net-minding of Cash Rowswell as the Sault Reps began the Glenn Bellerby Pee Wee Major AA Hockey Tournament in Barrie this morning with a win.
…[read more]Nick Smith to Leamington
One of the longest-serving members in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League history of the Soo Thunderbirds has been traded, Hockey News North has confirmed.
…[read more]RBC cashes in on net return
In a furious race for first place in the West Division of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League, Rayside Balfour Canadians have re-acquired star goalie David Bowen from the Drummondville Voltigeurs of the Quebec Major Jr. Hockey League.
…[read more]Back in the Great North
There is a full slate of competition on the calendar as the Great North Midget Hockey League begins play in the 2020 portion of the schedule.
…[read more]NOJHL in 2020
The holiday season in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League is just about over. And this veteran scribe is among those looking forward to the resumption of play this week.
…[read more]Home for the Hounds
Soo Greyhounds will ring in the New Year with five straight games on home ice. The Greyhounds, who are 8-2-0 in their last 10 outings, ended the 2019 portion of the Ontario Hockey League schedule with a road setback in Saginaw.
…[read more]Taylor saves the Hounds
It was an improbable win for the Soo Greyhounds. Down 3-0 to the visiting Sudbury Wolves in the first period of Saturday’s Ontario Hockey League match, the Greyhounds rode the relief goal-tending of forgotten backup Ethan Taylor to a 4-3 triumph.
…[read more]Hounds, Wolves do battle
Soo Greyhounds and Sudbury Wolves will both be looking to show their teeth when Ontario Hockey League play resumes tonight following the Christmas holiday hiatus.
…[read more]Giroux and Giroux
They were both taken in the third round of the Ontario Hockey League priority selections draft from the Sudbury Minor Wolves of the Great North Midget Hockey League, one in 2016, the other in 2019. They are brothers — 19-year old Damien Giroux of the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit and 16-year old Zacharie Giroux of the Flint Firebirds of the OHL and the Rayside Balfour Canadians of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League.
…[read more]NOJHL on holiday break
Play in the 12-team, two-division Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League does not resume until after January 1. And there are races and chases in both the East and West divisions.
…[read more]Soo Reps take two more
A pair of road triumphs this weekend has raised the Soo Reps record to a rousing 11-0-1 within the pee wee major AA division of the Nickel District Minor Hockey League.
…[read more]The Brkin Wall
He has been piling up the wins and accumulating nicknames since joining the Soo Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League via Western Hockey League waivers.
…[read more]Top dogs of the Great North
Soo Jr. Greyhounds are the sole occupants of first place in the Great North Midget Hockey League. On Christmas break and with a record of 17-4-2, the Jr. Greyhounds are on pace to post the Soo major midget program’s best mark since the 2016-2017 season.
…[read more]Soo Reps in command
Four straight games on home ice have resulted in four wins in succession for the first-place, pee wee major AA Soo Reps of the Nickel District Minor Hockey League.
…[read more]Soo Reps maintain top spot
Chalk up two more victories for the first-place pee wee major AA Sault Reps of the Nickel District Minor Hockey League.
…[read more]New goalie in North Bay
Cameron Lamour is getting another shot at playing in the Ontario Hockey League. The 19-year old goalie, who had been tending twine in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League for the Rayside Balfour Canadians, has had his OHL rights transferred to the North Bay Battalion from the Sarnia Sting.
…[read more]Croatian sensation
The puck continues to stop with Bailey Brkin. Making his 13th straight start tonight, the overage goalie made 35 saves as the Soo Greyhounds won their fifth game in a row.
…[read more]Cougars roar through ACHA
On hiatus from game activity within the American Collegiate Hockey Association until the middle of January, the lone Canadian men’s team in the USA-based program is again a force to be reckoned with.
…[read more]Dunbar to Muskegon
Standout defenseman Tyler Dunbar has joined the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the United States Hockey League from the Soo Thunderbirds of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League, Hockey News North has confirmed.
…[read more]First star, Noah Zeppa
It was a shutout show for Sault Ste. Marie native Noah Zeppa in his first Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League outing with the Hearst Lumberjacks.
…[read more]Big changes for Battalion
The last place team in the Ontario Hockey League is undergoing change as veteran coach-general manager Stan Butler has been reassigned by the North Bay Battalion.
…[read more]Beavers making a splash
Blind River Beavers have moved into first place in the West Division of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League, a mere point ahead of the Rayside Balfour Canadians.
…[read more]Hounds plow the road
The hungry Hounds are sniffing the .500 mark. Soo Greyhounds finished a three-game Ontario Hockey League road run today with a 6-3 romp over the Mississauga Steelheads.
…[read more]Of Burnett, Hunter & Nolan
Hockey certainly has undergone considerable change over the years, particularly in recent times. And that especially applies to coaches.
…[read more]Hounds of the road
Maybe the Soo Greyhounds just needed to get out of town for a few days. After losing a pair of home games last weekend, the Greyhounds are two for two to begin on Ontario Hockey League road trip this week.
…[read more]Porco sidelined with mono
Sault Ste. Marie product Nick Porco is not expected to play again for the Barrie Colts of the Ontario Hockey League until after Christmas. The 18-year old left winger has been diagnosed with mononucleosis, Hockey News North has confirmed.
…[read more]Flint calls on Zach Giroux
Flint Firebirds of the Ontario Hockey League have promoted a pair of prospects — including forward Zacharie Giroux from the Rayside Balfour Canadians of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League — for an upcoming three-game road trip to Barrie, Sudbury and North Bay.
…[read more]A first for David Bowen
Making just his third appearance with the Drummondville Voltigeurs since signing with them about six weeks ago, David Bowen has his first win in the Quebec Major Jr. Hockey League.
…[read more]Northern boy in OHL trade
Iroquois Falls product Chad Denault is headed back up north. The 19-year old right winger has been traded by the Peterborough Petes to the North Bay Battalion for a conditional Ontario Hockey League draft pick.
…[read more]Tale of three Soo coaches
What better way to usher November into December by spending a good chunk of the weekend at three different rinks?
…[read more]