All posts by Randy Russon
Otters return to the Soo
The team that knocked the heavily-favoured Soo Greyhounds out of the Ontario Hockey League playoffs last spring is back in town. …[read more]
Lakers head Wright into 2nd half
A busy second half to the 2015-2016 Western Collegiate Hockey Association season begins for the Lake Superior State Lakers this weekend with a pair of home games. …[read more]
Express delivers late in Espanola
One game does not a season make but one game could end up defining the season for the Espanola Express. …[read more]
Scouting 9-and-10-year old players
There just could be a future member of the Ontario Hockey League’s Oshawa Generals skating in our midst at Soo Pee Wee Arena. …[read more]
Culina staying with OHL Spitfires
Goalie Mario Culina will remain in the Ontario Hockey League with the Windsor Spitfires and will not be returning to the Soo Thunderbirds of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League, HockeyNewsNorth.com has confirmed. …[read more]
Many NCAA options for NOJHLers
As the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League has developed its share of talent for the Ontario Hockey League and the Quebec Major Jr. Hockey League, many of its players aspire to combine the sport with an education at the National Collegiate Athletic Association level. …[read more]
Soo Pee Wee tournament champs
It produced a warm feeling inside a cold rink, watching two teams of spirited 10-year-old players facing off in a championship game. …[read more]
Time for change in major junior hockey
It may be time to change the old guard that watches over major junior hockey in Canada and encourage the man who has held so much influence and power for so many years to begin the retirement chapter of his life. …[read more]
Tassone continues point production
Soo Thunderbirds continued their mastery of the Soo Eagles on Saturday and rookie forward Mark Tassone continued his scoring run of late. …[read more]
Frontenacs now a formidable force
Already the top team in the Eastern Conference — and one of the more-balanced squads in the Ontario Hockey League — the Kingston Frontenacs have become a formidable force with the recent addition of left winger Michael Dal Colle. …[read more]
Kingston pays price for Dal Colle
In a blockbuster Ontario Hockey League trade finalized earlier today, the Eastern Conference-leading Kingston Frontenacs have acquired 1996 birth-year left winger Michael Dal Colle from the Oshawa Generals. …[read more]
3 wins, 3 shutouts for Laker goalie
Another win, another shutout for freshman goalie Nick Kossoff of the Lake Superior State Lakers. …[read more]
Back on ice in the NOJHL
Christmas season is over, New Year’s Day is less than 48 hours away and the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League is back playing games this weekend. …[read more]
OHL re-opens for business
Play has resumed in the Ontario Hockey League and the trade embargo has been lifted following the Christmas holiday break. …[read more]
Life of a third-string goalie
He is in his third season with the Lake Superior State Lakers and has appeared in just one game in his Western Collegiate Hockey Association career but junior goalie Aaron Davis continues to work hard and be a supportive teammate. …[read more]
Soo midgets at mid-season
Soo Major Thunderbirds of the Great North Midget Hockey League will return to action this weekend within range of the .500 mark. …[read more]
Express aims to deliver in 2016
General manager Chad Clarke sees better days ahead for the expansion Espanola Express of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League. …[read more]
Lakers prepping for 2016 portion
The holiday break will end for the Lake Superior State Lakers early next week as they head to Vermont for a pair of non-conference games as part of the Catamount Cup tournament. …[read more]
I want to wish you a
It’s Christmas Day and I am blessed to again spend it with those who I love most in the world, my closest family members. …[read more]
So-so first half for Soo Eagles
They have the best record of any of the three expansion teams in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League and the coaches of the Soo Eagles are expecting more improvement when play resumes in the 2016 portion of the season. …[read more]
Perlini has plenty of Soo support
He was born in Guildford, England and was drafted into the Ontario Hockey League out of Detroit, Michigan but Brendan Perlini will always have Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. as a home base. …[read more]
Caruso a high-flying T-Bird
In rapid-fire fashion, second-year forward Matt Caruso has taken over the scoring lead for the Soo Thunderbirds of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League. …[read more]
Glory days at Lake Superior State
They are three-time, Division 1, National Collegiate Athletic Association champions and the plan is for the Lake Superior State Lakers to return to the glory days that have eluded them since the mid-1990s. …[read more]
Coach leads Hounds with steady hand
He has a calm, relaxed approach and with his steady, stay-the-course leadership, Drew Bannister just might be the most-effective coach the Soo Greyhounds have had since Craig Hartsburg moved on after the 2007-2008 season. …[read more]
Voodoos to Battalion, with success
Pint-sized forward Steve Harland is beginning to make an impact with the North Bay Battalion as a 19-year old rookie in the Ontario Hockey League. …[read more]
Hernandez vows to be better
His first season in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League has not gone as planned for Jake Hernandez of the Soo Eagles. …[read more]
Mid season in the NOJHL
Thoughts to peruse as the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League approaches the Christmas holiday break: …[read more]
Soo Eagles spread Christmas cheer
Soo Eagles of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League have a good history of being actively involved in the community. …[read more]
Raymond Brice to Michigan Tech
Houghton native Raymond Brice will realize a dream of playing for his hometown Michigan Tech Huskies of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. …[read more]
A scribe’s OHL scribbles
Coaches come and coaches go and one coach who I would like to see return to the Ontario Hockey League is 1993 Memorial Cup champion Ted Nolan. …[read more]
More T-Birds with NCAA potential
They are a top team that continues to serve as a solid base for players moving on to the Division 1, National Collegiate Athletic Association ranks. …[read more]
Jana Headrick has the Varsity Blues
Jana Headrick, a 1998 birth-year defenseman who hails from Garden River First Nation, will be furthering her hockey and academic career next fall at prestigious University of Toronto. …[read more]
Laker math: 4-4-4 = 12
Lake Superior State Lakers head into the holiday break tied for sixth place in the 10-team Western Collegiate Hockey Association with 12 points from a record of 4-4-4. …[read more]
Twin Soo teams take OT tilts
Soo Thunderbirds and Soo Eagles both worked overtime to post Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League wins on Saturday night. …[read more]
Voodoos invade Bird nest
Two of the top teams in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League will face off tonight when the Soo Thunderbirds play host to the Powassan Voodoos in a 7:30 match at the Essar Centre. …[read more]
Point well made for Lakers
Lake Superior State Lakers have moved into a tie for fifth place in the air-tight, 10-team Western Collegiate Hockey Association. …[read more]
OHL Wolves make another trade
Sudbury Wolves have acquired 6-foot-9, 240-pound defenceman Jarett Meyer from the Owen Sound Attack in exchange for fellow defender Trenton Bourque in an Ontario Hockey League trade finalized early this afternoon. …[read more]
Lakers look to extend winning ways
Riding the waves of a three-game winning streak, the Lake Superior State Lakers are home to the Michigan Tech Huskies in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association series slated for tonight and Saturday evening at Taffy Abel Arena. …[read more]
Around the NOJHL
More than one Division 1, National Collegiate Athletic Association coach has been inquiring about more than one player from the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League…More from around the NOJHL. …[read more]
Kudos to the NOJHL commish
Commissioner Robert Mazzuca and the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League are to be commended for taking an initiative to team up with the Canadian Mental Health Association. …[read more]
Keeping up with Bobby Jones
He may not be a high-profile guy but Bobby Jones is building up quite the record for longevity as an Ontario Hockey League coach. …[read more]
Inside the OHL rumour mill
A blockbuster trade in which the Niagara IceDogs acquired goalie Alex Nedeljkovic and defenseman Josh Wesley from the Flint Firebirds in exchange for goalie Brent Moran, three second-round draft picks and two third-round draft picks has fueled the Ontario Hockey League rumour mill. …[read more]
Lakers pass the .500 water-line
They have won their last three outings — including a two-game, weekend road sweep of the Alaska Nanooks — and the Lake Superior State Lakers are showing serious signs of being a very-solid squad under the steady hand of second-year head coach Damon Whitten. …[read more]
Blind River 1, Soo T-Birds 0
Goalie Matt Blattenberger made 64 saves to post the shutout and the Blind River Beavers — in what ranks as the upset of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League season — blanked the visiting Soo Thunderbirds 1-0 on Saturday night. …[read more]
Rayside rolls to another victory
Make that six straight wins and 10 triumphs in their last 11 outings for the rampaging Rayside-Balfour Canadians of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League. …[read more]
2 more points for Owen Headrick
Lake Superior State Lakers blueliner Owen Headrick now leads all Western Collegiate Hockey Association freshmen defensemen in scoring. …[read more]
Mississagi First Nation to Alpena
Well-traveled goalie Danial Lofstrom, whose roots are in Mississagi First Nation, just outside Blind River, Ont., has signed with the Alpena Flyers of the U.S. Premier Hockey League. …[read more]
Lakers Notebook
Tied for seventh in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association — but only one point behind sixth-place Bemidji State and two points back of fifth-place Northern Michigan with two games in hand on both — the Lake Superior State Lakers are in Alaska tonight and Saturday for road games against the Nanooks. …[read more]