All posts by Randy Russon
Flint pots playoff spot
It’s official. After missing the Ontario Hockey League playoffs in their first season in Flint, the Firebirds are going to the dance. …[read more]
Storm slowly approaching
Guelph Storm will miss the Ontario Hockey League playoffs for a second straight season. But the Storm is poised to once again become a Western Conference factor. …[read more]
Once a Knight is enough
St. Mary’s Knights of Sault Ste. Marie have won the Northern Ontario Secondary Schools Association ‘AAA’ high school hockey championship. …[read more]
Good that Hounds can score
They will finish the 2016-2017 Ontario Hockey League regular season with 90-plus points and with a half-dozen games to play, they are in position to finish as the no. 2 seed in the Western Conference. …[read more]
NOJHL goalie gets D1 deal
Powassan Voodoos goalie Nate McDonald has parlayed a strong season in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League into a Division 1, National Collegiate Athletic Association commitment. …[read more]
Dan Vasquez retires…sort of
His name is synonymous with youth and junior level hockey in the Metro Detroit area as a coach of more than 35 years. And while Dan Vasquez has decided to retire from coaching he will remain with the Detroit Fighting Irish as general manager and director of hockey operations. …[read more]
Tentative transfer of T-Birds
The first-year operators of the Soo Thunderbirds of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League have finalized an arrangement to forward control of the not-for-profit franchise, a source with knowledge of the situation has told HockeyNewsNorth.com. …[read more]
Same old story at Lake State
Another Western Collegiate Hockey Association season has ended in disappointment for the Lake Superior State Lakers. …[read more]
Eagles, EL in prelim round
Soo Eagles will have the advantage of the home ice of Pullar Stadium for Game 1 of their best-of-three preliminary-round playoff series with the Elliot Lake Wildcats. …[read more]
First W for northern kid
Northern Ontario product Cameron Lamour has his first win as an Ontario Hockey League goaltender — and against his hometown team no less. …[read more]
Poised for playoffs in Flint
Flint Firebirds are at the door waiting to punch their ticket into the Ontario Hockey League playoffs that begin in about three weeks. …[read more]
Pay minimum wage but…
So, there are those who think players in the Ontario Hockey League should be paid minimum wage for their services. …[read more]
NOJHL on the March
A grueling 56-game regular season will soon come to an end in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League before the Ides of March usher in the playoff rounds. …[read more]
North side to Saginaw
A solid case can be made that the future of the Saginaw Spirit is somewhat attached to the hockey rinks of northern Ontario. …[read more]
Hounds win, fans whine
They are winning. They are a contender. They are an Ontario Hockey League overachiever, these Soo Greyhounds. …[read more]
Bronson Kovacs, MVP
Sault Ste. Marie native Bronson Kovacs has been named most valuable player for the first round of the playoffs in the Hungarian Ice Hockey Federation’s MOL Liga. …[read more]
NB caps series with Kap
Now that was close. It’s on to the Great North Midget Hockey League championship series for the North Bay Trappers. …[read more]
T-Birds face uncertainty
The beat goes on for the Soo Thunderbirds of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League. Well, at least for this season anyway. …[read more]
French River gets Strong
As they begin to plan ahead to next season the French River Rapids of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League have added Kenny Strong to their coaching staff. …[read more]
Colella a bargain for Flint
Among the many impact trades made by general manager George Burnett that have elevated the Flint Firebirds into a solid Ontario Hockey League team this season, the low-key acquisition of left winger Maurizio Colella has paid nice dividends. …[read more]
Soo midgets eliminated
Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves have advanced to the Great North Midget Hockey League finals by virtue of a 4-0 blanking of the Soo Greyhounds this afternoon. …[read more]
Great North semis continue
Nothing has been resolved as of yet in the two Great North Midget Hockey League semi-final series that are going on. …[read more]
Soo midgets need wins
There is no way to sugar coat this. It’s either win two games — beginning tonight — or it’s season over for the Soo Greyhounds of the Great North Midget Hockey League. …[read more]
Change in French River
First-year operator Jessy Landry is stepping down as president of the French River Rapids of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League. …[read more]
Birds win on the Rhodes
Whether it’s playing in front of 4,800 empty seats at the Essar Centre or about 100-plus followers at cozy John Rhodes Community Centre, the wins keep adding up for the Soo Thunderbirds. …[read more]
Troops, 67’s in war zone
North Bay Battalion and Ottawa 67’s are in a tie for the eighth-and-final playoff in the Eastern Conference with the Ontario Hockey League regular-season slate in the stretch run. …[read more]
Kap has North Bay at home
Kapuskasing Flyers have seized home-ice advantage in their Great North Midget Hockey League playoff with North Bay but it would be foolish to sell the Trappers short. …[read more]
Nice chat with Wolves VP
He is the man who oversees hockey operations as vice president of the Sudbury Wolves and Rob Papineau has definitive plans in place as the franchise moves forward under first-year owner Dario Zulich. …[read more]
Soo, Flint personify parity
The second-place and seventh-seeded teams in the Western Conference help define the parity that exists within the Ontario Hockey League. …[read more]
Division 1 potential?
The kid can play. To be sure, there is an attractive offer on the table for Jake Palmerio to attend school in Michigan and play at the Division 3, National Collegiate Athletic Association level beginning next season. …[read more]
Kap keeps up with NB
Veteran-laden Kapuskasing Flyers were primed to give the pennant-winning North Bay Trappers all they could handle in their Great North Midget Hockey League semi-final playoff series — and through two games they have done just that. …[read more]
30 wins for Blind River!
This is a definite good news story. Blind River Beavers have established a new franchise record for most wins during the regular season. …[read more]
Late-round Storm brewing
Guelph Storm rookie defenseman Nolan Makkonen is proof that the Ontario Hockey League draft can be a difficult yet rewarding science. …[read more]
OHL scouts eye Great North
Scouts from a number of Ontario Hockey League teams have casually confirmed they will have a presence in North Bay and Sudbury this weekend as the Great North Midget Hockey League begins semi-final playoff action. …[read more]
OHL coach to crown prosecutor
If the name of the crown prosecutor who won a conviction in the much-publicized Calgary murder trial of Douglas Garland rings a bell to Ontario Hockey League followers it’s because Shane Parker is a former coach. …[read more]
Solo act in Elliot Lake
Corey James Bricknell stands as a solitary soul as the coach and general manager of the Elliot Lake Wildcats of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League. …[read more]
Great North second round
Top-seeded North Bay Trappers will return to the ice following an opening-round playoff bye in one of two Great North Midget Hockey League semi-final series slated to start this weekend. …[read more]
Flip a coin in Flint
They do not have a clear-cut no. 1 goalie yet the Flint Firebirds have managed to move five games above the .500 mark and in firm possession of a playoff spot in the Western Conference of the Ontario Hockey League. …[read more]
Wolves on Eastern edge
Their record remains below the .500 mark and they are teetering on the edge of a playoff spot yet the Sudbury Wolves are not far from fourth place in the Eastern Conference of the Ontario Hockey League. …[read more]
Is Scott going to scoot?
Long-time Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League board member Scott Marshall is contemplating stepping down from his position as president of the Timmins Rock. …[read more]
Who is this masked man?
This has become the story of the civilized hockey world. Sophomore goaltender Atte Tolvanen made a career-high 48 saves and tied a Division 1, National Collegiate Athletic Association record with his fifth straight shutout as the surging Northern Michigan Wildcats moved into possession of a Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoff spot. …[read more]
Lambert an Olympique torch
In tandem with new head coach Eric Landry and as the recently-hired associate coach of the Gatineau Olympiques, it has been a winning return to the major junior ranks for Denny Lambert through four games. …[read more]
NB Trappers a balanced act
Six teams in the Great North Midget Hockey League begin opening-round playoff action this weekend while the North Bay Trappers have a bye as a result of their first-place finish during the regular season. …[read more]
So far so good for Lambert
As the new associate coach of the Gatineau Olympiques, it has been a triumphant return to the major junior ranks for Denny Lambert thus far. …[read more]
Soo Eagles to UW-River Falls
1997 birth-year forward Bradley Hofelich will move on from the Soo Eagles of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League to play for an elite, powerhouse, Division 3 National Collegiate Athletic Association program. …[read more]
Beavers nearing milestone
Blind River Beavers of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League are closing in on establishing a franchise record for regular-season victories. …[read more]
Owen in Erie: 8-0, 2-2
Transplanted defenseman Owen Headrick has yet to experience defeat since relocating to the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League from the Lake Superior State Lakers of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. …[read more]
Gotta love the $2 beers
If I didn’t reside 300 miles from Flint I would be watching the Firebirds play host to the London Knights tonight and firing back a few $2 beers. …[read more]