All posts by Randy Russon
67’s add scorer from Spirit
Ottawa 67’s have acquired former Saginaw Spirit first-rounder Tye Felhaber in an Ontario Hockey League trade involving the 1998 birth-year forward and a total of seven draft picks. …[read more]
Who are the best 16-year olds?
The recent World Under-17 Hockey Challenge offered a glimpse at the best 2000 birth-year players on the planet including 24 who are rookies in the Ontario Hockey League. …[read more]
Around the NOJHL
Here ‘n there in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League as we head into the second week of November. …[read more]
WU17 Notebook
On the competition and overall skill level, the 2016 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge more than met the lofty expectations that were set for it. …[read more]
Hanging out with Bob McKenzie
He is known as the definitive authority on breaking news and analysis from every corner of the hockey world. And to me, he’s still the same modest, down-to-earth, fun-loving guy who I first met more than 35 years ago when we hung out together while working in the Sault Ste. Marie sports media. …[read more]
Goalies who need to be better
They are in their third full year in the Ontario Hockey League and as no. 1 goalies they need to be better than they have been thus far this season. …[read more]
Crunch time in Moose Factory
Moose Factory and the adjacent community of Moosonee will benefit from the presence of the Cochrane Crunch of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League for three days next week. …[read more]
Big points for Flint defender
Overage defenseman Mathieu Henderson has played a main role in the early-season showing of the Flint Firebirds. …[read more]
Kingston via Canisius College
Kingston Frontenacs of the Ontario Hockey League have obtained the rights to 1997 birth-year forward Josh Supryka from the Hamilton Bulldogs. …[read more]
My old friend Joe Drago
Besides getting to watch the best under-17 hockey players in the world at the challenge series that is going on in Sault Ste. Marie, the tournament serves as an opportunity to meet up with friends and acquaintances in the game. …[read more]
Bronson Kovacs is world class
HockeyNewsNorth.com has learned that Sault Ste. Marie native Bronson Kovacs will be part of the Hungarian national team that will face off against opponents from Italy, Denmark, Poland, Austria and Korea in a Euro Ice Hockey Challenge tournament to will be held over a five-day span beginning later this week. …[read more]
Saginaw has net worth
Saginaw Spirit may be languishing in the cellar of the Western Conference but mid Michigan’s Ontario Hockey League team has a valuable trade chip in its possession in the person of goalie Evan Cormier. …[read more]
Eagles getting it together
Soo Eagles have reeled off three wins in succession and are starting to look more like the team that was originally cast as a contender for the 2016-2017 Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League season. …[read more]
67’s seek home remedy
Having shown they can win on the road, the Ottawa 67’s will be out to utilize home-ice advantage for the first time this season with games tonight and Sunday afternoon at TD Place. …[read more]
Unbeaten Lakers home for pair
Riding the crest of four successive triumphs to begin the 2016-2017 season, the high-scoring Lake Superior State Lakers are home to the Alaska Nanooks tonight and Saturday evening at Taffy Abel Arena. …[read more]
More ticks if Flint PP clicks
As the well-coached Flint Firebirds continue to be a feel-good story in the early going of the 2016-2017 season one wonders how much better they could be if their power play starts to click. …[read more]
Hot and not in the O
Some are hot. Some are not. Here are some of both as we ramble around the Ontario Hockey League. …[read more]
Hounds in pursuit of Trappers
Soo Greyhounds have an impressive 9-2-0 record thus far this Great North Midget Hockey League season but they still trail the pace-setting North Bay Trappers. …[read more]
New coach hops the Express
Espanola Express of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League has added more experience to its coaching staff in the person of Dennis Martindale. …[read more]
Rayside to Peterborough
Iroquois Falls product Chad Denault, a 2000 birth-year right winger, has signed with the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League. …[read more]
French River to Halifax
Caleb Rich is moving up from the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League to the Quebec Major Jr. Hockey League, HockeyNewsNorth.com has confirmed. …[read more]
Flint gives a hint
It was my first opportunity of the 2016-2017 season to watch the Flint Firebirds live and the upstart Ontario Hockey League team lived up to well-followed expectations. …[read more]
Wolves of resurgence
They lost 100 games over the past two Ontario Hockey League seasons, finishing 20th and 19th overall in missing the Eastern Conference playoffs by a wide margin both times. …[read more]
Eagles look to Pullar together
Affected by a recent rash of injuries and having been hindered by sub-par goaltending for most of the season, Soo Eagles return to the friendly confines of Pullar Stadium for a pair of Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League home games this weekend. …[read more]
Hounds out to halt home hex
Unbeaten in six road tilts this season, Soo Greyhounds will try to transfer that success to home ice with three games at the Essar Centre this week. …[read more]
Hounds get picks for Mercier
Soo Greyhounds have extracted a pretty-good return for overage defenseman Medric Mercier in getting a pair of draft picks from the Oshawa Generals. …[read more]
Owen Headrick is second star
Another day, another recognition for Lake Superior State Lakers highly-skilled sophomore defenseman Owen Headrick. …[read more]
What’s wrong with the Eagles?
This is a team that has a lot of Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League watchers puzzled. With a record of 4-11-2, the Soo Eagles have the second-worst winning percentage in the 12-team NOJHL. …[read more]
The Maple Leafs fan in me
Let me begin by duly noting that I am not one who one would call a big National Hockey League fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs. …[read more]
Lakers are lighting it up
The lowest-scoring team among the 10 Western Collegiate Hockey Association members in 2015-2016, Lake Superior State Lakers are lighting the lamp in a big way to begin the 2016-2017 season. …[read more]
Wolves face hi-test Hamilton
Surging Sudbury Wolves will put their 4-2-1 record on the line tonight when they play host to the high-scoring Hamilton Bulldogs. …[read more]
NOJHL attendance figures
Through the first month or so of the 2016-2017 season, Soo Eagles lead the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League in attendance and the Timmins Rock is not far behind. …[read more]
Team Canada X 3 in the Soo
Rosters for the three Canadian squads — Team Canada Black, Team Canada Red and Team Canada White — that will represent the nation at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Sault Ste. Marie have been finalized. …[read more]
Timpano has an Erie feeling
So far so good for 1997 birth-year goalie Troy Timpano, who was acquired by the Erie Otters in an off-season Ontario Hockey League trade with the Sudbury Wolves. …[read more]
Michigan State v. Lake State
Lake Superior State Lakers will take to the ice of Taffy Abel Arena on Friday and Saturday nights for a pair of season-opening, non-conference matches with the visiting Michigan State Spartans. …[read more]
Moore is more in OHL
There is an unlikely leader atop the Ontario Hockey League scoring chart in the person of Flint Firebirds forward Ryan Moore. …[read more]
Hound midgets hot to trot
Having won eight of nine games to begin the 2016-2017 season, Soo Greyhounds are in a dog fight with the North Bay Trappers for first place in the Great North Midget Hockey League. …[read more]
Windsor wins with Culina
Free-agent goalie Mario Culina continues to provide net worth for the Windsor Spitfires in his second season in the Ontario Hockey League. …[read more]
Zack is getting on track
It wasn’t from lack of effort or desire that Zack Dorval struggled his first two seasons after the Kingston Frontenacs selected the hard-toiling center-left winger in the second round of the 2014 Ontario Hockey League draft. …[read more]
NOJHL gives thanks to scouts
The Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League has put its hand in its pocket to try to ensure that its showcase tournament is well-attended by scouts and recruiters. …[read more]
Flint’s twine-tending tandem
Three was a crowd ergo two is company and Flint Firebirds of the Ontario Hockey League have opted to go with erstwhile Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League standout Garrett Forrest and Connor Hicks as their goalies. …[read more]
Twin torches of the Wolves
Free agent rookie forwards from the Soo Thunderbirds of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League, twin brothers Darian Pilon and Drake Pilon have brought a fiery passion to the Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario Hockey League. …[read more]
67’s add to kid corps blueline
Already featuring the youngest set of defensemen in the entire Ontario Hockey League, the Ottawa 67’s have added 1999 birth-year defender Kyle Auger from the Barrie Colts. …[read more]
First for the Flint Firebirds
1997 birth-year defenseman Jalen Smereck has become the first player from the second-year Flint Firebirds to sign a National Hockey League contract. …[read more]
Giving thanks to David Branch
It has been decades since David Branch first began his crusade to make the junior game safer by cracking down on fighting and checks to the head — and the Ontario Hockey League commissioner is slowly but surely winning the war on violence. …[read more]
Wolves, Knights swap forwards
Sudbury Wolves and London Knights have completed an Ontario Hockey League trade involving a pair of veteran forwards. …[read more]
Flint is early surprise in OHL
Buoyed by the recent return of three players from National Hockey League training camps and boasting the top two scorers in the Ontario Hockey League, the upstart Flint Firebirds, with a record of 4-1, have been an early-season surprise. …[read more]
Contenders aplenty in NOJHL
Of the 12 teams that make up the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League, no less than eight of them have winning records as of this writing — and two others are not far off the mark. …[read more]