All posts by Randy Russon
Cubs clip winged Birds
Short on players due to injury and with just 12 skaters in the lineup, the minor midget Soo Thunderbirds gave it their all only to fall 4-2 to the major midget New Liskeard Cubs on Saturday night. …[read more]
NOJHL by the numbers
Call it a numbers game. As in a here and there, hodge podge of numbers as they pertain to the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League. …[read more]
Spirit of northern Ontario
Four northern Ontario products who are on the forward lines of the Saginaw Spirit have combined for eight points in four games thus far this 2017-2018 Ontario Hockey League season. …[read more]
First W for Sudbury Wolves
The fans can relax a bit now. So too can the players and maybe even the coaches. Sudbury Wolves have their first win of the 2017-2018 Ontario Hockey League season. …[read more]
Small goalie, big saves
Maybe, just maybe, there will be an Ontario Hockey League general manager or scout who will think outside the box when it comes to evaluating goalie Noah Zeppa of the minor midget Soo Thunderbirds. …[read more]
So far, so good in Hearst
On the ice, they are winning. At the gate, they are packing them in. So far, so good for the first-year Hearst Lumberjacks of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League. …[read more]
NHL is high on Hayton et al
Soo Greyhounds centre Barrett Hayton is one of six Ontario Hockey League skaters who has an “A” rating on the initial list of players to watch for the 2018 National Hockey League draft. …[read more]
Roster moves in Rayside
Rayside-Balfour Canadians of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League have added a forward to compensate for the advancement of another. …[read more]
Players to watch have Spirit
Three members of the Saginaw Spirit of the Ontario Hockey League are on the initial Central Scouting players-to-watch list for the 2018 National Hockey League draft. …[read more]
Up and down the Great North
Today’s Great North Midget Hockey League tour goes from Sault Ste. Marie to Sudbury to North Bay to Kapuskasing to Timmins. …[read more]
Points for Soo minor midgets
Through five games into their first season in the Great North Midget Hockey League the minor midget Soo Thunderbirds have yet to post a victory. …[read more]
Crunch in cruise control
Handing the reigning champion Powassan Voodoos their first home ice loss since February of last season — covering eight games, playoffs included — Cochrane Crunch is on a roll of its own. …[read more]
Birds sweep border battle
A shorthanded goal by rookie forward Camaryn Baber with less than five minutes to play in the third period lifted the Soo Thunderbirds to a 4-2 win over the Soo Eagles on Saturday and a sweep of the border battle weekend series between the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League rivals. …[read more]
A first for Nicholas Porco
It only took rookie forward Nicholas Porco four games to score his first Ontario Hockey League goal for the Saginaw Spirit. …[read more]
OHL etches and sketches
As the bright lights of the Ontario Hockey League have begun to shine on the 2017-2018 season, news and views become common place throughout the major junior loop. …[read more]
Talking up the Soo Eagles
Seasoned scout Charly Murray had plenty good to say about the Soo Eagles of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League when guesting on the Hockey North Show, which airs on Tuesdays at 5 p.m. on Sault Ste. Marie radio station ESPN 1400. …[read more]
Back on board the Express
Espanola Express, winless through seven games thus far this Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League season, has added some much-needed scoring to its lineup. …[read more]
Lakers choose Wright captain
The good ship Laker will set sail with a new captain. Senior defensemen Aidan Wright will wear the captain’s jersey for the Lake Superior State Lakers this season. …[read more]
Up early in the NOJHL
A trio of small-market teams — French River Rapids, Blind River Beavers and Powassan Voodoos — have five wins apiece in the early going of the 2017-2018 Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League season. And let us not overlook the rebound that the Michigan Soo Eagles have managed. …[read more]
Great North notes, quotes
It was a hot, hazy, humid September weekend in northeastern Ontario. But as it was steamy and sticky outside, there was ice on the sheets inside as early-season play in the Great North Midget Hockey League continued. …[read more]
First-ever N.O. Cup
Soo Thunderbirds of the Great North Midget Hockey League will play host to the first-ever, minor midget, Northern Ontario Cup, which is slated to be staged next March 2-4, 2018 in Sault Ste. Marie. …[read more]
Tech no. 3 in WCHA rankings
Coached by Sault Ste. Marie native Joe Shawhan, Michigan Tech Huskies are ranked third among 10 teams in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association’s pre-season poll preparatory to the 2017-2018 campaign. …[read more]
Feeling it in French River
French River Rapids of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League have already surpassed their win total from 2016-2017 just six games into the 2017-2018 campaign. …[read more]
Hockey nights in Timmins
Timmins Rock of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League and Timmins Majors of the Great North Midget Hockey League are both in action at home this weekend. …[read more]
Mem Cup champs open with W
Reigning Memorial Cup champion Windsor Spitfires opened the 2017-2018 Ontario Hockey League season the same way they ended the 2016-2017 campaign — with a victory. …[read more]
4-0 Beavers hit the road
The only undefeated team in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League takes to the rugged roads this weekend for a trio of contests. …[read more]
Sault College in session
The first Canadian men’s team to become official members of the American Collegiate Hockey Association hits the ice this weekend with a pair of games at Saginaw Valley State University. …[read more]
Talking about Nick Porco
He is skilled and smart and is set up nicely for his rookie season in the Ontario Hockey League as a first-round pick from the 2017 draft. And pardon the pun but Nick Porco is also full of Spirit. Saginaw Spirit, that is. …[read more]
Hockey North Show feedback
The 2017-2018 version of the weekly Hockey North Show that I host on Tuesdays from 5-6 p.m. on Sault Ste. Marie radio station ESPN 1400 is underway. …[read more]
Wolves add veteran defender
Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario Hockey League have added experience to their defense corps with the acquisition of 19-year old Cole Candella from the Hamilton Bulldogs. …[read more]
Flint deals for Leafs prospect
Flint Firebirds have shipped a troika of draft picks to the London Knights for 1998 birth-year defenseman Nicolas Mattinen in an Ontario Hockey League trade completed today. …[read more]
Phil Caron a free-agent find
From the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League to the Ontario Hockey League. And as an un-drafted, under-sized defenseman no less. …[read more]
OA goalie back in Saginaw
Saginaw Spirit of the Ontario Hockey League received a net gain today with the return of overage goalie Evan Cormier from the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League. …[read more]
Hockey + weather = bonus
Does it get any better than this? If you are into various levels of hockey, warm weather and happen to live in Sault Ste. Marie, this is a good time of the year. …[read more]
Timmins trims T-Bird midgets
A goal by captain Frederic Leclair-Pouw in the first minute of overtime lifted the visiting Timmins Majors to a 3-2 overtime triumph over the Soo Thunderbirds in Great North Midget Hockey League action tonight. …[read more]
Blind River remains unbeaten
Steven Khull put the puck in the net two minutes and 22 seconds into overtime as the visiting Blind River Beavers edged the Soo Thunderbirds 4-3 in a fast-paced, well-played Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League match on Friday night. …[read more]
Midget triple-header in Soo
Great North Midget Hockey League will be a featured attraction in Sault Ste. Marie this weekend with the Timmins Majors in town for a troika of tests. …[read more]
Soo Eagles to NHL ref prospect
Former Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League defenseman Alec Austin is on the cusp of becoming a National Hockey League referee. …[read more]
Back in Rayside-Balfour
1997 birth year forward Tristan Simm is back with the Rayside-Balfour Canadians for a third season in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League, HockeyNewsNorth.com has confirmed. …[read more]
Great North beginnings
One of the youngest players in the Great North Midget Hockey League will debut with the Soo Thunderbirds this weekend when the first-year minor midget entry plays the visiting Timmins Majors. …[read more]
NOJHL season underway
There were some good opening night crowds. There were some good starts for players, coaches and teams alike. The 2017-2018 Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League season is underway. …[read more]
Western Conference watchtower
To be sure, it is the toughest conference in Canadian major junior hockey. And while there are those who have already anointed the Soo Greyhounds as the team to be reckoned with in the Western Conference of the Ontario Hockey League, others should not be taken lightly. …[read more]
Choosing the Flint Firebirds
Highly-touted center Kyle Harris has opted to commit to the Flint Firebirds of the Ontario Hockey League rather than choose from multiple National Collegiate Athletic Association overtures, HockeyNewsNorth.com has confirmed. …[read more]
Opening week in Great North
Opening whistles will sound in the Great North Midget Hockey League this weekend as the Soo Greyhounds, North Bay Major Trappers, New Liskeard Cubs and Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves all have home games. …[read more]
Opening week in the NOJHL
First pucks drop on a number of Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League rinks this week as regular-season play begins in the 12-member loop. …[read more]
Rayside set for start of season
As Rayside-Balfour Canadians will take to the ice for the start of the 2017-2018 regular season on Thursday night, the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League team has a late commitment from a rookie forward. …[read more]
Timmins takes Polar Bear title
Timmins Majors trimmed Soo Thunderbirds 6-3 in the title tilt of the AAA midget division of the second annual Cochrane Polar Bear Classic. …[read more]
Spirit sends Baber to T-Birds
Saginaw Spirit of the Ontario Hockey League has assigned recently-signed 2001 birth-year forward Camaryn Baber to the Soo Thunderbirds of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League, HockeyNewsNorth.com has confirmed. …[read more]