All posts by Randy Russon
Hartsburg to write a column
Retired National Hockey League player and coach Craig Hartsburg has accepted an overture from Hockey News North to write a regular column relative to minor hockey development and putting more fun back in the game. …[read more]
Nice start for new guys in BR
So far, so good, even though it is a small sample. That is, Zach Senecal is off to a good start with the Blind River Beavers in his return to the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League. …[read more]
Dallaire is a Major difference
Statistics do not lie. They may not always tell the whole story but they do not lie. Just take a look at the goal-tending stats for the Timmins Majors of the Great North Midget Hockey League. …[read more]
OHL trade deadline aftermath
It was a trade show that featured a number of star attractions. In a two-week period that led to the January 10 trade deadline in the Ontario Hockey League, no less than 28 transactions involving 47 players and 87 draft picks were consummated. …[read more]
Wolves in full rebuild mode
Rob Papineau could have tried to repair the structure that he inherited a year ago by patching a few holes. Instead, the Sudbury Wolves vice president and general manager opted for a full rebuild. …[read more]
Flying high up in Kap
They are just waiting to be scouted. And to be sure, there are a number of jewels who are hidden off the highways in the hockey nooks of northeastern Ontario. …[read more]
Nice pick up for Flint
As he aims to position the Flint Firebirds for future success, general manager Barclay Branch closed the deal on a promising trade with the contending Hamilton Bulldogs today. …[read more]
Wolves pack adds young pup
Sudbury Wolves general manager Rob Papineau has continued a youth movement wheel and deal with a series of transactions that include a major addition. …[read more]
Blind River adds Zach Senecal
1998 birth year forward Zach Senecal is returning to the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League, this time with the Blind River Beavers. …[read more]
Kitchener gets Mario Culina
Sault Ste. Marie product Mario Culina has been acquired by the Kitchener Rangers from the Sudbury Wolves in an Ontario Hockey League trade that Hockey News North has confirmed. …[read more]
High rent district of the OHL
Rental prices have skyrocketed in the Ontario Hockey League, thanks in no small part to the Soo Greyhounds and Kingston Frontenacs, not to mention the Kitchener Rangers, Sarnia Sting and Hamilton Bulldogs. …[read more]
Soo gets Raddysh, Sambrook
Soo Greyhounds have finalized a long rumoured Ontario Hockey League trade with the Erie Otters by acquiring Team Canada right winger Taylor Raddysh. …[read more]
New goalie in Blind River
Former Soo Eagles goalie Camden Burggrabe is returning to the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League, this time with the Blind River Beavers. …[read more]
Soo Eagles add Casey, Rowe
Already averaging more than four goals per game, Soo Eagles of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League have further strengthened their forward unit. …[read more]
Minor midgets of the north
There are, without much question, a good number of minor-midget aged youngsters who are high performance players within the Great North Midget Hockey League this 2017-2018 season. …[read more]
Brousseau plays Major role
He was a rookie forward for the lowly Timmins Majors, who won only two of 36 regular season games in 2016-2017. But as the Majors have made major strides in the Great North Midget Hockey League in 2017-2018, so too has 2001 birth year forward Riley Brousseau. …[read more]
Shuffle in the Beavers net
Reigning West Division playoff champion Blind River Beavers have shuffled their net worth with the 2018 portion of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League season set to get underway. …[read more]
Write on about the OHL
It can be a high-stakes, high-risk league for players, coaches, owners et al. And there are many within it who make writing about the Ontario Hockey League a positive rite of passage. Some of whom — just to name a few — appear below. …[read more]
How I became an old writer
This wasn’t part of the plan that mom envisioned for her only boy. No way that mom wanted me to be a sportswriter, of all things. …[read more]
Swirling OHL trade winds
As rumours are rampant that the Erie Otters will move Team Canada right winger Taylor Raddysh before the January 10 trade deadline, the Hamilton Bulldogs have added yet another veteran player as they make a run at the Ontario Hockey League championship. …[read more]
Write on about the NOJHL
There is so much good that can be written about the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League. And here are just a few examples from among the many folks who make following the NOJHL worth while. …[read more]
Soo T-Birds to BR Beavers
The top two teams in the West Division of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League have finalized a trade, HockeyNewsNorth.com has confirmed. …[read more]
Flyers have a Kap on third
A record of 16-9-3 through 28 games has the Kapuskasing Flyers sitting in a comfortable third spot on the major midget side of the Great North Midget Hockey League. …[read more]
Hidden jewel of the north
Any Ontario Hockey League general manager or scout who does his own homework and does not go with the flow may want to go out of his way to check out minor midget aged forward Kobe Barrette of the Timmins Majors of the Great North Midget Hockey League. …[read more]
Majors go forth in Great North
Timmins Majors are on the move, having won four of their past five games, including a Christmas wrapping of the high and mighty Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves. …[read more]
Six OHL teams to like
There are a number of Ontario Hockey League teams who have issued strong statements thus far in the 2017-2018 season. Following is a HockeyNewsNorth.com “pick six” of the many OHL teams worth noting. …[read more]
Toots Kovacs joins Sault Major
The experienced and reputable Zoltan (Toots) Kovacs has joined the executive of the Sault Major Hockey Association as a vice president, HockeyNewsNorth.com has confirmed. …[read more]
Soo midgets hop the Express
Espanola Express of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League has called on forward Parker Morgan and defenseman Jacob Doucette from the Soo Greyhounds of the Great North Midget Hockey League, HockeyNewsNorth.com has confirmed. …[read more]
Timmins to Rimouski
1999 birth year defenseman Josh Anderson is moving up from the Timmins Rock of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League to the Rimouski Océanic of the Quebec Major Jr. Hockey League. …[read more]
Hound midgets take a break
There is a good measure of talent on the major midget Soo Greyhounds. But as they are on break from the Great North Midget Hockey League slate, the Greyhound midgets are not in a position of strength. …[read more]
NOJHL debut for Campbell
Minor midget forward David Campbell made a point, literally, in his Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League debut as an affiliate player with the Blind River Beavers. …[read more]
Soo minor hockey accord?
I am told that there is some good, positive news coming as it pertains to minor hockey in Sault Ste. Marie. As in a new level of co-operation between the Sault Major Hockey Association and the Soo Pee Wee Hockey League. …[read more]
Hound midgets fall to 9-16-4
There is no sugar coating this. Facts are facts. The major midget Soo Greyhounds now have a record of 9-16-4 following an embarrassing 7-3 loss to the minor midget Sudbury Wolves. …[read more]
Ritchie makes NOJHL debut
Short on players for a weekend road trip, French River Rapids of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League called on defenseman Jordan Ritchie from the Soo Greyhounds of the Great North Midget Hockey League. …[read more]
Neault makes NOJHL history
Rayside-Balfour Canadians forward Matt Neault has established a new Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League record for most career games played. …[read more]
Best of the NOJHL West
Call them the Four Tops. As in the top four teams from the West Division of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League. …[read more]
Can Flint end Soo streak?
Sooner or later the Soo Greyhounds are going to lose an Ontario Hockey League game. It could be as soon as tonight when the first-place Greyhounds take on the last-place Flint Firebirds. …[read more]
Soo’s ’02 birth year class
Much has been said and written — in both factual and opinionated form — about the overall state of the AAA midget program in Sault Ste. Marie. …[read more]
A win for Michael Doan
On a night that honoured their fallen former goalie, the Soo Thunderbirds came through in heavenly fashion for the late Michael Doan. …[read more]
Saginaw Spirit bandwagon
There has been major media attention directed towards the Saginaw Spirit over the past few weeks. But this is an Ontario Hockey League team that we have been touting as one on the rise for several months now. …[read more]
Ex-OHLer to NOJHL in Hearst
Hard-working, character-kid forward Zack Dorval, who played three full seasons in the Ontario Hockey League before leaving on his own terms following the 2016-2017 season, has signed with the Hearst Lumberjacks of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League. …[read more]
Michael Doan to be honoured
As his former teams face off in a Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League match on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at John Rhodes Community Centre, the late Michael Doan will be honoured in a pre-game tribute. …[read more]
Culina leads way for Wolves
Mario Culina’s return to the Ontario Hockey League has given the Sudbury Wolves a much-needed lift. The overage goalie, who recently joined the Wolves after beginning the 2017-2018 season with the Ryerson Rams of Ontario University Athletics, has been impressive over three straight starts in the Sudbury net. …[read more]
Trappers of the Great North
Once a lowly presence — over a period of several years — within the Great North Midget Hockey League, the North Bay Trappers now serve as a model program for success and development. …[read more]
Say it ain’t so, coach
Apparently, there are minor hockey coaches out there who still don’t get it. Apparently, there are minor hockey coaches out there who are not in tune with the Canadian Mental Health Association and its Talk Today program. …[read more]
Soaring Soo Eagles sweep
Michigan Soo Eagles pulled off a road trip rarity on the weekend with three successive wins up in rugged northeastern Ontario. …[read more]
Overtime in the Great North
It was a relentless road effort by the Timmins Majors that paid off with a come-from-behind overtime triumph over the Soo Greyhounds in Great North Midget Hockey League action from Friday. …[read more]
Spirit adds national team star
Highly regarded centre Jake Goldowski has left the United States National Team Development Program to sign with the Saginaw Spirit of the Ontario Hockey League. …[read more]