All posts by Randy Russon
Good look ahead for Greyhounds
They were the only lower-seeded team to win a first-round playoff series and while their run came to an abrupt halt in the second phase of the Ontario Hockey League post-season, the 2015-2016 campaign can be deemed a definite success for the Soo Greyhounds. …[read more]
Puck drops on NOJHL title series
The two remaining teams in the quest for the 2015-2016 Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League championship are set to begin a best-of-seven series with Games 1 and 2 at the Essar Centre in Sault Ste. Marie. …[read more]
Saginaw Spirit coach search
Veteran Ontario Hockey League assistant coach David Bell is among the front-runners to become the new head coach of the Saginaw Spirit, multiple sources are telling HockeyNewsNorth.com. …[read more]
Big changes for Rayside-Balfour
New owner Adrian Gedye has brought sweeping changes to the Rayside-Balfour Canadians that includes the return of time-tested, title-winning coaches to the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League. …[read more]
Minor hockey debacle in S.S. Marie
There is a toxic element that is having a chaotic and disruptive effect on minor hockey in Sault Ste. Marie. And in this case, the Soo Pee Wee Hockey League stands accused as the alleged culprit. …[read more]
New coach for Blind River Beavers
Kyle Brick will be leaving his position as an assistant coach with the Soo Thunderbirds of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League to become head coach of the West Division rival Blind River Beavers. …[read more]
Hounds keeping Otters close
Soo Greyhounds have shown they can play with the Erie Otters for 60 minutes. And on Monday night at the Essar Centre, the Greyhounds needed a last-minute goal to defeat the visiting Otters 3-2 in Game 3 of their Ontario Hockey League playoff series. …[read more]
T-Birds to play on for a while
Regardless of whether they win the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League playoff championship, Soo Thunderbirds will still be playing once their best-of-seven series with the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners is over. …[read more]
OHL Draft Notebook
A few notes and anecdotes pertaining to the annual Ontario Hockey League priority selections draft: …[read more]
New low for Sault at OHL draft
Only two players from Sault Ste. Marie were selected at Saturday’s Ontario Hockey League draft — which is the lowest total in more than 40 years. …[read more]
Rick Kowalsky, coach-of-the-year
Rick Kowalsky, who captained the Soo Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League to the 1993 Memorial Cup championship as an energetic, inspirational right winger, has been named American Hockey League coach-of-the-year for the 2015-2016 season. …[read more]
Erie almost had Owen Headrick
Top-seeded Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League came very close to persuading Owen Headrick to leave the Lake Superior State Lakers of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association during the 2015-2016 season but the freshman defenseman decided to remain in school, HockeyNewsNorth.com has confirmed. …[read more]
Soo kids up for OHL draft
The annual Ontario Hockey League draft will be held via the internet this Saturday and two Sault Ste. Marie skaters appear poised to be picked as mid-to-late-round selections. …[read more]
Trent Mallette a good overage bet
His coach calls him a character kid and consummate team guy who plays with a lot of energy. And that is just some of why Trent Mallette is a good bet to be an over-ager with the Ottawa 67’s next season. …[read more]
Did you see this coming?
The highly improbable has become stark reality. I mean, did you see the Soo Greyhounds stealing Game 7 against the Sarnia Sting? …[read more]
Hounds ready to Rock tonight
Soo Greyhounds have one more shot at completing a first-round Ontario Hockey League playoff upset tonight when they face off against the Sarnia Sting in a slated 7:05 p.m. start. …[read more]
NOJHL final four playoff update
Best-of-seven playoff finals in the West and East Divisions of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League resume this week. …[read more]
Game 7 to settle Soo-Sarnia set
Sarnia Sting stared adversity — and elimination — straight in the eyes on Sunday night in Sault Ste. Marie and stood up to the challenge. …[read more]
Hounds giving Pucci a chance
Three years after he was drafted into the Ontario Hockey League, Frankie Pucci is finally getting a good opportunity to show that he belongs. …[read more]
Tech takes over the T-Birds
As part of a friendly takeover, The Tech 1921 Ltd. will assume official command of the Soo Thunderbirds effective the end of the 2015-2016 Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League season. …[read more]
It’s Crunch time again
Cochrane Crunch continues its quest of trying to make it to the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League championship series for the second time in its two-year history when it takes on the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners in the East Division finals. …[read more]
Hounds in the driver’s seat
It was playoff hockey at its most exciting, complete with the drama of more than 27 minutes of overtime. …[read more]
Soo Eagles working towards ’16-17
Their 2015-2016 season over after being swept by the Soo Thunderbirds in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League’s West Division playoffs, Soo Eagles co-coach/general manager Bruno Bragagnolo has started building towards the 2016-2017 campaign. …[read more]
Which Hounds will show up?
Soo Greyhounds may have a 2-1 series lead but it’s the visiting Sarnia Sting that has the momentum heading into Game 4 tonight at the Essar Centre. …[read more]
Crunch these playoff numbers
Cochrane Crunch scored a bunch in its playoff sweep of the Timmins Rock and now the small-market Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League team will face the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners in the East Division finals. …[read more]
Habs brass at Hounds game
A trio of Soo Greyhounds wingers rated for selection at the 2016 National Hockey League draft did not put their best feet forward in front of a gathering of scouts on Wednesday. …[read more]
Change at the top for Soo T-Birds
As was first reported by HockeyNewsNorth.com on Saturday, a change in operation awaits the Soo Thunderbirds of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League. …[read more]
Puck luck and hockey gods
Puck luck has reportedly been a factor through the first three games of the Ontario Hockey League playoff series between the Niagara IceDogs and Ottawa 67’s. …[read more]
What is going on here?
Can the improbable become reality? Can the underdog Soo Greyhounds add to their two games to none lead and really eliminate the high-powered Sarnia Sting in the first round of the best-of-seven Ontario Hockey League playoff series? …[read more]
Off-ice change awaits Soo T-Birds
On the ice, the reigning Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League champion Soo Thunderbirds are in pursuit of repeat glory while off the ice, they await a poised change in operation. …[read more]
Birds send Eagles packing
A huge crowd at Pullar Stadium in the Michigan Soo watched the exit of the Soo Eagles for the 2015-2016 season. …[read more]
Beavers have had NOJHL success
There are numerous blueprints for the Blind River Beavers to copy and study as the franchise strives to return to a level of competitiveness in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League. …[read more]
Spirit rises to face Erie
An all-American, Ontario Hockey League showdown begins tonight when the eighth-place Saginaw Spirit takes on the top-seeded Erie Otters in Game 1 of a best-of-seven Western Conference playoff series. …[read more]
Soo scribes side with Sarnia Sting
Three seasoned Sault Ste. Marie sportswriters — myself included — aren’t giving the underdog Soo Greyhounds much of a chance in their first-round, best-of-seven, Ontario Hockey League playoff series versus the Sarnia Sting. …[read more]
Eagles perched on the edge
Soo Eagles managed to hold the Soo Thunderbirds to a single goal on Wednesday but the end result was a third straight playoff loss for the Michiganders. …[read more]
Pucci has 1st skate with Hounds
Sault Ste. Marie native Frankie Pucci has begun practicing with the Soo Greyhounds but it remains to be seen when he will suit up for his hometown Ontario Hockey League team. …[read more]
Latest on the Jr. Greyhounds
Six coaches have been appointed by Sault Minor Hockey to assume bench boss duties with the Soo Jr. Greyhounds rep program for the 2016-2017 season. …[read more]
Coaching change in Blind River
Blind River Beavers of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League are looking for a new coach and general manager, HockeyNewsNorth.com has confirmed. …[read more]
T-Birds up two on Eagles
Soo Thunderbirds have taken a commanding two games to none lead on the Soo Eagles in what so far has been a one-sided Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League West Division semi-final playoff series. …[read more]
67’s seek return to playoff glory
Ottawa 67’s will be out to win an Ontario Hockey League playoff series for the first time since the first round of the 2011-2012 campaign when they take on the Niagara Ice Dogs in an Eastern Conference set that begins this week. …[read more]
OHL playoff matchups are set
Playoffs in the Ontario Hockey League get underway this week with 16 teams beginning a quest that will lead one of them to the May 19-29 Memorial Cup tournament in Red Deer, Alberta. …[read more]
Sidebars to Kingston-Oshawa series
It will be no ordinary playoff series when the Kingston Frontenacs take on the Oshawa Generals in a first-round, best-of-seven, Ontario Hockey League Eastern Conference set. …[read more]
Old Hound back in town
The erstwhile overage goalie who backstopped the Soo Greyhounds to their first-ever Ontario Hockey League playoff berth was back in town this weekend. …[read more]
T-Birds take it to Eagles
Soo Thunderbirds made it look quick and easy with a resounding 9-3 win over the visiting Soo Eagles in the opener of their Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League playoff set on Saturday night. …[read more]
OHL playoffs: Soo versus Sarnia
Soo Greyhounds will be the decided underdog in their first-round, best-of-seven, Ontario Hockey League playoff series versus the Sarnia Sting. …[read more]
Eagles “looking forward” to series
Soo Eagles finished 49 points behind the Soo Thunderbirds and lost 10 of 12 games to the regular-season champs but the two teams start even as their best-of-seven Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League playoff series begins tonight at 7:30 at the Essar Centre. …[read more]
Ottawa 67’s have a high-low profile
It is a time-honoured Ontario Hockey League franchise with an iconic logo that is highly visible yet the Ottawa 67’s remain somewhat concealed in the nation’s capital. …[read more]
NOJHL playoff perspectives
Eight teams — seven of which finished the regular season with winning records well above the .500 mark — are in position to win the 2015-2016 Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League playoff championship. …[read more]