All posts by Randy Russon
KL strikes gold
Newly-acquired forward Gregory Trudeau-Paquet is already paying dividends for the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League. …[read more]
Hound midget hypothesis
There is a lot of individual talent that dots the roster of the major midget Soo Greyhounds. But as the 2017-2018 Great North Midget Hockey League season plays on, the Greyhounds as a team do not show well. …[read more]
Crunch, Beavers are hot
One from the East, one from the West. They represent two Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League teams that are on a roll. …[read more]
T-Bird midgets developing
One of three minor midget teams in a loop that also includes six major midget entries, Soo Thunderbirds sit at the bottom of the Great North Midget Hockey League standings. …[read more]
Kap gains for Hearst
There is a tidy development path along the rugged highway from Kapuskasing to Hearst that serves as player advancement between the two northeastern Ontario towns. …[read more]
Hot and cold in the OHL
As the Ontario Hockey League inches towards the one-third mark of the 2017-2018 regular season we check in on some of who are hot and some of who are not. …[read more]
Team NOHA has 7 from Soo
Seven Sault Ste. Marie area players have been named to the two Northern Ontario Hockey Association teams that will compete at the Ontario Minor Hockey Association, Eastern AAA Showcase Tournament, to be held next month. …[read more]
T-Birds v. Eagles tonight
It looms as a game that is a promotion in itself, the fabled border battle rivalry featuring the Soo Thunderbirds and Soo Eagles. …[read more]
Nickel Caps chasing Traps
Three home games this weekend will provide ample opportunity for the Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves to close in on the idle North Bay Trappers. …[read more]
Telus Cup update
As Sudbury is slated to play host to the 2018 Telus Cup, major midget hockey championship tournament, preparations for the national event are ongoing. …[read more]
Great North grievance
Soo Greyhounds of the Great North Midget Hockey League have had two wins taken away from them for using players who were under suspension. …[read more]
Soo minor hockey issues
The state of minor hockey in Sault Ste. Marie serves as an ongoing and almost routine basis for banter among those with any sort of link or interest in its well being. …[read more]
NOJHL teams on the up
Rayside-Balfour Canadians. Soo Eagles. Kirkland Lake Gold Miners. They are three Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League teams on the move. …[read more]
Trappers edge past Hounds
Coach Guy Blanchard and his visiting North Bay Trappers worked a pair of overtime shifts to upend the Soo Greyhounds in Great North Midget Hockey League action from last night and this afternoon. …[read more]
Super start for Sault College
Sault College Cougars are showing teeth in their first season as official members of the American Collegiate Hockey Association. …[read more]
Great North stunner!
Backed by the spectacular play of goalie Noah Zeppa, the minor midget Soo Thunderbirds stunned the visiting major midget North Bay Trappers 3-2 in Great North Midget Hockey League action from this afternoon. …[read more]
Sicoly assists in NA debut
Sault Ste. Marie native Nicolas Sicoly made a point in his North American Hockey League debut with the Aberdeen Wings on Friday. …[read more]
Sault College home for two
After nine straight road games to begin their first season as official members of the American Collegiate Hockey Association, Sault College Cougars get to skate on home ice. …[read more]
Spirit adds overage center
Youth-laden Saginaw Spirit has filled its third overage spot by obtaining center Mason Kohn from the Oshawa Generals for a fourth-round pick at the 2020 Ontario Hockey League draft. …[read more]
This is Team NOJHL
The 2017 Eastern Canada Cup all-star challenge is slated to be held November 13-15 in Trenton, Ont. and the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League has confirmed its roster for the event. …[read more]
Rumbling OHL rumour mill
Ah, those rumours. Like whiskey in an Irish pub, rumours go hand in hand within a major loop such as the Ontario Hockey League. …[read more]
Mickey Redmond in Flint
National Hockey League Hall of Fame forward Mickey Redmond will make a special guest appearance in Flint this Friday when the Firebirds play host to the North Bay Battalion in an Ontario Hockey League match at Dort Federal Event Center. …[read more]
Making it the hard way
Suffice to say that Ty Zachary does not know the meaning of the word quit. Suffice to say that few have had to overcome what Zachary did just to make the roster of the minor midget Soo Thunderbirds, a first-year team in the Great North Midget Hockey League. …[read more]
Nic Sicoly to Aberdeen
Sault Ste. Marie product Nicolas Sicoly is headed to the Aberdeen Wings of the North American Hockey League, HockeyNewsNorth.com has confirmed. …[read more]
Spirit moves goalie
Saginaw Spirit of the Ontario Hockey League has shipped third-year backup goalie Brendan Bonello to the Kingston Frontenacs, HockeyNewsNorth.com has confirmed. …[read more]
Little tykes at old Soo rink
It can be seen on the faces of the six-year old youngsters. The will. The determination. The exertion. The happy faces. …[read more]
Leaders of the Wolf pack
Leadership cannot be underestimated. Good leaders can go a long way towards the betterment of a team, in this case the Sudbury Wolves. …[read more]
Great North starts and stops
There is a form of parity within the Great North Midget Hockey League. For example, over the past week, the North Bay Trappers handed the Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves their first loss of the season only to then be upset by the Soo Greyhounds. …[read more]
Kovacs on four nations stage
Sault Ste. Marie’s Bronson Kovacs is a member of the Hungarian national team that will play host to the Four Nations Cup Hockey Tournament from November 10 to 12. …[read more]
NOJHL East is a beast
Parity is rather evident among the six divisional rivals. Indeed, just six points stand between the second place Kirkland Lake Gold Miners and the sixth place Timmins Rock in the East Division of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League. …[read more]
Wrong way in Elliot Lake
Widely viewed as a serious championship contender before the start of the 2017-2018 Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League season, Elliot Lake Wildcats have instead been a big disappointment to date. …[read more]
Eagles 4, Thunderbirds 3
Soo Eagles continued their winning ways of late while at the same time putting a halt to the seven-game unbeaten streak of the cross-river Soo Thunderbirds …[read more]
What a Knight for Raaymakers
It was a Knight to remember for former Soo Greyhounds goalie Joseph Raaymakers in his Ontario Hockey League debut with London. …[read more]
John Parco coaches, trains
He has a lot more to offer than just being the coach of the Soo Thunderbirds of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League. A former star player at the major junior and European professional levels, John Parco is also a sports vision trainer and a world-class, kinesiology-educated, disciple of the game that he lives and loves. …[read more]
15 goals for Nick Smith
He has hands of silk and a nose for the net. Soo Thunderbirds second-year forward Nick Smith is evolving into a goal-scoring machine. …[read more]
4-0-2 start for Sault College
They are a first-year team in the Division 3, American Collegiate Hockey Association. And through six games — all of them on the road — Sault College Cougars have been rather impressive. …[read more]
Yet another OHL trade
Soo Greyhounds have cashed in on holdout goalie Joseph Raaymakers by dealing him to the London Knights for netminder Tyler Johnson and three draft picks. …[read more]
Flint to Kitchener
Kitchener Rangers have traded four draft picks to the Flint Firebirds for overage forward Kole Sherwood, HockeyNewsNorth.com has confirmed. …[read more]
Overage transaction
Sudbury Wolves have acquired overage defenseman Doug Blaisdell from the Kitchener Rangers in exchange for a fourth-round pick at the 2020 Ontario Hockey League draft. …[read more]
Hot in the NOJHL West
Rayside-Balfour Canadians, Soo Eagles and Soo Thunderbirds are three teams from the West Division who are on a roll in the 12-member Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League. …[read more]
Flint flush with 5 overagers
As the general manager of the Flint Firebirds of the Ontario Hockey League, Barclay Branch finds himself in a good trade position. …[read more]
North Bay to Saginaw
1998 birth year left winger Daniil Vertiy is on the move from the North Bay Battalion to the Saginaw Spirit, HockeyNewsNorth.com has confirmed. …[read more]
Old Hounds are all Dunn
My old high school shut its doors as an education facility about six or seven years ago. Venerable Sir James Dunn Collegiate was then used as a community center and a movie site before the building was demolished within the past year. …[read more]
Spirit seeks to snap skid
It is a young team, one of the youngest in the Ontario Hockey League. But Saginaw Spirit has lost three straight games and with a 1-4-1 record through six outings could use a return to the win column with a pair of home contests coming up. …[read more]
Saginaw calls on Soo boy
Sault Ste. Marie product Camaryn Baber will join the Saginaw Spirit for a pair of Ontario Hockey League games this weekend, HockeyNewsNorth.com has confirmed. …[read more]
So far, so good for Flint
It may only be a seven-game sample but the Flint Firebirds are showing a sharp side thus far this Ontario Hockey League season. …[read more]
Wolves deal defenseman
Sudbury Wolves have tidied up their back yard by moving defensemen Conor Ali to the Kingston Frontenacs for a fourth-round draft pick in 2020. …[read more]
OHL teams with net issues
Not every Ontario Hockey League team has a Michael DiPietro or a Matthew Villalta or a Dylan Wells that they can go to as their no. 1 guy between the pipes. As a matter-of-fact, more than a third of teams in the OHL have starting goalies with save percentages that are well below the .900 watershed mark. …[read more]