All posts by Randy Russon
Little Lumberjack plays big
He is small but he plays big. And his coach can’t say enough about his work ethic and compete level. He is forward Bradley Golant of the Hearst Lumberjacks of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League.
…[read more]Saturday in the Great North
Soo Major Thunderbirds and Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves will both take 1-0 leads in their respective Great North Midget Hockey League playoff series into games tonight.
…[read more]Major T-Birds clip Cubs
Rookie goalie Noah Zeppa set the stage early for the Soo Major Thunderbirds in their Great North Midget Hockey League playoff game with the visiting New Liskeard Cubs.
…[read more]D3 commit for Soo d-man
Dependable Soo Eagles defenseman Mikey Butcher has a commitment to play at the Division 3, National Collegiate Athletic Association level for the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Panthers effective the 2019-2020 season.
…[read more]Nickel Caps nip Timmins
A 4-2 road decision has given the Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves an opening-game lead in their opening-round playoff series with the Timmins Majors.
…[read more]Soo high school dates
The four teams that make up the high school hockey program in Sault Ste. Marie will begin the playoff round next week.
…[read more]Nic Sicoly gets school deal
Sault Ste. Marie native Nic Sicoly has a commitment to play at Mount Royal University in Calgary effective the 2019-2020 season, Hockey News North has confirmed.
…[read more]Major Trappers are perfect
North Bay Major Trappers capped an unbeaten regular season on Tuesday with a 6-0 whitewash of the Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves. With the win, the Major Trappers completed the regular season schedule in the Great North Midget Hockey League with a perfect record of 36-0-0.
…[read more]NOJHL has good leadership
Robert Mazzuca is well into his eighth season as commissioner of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League. Some like him, some don’t, which goes with the territory of being in a position of power.
…[read more]Major T-Birds v. NL Cubs
Playoff dates for the opening-round, best-of-three, Great North Midget Hockey League playoff series between the Soo Major Thunderbirds and New Liskeard Cubs have been confirmed.
…[read more]Minor T-Birds miss .500
They improved immensely as the 2018-2019 regular season progressed. And while the .500 mark fell just out of their reach, Soo Minor Thunderbirds of the Great North Midget Hockey League wrapped up the regular season with a respectable record of 9-11-4.
…[read more]Baber shows rising Spirit
Sault Ste. Marie product Camaryn Baber is fresh from his most productive weekend in his young Ontario Hockey League career. The 2001 birth-year center had a pair of one-goal, one-assist games to spark the Saginaw Spirit to a sweep of the Flint Firebirds.
…[read more]First star, Camaryn Baber
A regular spot in the lineup is giving Sault Ste. Marie product Camaryn Baber the opportunity to produce for the Saginaw Spirit.
…[read more]Old characters of the O
I am not saying that the average coach in today’s Ontario Hockey League is boring. (Even if my friend George Burnett of the Guelph Storm — who is the dean of OHL coaches — defines dullsville.) It is just that the OHL of today seems to be lacking the colourful characters of yesterday.
…[read more]Wright pick for the OHL
Smart, splendid, skilled skater Shane Wright has applied for exceptional player status ahead of this year’s Ontario Hockey League priority selections draft.
…[read more]Soo high school scene
The four teams that comprise Sault Ste. Marie’s high school hockey program are less than two weeks away from the start of the playoffs.
…[read more]Minor T-Birds picture day
The 2018-2019 season is winding down for the majority of the cast that makes up the Soo Minor Thunderbirds of the Great North Midget Hockey League.
…[read more]Saginaw winger is winged
Northeastern Ontario product Danny Katic is on the injured list and will be lost to the Saginaw Spirit for an indefinite period, Hockey News North has confirmed.
…[read more]Coach under surprise Attack
Saying that he is “not a big change guy”, Owen Sound Attack general manager Dale DeGray nonetheless fired head coach Todd Gill earlier today and replaced him with erstwhile assistant Alan Letang.
…[read more]Feast in the NOJHL East
Winners of eight straight games in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League, Hearst Lumberjacks have skated their way to within two points of the first-place Kirkland Lake Gold Miners in a beast of an East Division where five of the six teams boast records above the .500 mark.
…[read more]Spirit rises to 30th win
Saginaw Spirit has surpassed its victory total from the 2017-2018 Ontario Hockey League season and in the process solidified its hold on third place in the Western Conference.
…[read more]Hall of Famer’s son in Hearst
He isn’t a big scorer or a flashy player. But 1999 birth year forward Christian James-McDonald is quietly playing an effective role for the Hearst Lumberjacks of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League.
…[read more]Guaranteed ice time clauses
Ever wonder why certain players in the Ontario Hockey League get more ice time — as in, on the top power play unit, for example — at the expense of others who are just as deserving?
…[read more]Scouting a Soo Indians goalie
He has plenty of junior hockey eligibility ahead of him. And there are scouts in the Ontario Hockey League and North American Hockey League who are taking notes on Gabe Rosek, a 2001 birth year goalie with the AAA midget Soo Indians.
…[read more]Soo trio on Team NOHA
Three members of the Soo Minor Thunderbirds of the Great North Midget Hockey League have been named to the Team NOHA squad that will compete at the upcoming OHL Cup and OHL Gold Cup showcase events, Hockey News North has learned.
…[read more]Soo alters midget program
Sault Ste. Marie will be represented by one team, rather than two, in the Great North Midget Hockey League for the 2019-2020 season, Hockey News North has confirmed.
…[read more]NHL scouts like Firebirds
Flint Firebirds may be in last place in the Ontario Hockey League but it is a testament to their young talent that four of their players are ranked on the latest Central Scouting list of the National Hockey League.
…[read more]Atom AA Hounds level it up
Playing up a level resulted in a credible showing for a Sault Ste. Marie team at the International Silver Stick Hockey Tournament that was held in Sarnia on the weekend.
…[read more]Trappers take tourney title
North Bay Major Trappers of the Great North Midget Hockey League skated home with the winners banner from the prestigious Steve Richey Tournament of Champions in Peterborough.
…[read more]Birds of different feathers
They are two teams that represent the AAA midget hockey level in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Having said that, the Soo Major Thunderbirds and Soo Minor Thunderbirds are studies in contrast.
…[read more]Saginaw adds to its bench
Veteran bench boss Darren Rumble has joined the Saginaw Spirit of the Ontario Hockey League as an assistant coach for the balance of the 2018-2019 season.
…[read more]London duo in Hearst
They were born two months apart in 1999 in the sprawling southwestern Ontario city of London. They are life long friends who grew up together in their hometown and played hockey together. And now they are teammates again, far from home, in the small northeastern Ontario town of Hearst.
…[read more]Flint in good draft shape
The upcoming 2019 Ontario Hockey League priority selections draft has plenty of plum potential for the Flint Firebirds.
…[read more]There’s a new ‘A’ in Flint
Seasoned skater Jack Phibbs has joined the leadership group of the Flint Firebirds of the Ontario Hockey League as an alternate captain.
…[read more]Soo Eagles soar to .500
Four straight victories have lifted the Soo Eagles to the .500 mark for the first time since the early going of the 2018-2019 Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League season.
…[read more]Best of the Minor Birds
Soo Minor Thunderbirds of the Great North Midget Hockey League figure to have two players chosen within the higher rounds of the 2019 Ontario Hockey League priority selections draft.
…[read more]Tournament of Champions
More than 40 major and minor midget teams — including the Sault Major Thunderbirds and Soo Minor Thunderbirds of the Great North Midget Hockey League — will be in Peterborough this week for the prestigious Steve Richey Tournament of Champions.
…[read more]Modest movement in Flint
Barring a miracle on ice, Flint Firebirds are going to miss the Ontario Hockey League playoffs for a second successive season. But the last-place team in the Western Conference is showing steady signs of improvement.
…[read more]Hurrah to novice Hounds
Soo Jr. Greyhounds have skated home with the novice AA division championship from the prestigious International Silver Stick Hockey Tournament that wrapped up in Pelham on the weekend.
…[read more]Soo boy to Sudbury midgets
2002 birth year forward Nick Jameus of Sault Ste. Marie is joining the Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves of the Great North Midget Hockey League for the balance of the 2018-2019 season.
…[read more]GMHL all-star day
Next Tuesday in Ville-Marie, Quebec will mark the 13th annual all-star day for the Greater Metro Hockey League.
…[read more]Laprade all in on NOJHL
He has been a player and a coach — and been on national championship teams as both — at the Division 1, National Collegiate Athletic Association level. Suffice to say that Doug Laprade, who is in his first season as head coach of the Soo Eagles of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League, knows a good level of the game when he sees it.
…[read more]Fearsome foursome
London Knights, Soo Greyhounds, Saginaw Spirit and Guelph Storm are set up for what should be a furious fight for supremacy in the Western Conference of the Ontario Hockey League.
…[read more]North Bay to Hamilton
Northern Ontario product Payton Vescio is headed south to the Hamilton Bulldogs. North Bay Battalion dealt the 2001 birth year defenseman to the reigning Ontario Hockey League champions at today’s trade deadline.
…[read more]Wolves add another vet
Making his second trade of the week, Sudbury Wolves general manager Rob Papineau has added another 1999 birth year skater.
…[read more]Spirit rising under Lazary
A coaching change appears to be working for the Saginaw Spirit. The latest win for Saginaw, a 3-1 victory over the reigning Ontario Hockey League champion Hamilton Bulldogs tonight, has the Spirit rising under new bench boss Chris Lazary.
Read moreNet gains in Hearst
It has been quite a difference in goalie play for the Hearst Lumberjacks from the 2017-2018 season to the 2018-2019 campaign. …[read more]
Divine intervention
The owner, general manager and coach of the French River Rapids of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League told Hockey News North that he saw his life flash before his eyes when the team bus recently barrelled off the highway and went down an eight-foot embankment and almost tipped over. “All I could think of is that we were going to die,” said Paul Frustaglio in the aftermath of the Saturday morning accident that occurred when French River was returning home from a Friday night game in Kirkland Lake against the Gold Miners.
…[read more]