All posts by Randy Russon
NOJHL returns to Manitoulin
Courtesy a neutral site game between the Cochrane Crunch and the Espanola Express, the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League will make a return to Manitoulin Island tonight. …[read more]
Russian robber strikes again
Ivan Prosvetov stole another game for the Saginaw Spirit on Thursday night. The Russian-born goalie stopped 39 of 40 shots to lead surging Saginaw to a 2-1 home-ice victory over the Sarnia Sting. …[read more]
Minor Birds a work in progress
Soo Minor Thunderbirds of the Great North Midget Hockey League can be termed a reflection of their head coach. As Jamie Henderson is a focused, disciplined, hard-driven, hard-working individual, so too are the cast of players who make up the 2018-2019 edition of the Minor Thunderbirds. …[read more]
Spirit rises to fourth place
Sporting a 2-0-1 record under new head coach Chris Lazary, Saginaw Spirit has moved into fourth place in the Western Conference of the Ontario Hockey League ahead of a pair of home games this week. …[read more]
EL Wildcats have money issues
Elliot Lake Wildcats of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League remain more than $50,000 in debt to the City of Elliot Lake on an interest-free loan that was slated to be paid in full by the end of this year. …[read more]
Roads of northeastern Ontario
There are a number of certainties pertaining to the winter months in northeastern Ontario. One is that towns such as Sault Ste. Marie, Blind River, Espanola, Sudbury, North Bay, Timmins, Iroquois Falls, Kirkland Lake, Cochrane and Hearst will get their share of snow. …[read more]
Close quarters in the NOJHL
Both the divisional standings and the overall scoring race are rather close within the 12-team Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League. …[read more]
Soo teams take Timmins
Soo Major Thunderbirds and Soo Minor Thunderbirds both scored victories over the visiting Timmins Majors in Great North Midget Hockey League action from this weekend. …[read more]
Major hockey mommas
As noted via an earlier item and photo on Hockey News North, it was a weekend road trip to Sault Ste. Marie for many of the moms of the players who perform for the Timmins Majors of the Great North Midget Hockey League. …[read more]
Feeling the Chill
Coulee Region Chill of the North American 3 Hockey League is not only off to a solid start to the 2018-2019 season but its top two scorers have future Division 3, National Collegiate Athletic Association commitments. …[read more]
Change in Elliot Lake
Veteran Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League bench boss Corey Bricknell has resigned as coach and general manager of the Elliot Lake Wildcats. Elliot Lake has lost five straight games and has a record of 9-16-2 through 27 games of the 2018-2019 season. …[read more]
Late round Hound sound
This is a story that has a good sound to it. Not only has Cullen McLean defied the odds by making the Soo Greyhounds after being a 15th round pick at the 2017 Ontario Hockey League priority selections draft, the 2001 birth year center is on the Central Scouting players to watch list ahead of the 2019 National Hockey League draft. …[read more]
Young NOJHL talent
There is a plethora of rookie talent in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League among younger players with 2002, 2001 and 2000 birth dates. …[read more]
Great North numbers
Checking in on the Great North Midget Hockey League as the 2018-2019 regular season progresses into the third week of November: …[read more]
Shakeup in Saginaw
Those who know Dave Drinkill are most likely of the notion that the Saginaw Spirit general manager is a serious, thoughtful individual who is not known for making rash decisions. …[read more]
Pack of Wolves on track
They have missed the Ontario Hockey League playoffs three times in the past four years including the 2017-2018 season in which they finished in last place in the 20-member loop. But at about the one-third mark of the 2018-2019 season, Sudbury Wolves are on track to more than double the 17 wins they managed over the course of the entire 2017-2018 campaign. …[read more]
OHL has 47 players to watch
Four skaters from the reigning Western Conference champion Soo Greyhounds are among 47 players from the Ontario Hockey League who have been mentioned on the latest National Hockey League Central Scouting players to watch list ahead of the 2019 draft. …[read more]
10 goals for Nick Porco
Second-year Saginaw Spirit winger Nick Porco has already doubled his goal-scoring total from his rookie season in the Ontario Hockey League. …[read more]
Don’t love it? Don’t play it
I get it that at the professional level, playing hockey is more about earning a living than it is for the love of the game. But at the grassroots level and up to and including junior hockey, methinks the game should always be played for the love and the passion of it. …[read more]
Wolves of the NOJHL net
A pair of 2000 birth year puck-stoppers who have seen action with the Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario Hockey League are now standing tall with separate teams in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League this season. …[read more]
Another night at the rink
It was just another Saturday night at Community First Soo Pee Wee Arena. Then again, it is one of my favourite ways to spend a Saturday evening during hockey season in Sault Ste. Marie. …[read more]
Soo boy Hungary for success
He was a top defenseman in the Great North Midget Hockey League, the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League and the Ontario Jr. Hockey League who went on to become a team captain at the National Collegiate Athletic Association level. Now 28 years old, Sault Ste. Marie product Bronson Kovacs continues to play the game with professional passion overseas in Hungary. …[read more]
Flint fends off feared foes
It would have been easy to talk trash about the Flint Firebirds through a win-less start to the 2018-2019 Ontario Hockey League season. Through 17 games, Flint flopped and fumbled with a single point from a record of 0-16-1. …[read more]
Best of the Birds
Soo Thunderbirds are perched atop the West Division of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League heading into a home and home set with the Blind River Beavers later this week. …[read more]
Fired up again in Flint
Another day, another victory. After beginning the 2018-2019 Ontario Hockey League season by failing to win in their first 17 outings, Flint Firebirds won their second straight game tonight. …[read more]
Hounds add a goalie
Soo Greyhounds have traded for journeyman goalie Mario Peccia, acquiring the 1999 birth year puck-stopper from the Oshawa Generals for a 12th round pick at the 2021 Ontario Hockey League priority selections draft. …[read more]
Great North log jam
Soo Major Thunderbirds can escape the basement of the Great North Midget Hockey League this weekend as the New Liskeard Cubs come to town. And it won’t be an easy travel trek for New Liskeard, which has a home game before it hits the road to the Soo. …[read more]
Hope for the small goalie
Cedrick Andree of the Ottawa 67s of the Ontario Hockey League is emerging as a shining example of a goalie who does not have to be big to play big. …[read more]
Good morning, Flint
Flint Firebirds finally have their first victory of the 2018-2019 Ontario Hockey League season. In their second annual School Day Game promotion, the Firebirds skated past the visiting Sarnia Sting 7-4 in a match that began at 11:00 this morning. …[read more]
Jr. team in Iroquois Falls?
Separate factions are exploring the possibility of bringing a junior hockey franchise back to the northeastern Ontario town of Iroquois Falls, Hockey News North has confirmed. …[read more]
OHL Notes: Hustling Hounds
Nineteen games into the 2018-2019 season and it is the Soo Greyhounds with 28 points from a record of 12-3-4 who have been a big surprise among Ontario Hockey League teams. …[read more]
NOJHL Notes: Rolling Rapids
A pair of weekend triumphs by the French River Rapids boosted their season win total from three to five. We go there and elsewhere around the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League. …[read more]
Culina wins pro debut
Sault Ste. Marie native Mario Culina made his pro hockey debut a successful one on the weekend as he backstopped the expansion Newfoundland Growlers to a 5-2 win over the Worcester Railers. …[read more]
Major T-Birds snap skid
Soo Major Thunderbirds managed to halt a 13-game losing streak today with a 4-1 win over the North Bay Minor Trappers. …[read more]
Rapids coach on leave
Rookie head coach Shawn Frappier has taken a leave of absence from his position with the French River Rapids of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League, Hockey News North has confirmed. …[read more]
Storm hits the Soo
The top two teams in the Western Conference of the Ontario Hockey League will face off tonight when the Soo Greyhounds play host to the Guelph Storm at GFL Memorial Gardens. …[read more]
Steady, ready Freddie
He works in sales for one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. He and his wife are parents to a one-year old boy. That aside, Sault Ste. Marie native Freddie Coccimiglio still finds time to stay involved in hockey. …[read more]
Spirit moves Grondin
Saginaw Spirit has dealt hulking center Max Grondin to the Peterborough Petes for a pair of future draft picks, Hockey News North has confirmed. …[read more]
Greyhounds to Gatineau
Gatineau Olympiques of the Quebec Major Jr. Hockey League have claimed defenseman Phil Caron off Ontario Hockey League waivers from the Soo Greyhounds, Hockey News North has confirmed. …[read more]
Wood working for Eagles
Rookie forward Caleb Wood has proven to be a key cross-border addition for the Soo Eagles with the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League at about the one-third mark of the 2018-2019 regular season schedule. …[read more]
Saginaw to Oshawa
Left winger Kyle Bollers is getting another shot at playing in the Ontario Hockey League as the Saginaw Spirit has dealt the 1999 birth year port sider to the Oshawa Generals. …[read more]
NOJHL list of likes
Like any other league, it has its detractors. But with 11 of its 12 teams based in northern Ontario and the other one at the tip of the Upper Peninsula in northern Michigan, it is a neat and tidy league of its own. And for me, there are a number of clicks on my Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League list of likes. …[read more]
Flint makes a point
It was not the elusive win. But it was their first point of the 2018-2019 Ontario Hockey League season. Flint Firebirds rallied from an early 3-0 deficit tonight only to drop a 6-5 overtime decision to the visiting Sarnia Sting. …[read more]
Come on, Flint
Maybe, just maybe, the number 13 will prove to be lucky for the Flint Firebirds. Flint, which has a record of 0-12-0 to begin the 2018-2019 Ontario Hockey League campaign, will try for its first win tonight in its 13th outing of the season. …[read more]
Time for Flint to win one
Flint Firebirds, with a record of 0-11-0, have as good an opportunity as any to break into the Ontario Hockey League win column this weekend. …[read more]
OHL Notes: Buyers, sellers?
It is still the early going of the 2018-2019 season. The January 10 trade deadline in the Ontario Hockey League is more than two months away. But the restless hands of time are ticking as buyers and sellers take stock of their assets. …[read more]
NOJHL attendance boost
Overall attendance numbers are rather encouraging through the first quarter or so of the 2018-2019 Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League season. …[read more]
Cougars roaring at 8-1-0
The only Canadian school in the Division 3, American Collegiate Hockey Association is off to a roaring start to the 2018-2019 season. Sault College Cougars won all three of their games at a weekend tournament in Midland, Michigan that was hosted by Northwood University. …[read more]