All posts by Randy Russon
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]
Writer’s selection: Hot and not
Who’s hot and who’s not as we peruse the Ontario Hockey League, the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League and the Central Canada Hockey League: …[read more]
Ashton Calder clicks hat trick
Michigan Soo native and Lake Superior State Lakers recruit Ashton Calder is off to a sparkling start with the Surrey Eagles of the British Columbia Hockey League. …[read more]
Twin Soo NOJHL weekend set
Soo Thunderbirds and Soo Eagles will face off twice this weekend as the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League’s border battle resumes on two fronts. …[read more]
Rugged OHL road trip for 67’s
Ottawa 67’s will put more than 1,100 miles on the old bus by the time they play three road games in less 48 hours this weekend. …[read more]
Wheeling and dealing in Flint
Busy on the Ontario Hockey League trade front this week, Flint Firebirds made three transactions in all as general manager George Burnett did deals with the Hamilton Bulldogs, London Knights and Oshawa Generals. …[read more]
Lake State season set to start
Led by third-year head coach Damon Whitten, the Lake Superior State Lakers of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association will begin the 2016-2017 season on Sunday when they play host to the Laurentian Voyageurs of Canadian Interuniversity Sport in an exhibition match. …[read more]
Inside the Will Bitten trade
At first blush and considering the returns gained for impact players in several other Ontario Hockey League trades over the past few years, Flint Firebirds should have received more for holdout centre Will Bitten than they did from the Hamilton Bulldogs. …[read more]
This is a big OHL deal
Flint Firebirds have dealt holdout centre Will Bitten to the Hamilton Bulldogs in exchange for two players and two draft picks. …[read more]
Nice start for Flint Firebirds
Three games represent a mere fraction of a 68-game regular season. But two wins in three games adds up to a good start for the Flint Firebirds of the Ontario Hockey League. …[read more]
Tassone has high-level ability
If I am Lake Superior State Lakers head coach Damon Whitten or Northern Michigan Wildcats head coach Walt Kyle I am taking in a Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League game with the expressed purpose of making a future Division 1, Western Collegiate Hockey Association commitment to Soo Thunderbirds forward Mark Tassone. …[read more]
NOJHL West is slightly best
Through three weeks of the 2016-2017 season, parity is evident within the 12-team Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League, more so in the West Division. …[read more]
Forrest fends off the Attack
A first-team all-star goalie in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League in 2015-2016, Garrett Forrest has had a dream-come-true start to his Ontario Hockey League career. …[read more]
CCHL path to higher ranks
It is a tidy 12-team junior loop centrally located in the Ottawa region and the Ontario-based Central Canada Hockey League has forged a top-shelf reputation for developing and advancing its players. …[read more]
Up north in the OHL
All three northern teams — Soo Greyhounds, Sudbury Wolves and North Bay Battalion — begin their 2016-2017 Ontario Hockey League regular-season schedule on home ice tonight. …[read more]
A night of firsts in Flint
First game with a new general manager. First game with a new head coach. First goal for the new first-round pick on his first shift in his first Ontario Hockey League game. First shutout for the second-year OHL goalie. …[read more]
Writer’s selection: OHL optics
A writer’s selection of observations and opinions as they pertain to the upcoming 2016-2017 Ontario Hockey League season. …[read more]
NOJHL notes, quotes
Here and there in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League as the 2016-2017 regular season heads into its third week: …[read more]
NOJHL gaining in stature
The proof is in the pudding. Those from the outside are taking note. The Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League is gaining in reputation. …[read more]
Boys are back in Houndtown
It is not an ordinary, usual Friday-Saturday doubleheader at home for the Soo Greyhounds. No, it is a lot more than that. …[read more]
Ottawa 67’s a work in progress
A general consensus among varying factions connected to the Ontario Hockey League suggests that the Mississauga Steelheads will be the team to beat in the Eastern Conference this season. …[read more]
Soo Eagles sign Nick Trecroce
Make that a fourth player from the Canadian side of the St. Mary’s River to join the Michigan-based Soo Eagles of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League. …[read more]
Soo midgets have good history
What’s in a name change? Not much, really. For years, they were known as Soo Legion and for more many more years, they were the Soo North Stars. …[read more]
General Jones of Oshawa
He is still young at age 46 yet he has spent almost half of his life behind the bench as a coach in the Ontario Hockey League. …[read more]
Onward and upward in Flint
Okay, so the first season in Flint did not go all that well for the Firebirds, the transplanted version of the Plymouth Whalers. …[read more]
Hound midgets sweep Kap
It wasn’t easy but Soo Greyhounds used the home ice of John Rhodes Community Centre to take three straight games from the Kapuskasing Flyers on the weekend to open the 2016-2017 Great North Midget Hockey League season. …[read more]
NOJHL season-opening acts
Soo Thunderbirds are in familiar territory and Blind River Beavers are in an unfamiliar spot following opening weekend action in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League. …[read more]
Miller time for Soo Greyhounds
Overage centre David Miller is returning to the Soo Greyhounds after being acquired off Ontario Hockey League waivers from the Kitchener Rangers. …[read more]
Firebirds deal holdout goalie
Flint Firebirds of the Ontario Hockey League have granted the trade request of Kyle Keyser and shipped the 1999 birth-year goalie to the Oshawa Generals. …[read more]
Doug Gilmour’s son in NOJHL
Tyson Gilmour, who is a son to retired National Hockey League legend Dougie Gilmour, will play in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League this season. …[read more]
Soo Eagles sign slick defender
Michigan-based Soo Eagles of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League have reached across the border to sign Canadian-born defenseman Nolan Makkonen, HockeyNewsNorth.com has confirmed. …[read more]
New gig for Jerry Lortie
Having served a lengthy apprenticeship as an assistant coach with the Soo Thunder, Jerry Lortie is taking over as head coach of the major bantam, Northern Ontario Hockey League team. …[read more]
Hound midgets open at home
Newly-named Soo Greyhounds — formerly the Soo Major Thunderbirds and known for years prior as the Soo North Stars — will begin the 2016-2017 Great North Midget Hockey League regular season this weekend with three home games. …[read more]
NOJHL through these eyes
East and West, 12 teams in two divisions, first pucks of the 2016-2017 regular season will drop this week on the ever-improving Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League. …[read more]
Forrest in Flint via Powassan
He has made the jump from the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League to the Ontario Hockey League — and as a 19-year old rookie, no less — but goalie Garrett Forrest is going to have to wait a few weeks before getting back into the net. …[read more]
Max is back in Blind River
A prize piece of the puzzle has been returned to Blind River as the new-look Beavers have signed a top centre for the 2016-2017 Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League season. …[read more]
Pesky Pilons sign with Sudbury
Twin brothers Darian Pilon and Drake Pilon of Sault Ste. Marie have signed with the Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario Hockey League, HockeyNewsNorth.com has learned. …[read more]
Here are the LSSU Lakers
As the Lake Superior State University Lakers prep for their third season under the watch of head coach Damon Whitten, the Division 1, Western Collegiate Hockey Association team will go with a 26-player roster. …[read more]
Forrest is a Firebird
1997 birth-year goalie Garrett Forrest, who starred with the Powassan Voodoos of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League last season, has signed with the Flint Firebirds of the Ontario Hockey League. …[read more]