All posts by Randy Russon
Irish and Hawks on Halloween
Tricks, treats and the Detroit Fighting Irish and Motor City Hawks — not once, not twice, but three times. …[read more]
And the NOJHL’s best team is…?
As the schedule turns towards November a case might be made for any of the six teams that are among the best in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League. …[read more]
EL Wildcats, community recognition
In their second season of existence, the Elliot Lake Wildcats of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League continue to be a success on the ice and within the community. …[read more]
Around the rinks
Good day hockey fans, I am back from a three-day, mini-vacation to Detroit, home of my favourite (though I am not sure why) National Football League team. Time now to head out on a trip of a different sort and pay a visit to the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League, the Ontario Hockey League, the Greater Metro Hockey League, the Great North Midget Hockey League, the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, the North American Hockey League, the North American 3 Hockey League and the U.S. Premier Hockey League. …[read more]
A first for the French River Rapids
It took an overtime goal over a fellow expansion team — and on the road no less — for the French River Rapids to post their first regular-season victory in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League. …[read more]
Rest in peace, John Tavella
Left winger John Tavella played only one season in the Ontario Hockey League — but what a season it was. …[read more]
Current state of the NOJHL
To be sure, the 12-team Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League has a lot going for it as it moves into the second quarter of the 2015-2016 season. …[read more]
Eagles ink former Greyhound pick
Soo Eagles of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League have signed free-agent left winger Gordie Helmuth, who was a 10th-round pick of the Soo Greyhounds at the 2012 Ontario Hockey League draft. …[read more]
Crunch adds seasoned skaters
Cochrane Crunch, already a Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League contender with a record of 12-3, has added a pair of veteran forwards from elsewhere in the Canadian Jr. Hockey League. …[read more]
Charly Murray is back scouting
An old bird dog has returned to the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League scouting scene. …[read more]
Espanola v. French River tonight
Two Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League expansion teams will face off tonight. …[read more]
MC Hawks seek net upgrade
Motor City Hawks of the U.S. Premier Hockey League’s Midwest Division are working out a number of goaltenders as they seek to improve their defensive showing. …[read more]
Aidan has the Wright approach
They have posted their first victory of the season as they prep for two more games this week. …[read more]
Rayside looking to make right turn
Rayside-Balfour Canadians are a much-better team than the .500 record they currently sport. …[read more]
Which is the NOJHL’s best team?
More than five weeks into the 2015-2016 season, six of the 12 teams in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League have records well above the .500 mark. …[read more]
A night of firsts for Lake State
Freshman defenceman Owen Headrick scored his first goal, freshman goalie Nick Kossoff posted a shutout in his first collegiate start and the Lake Superior State University Lakers won their first game of the 2015-2016 season. …[read more]
Express moves ahead with additions
Espanola Express has added a pair of forwards as the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League expansion team moves forward. …[read more]
NOJHL attendance chart
Five weeks into the 2015-2016 season and the expansion Soo Eagles lead the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League in average per-game attendance. …[read more]
Lakers are a program in progress
As they forge into formation with a 30-player roster that includes 11 freshmen, the Lake Superior State University Lakers continue a project in progress with a home-and-home set versus the Northern Michigan University Wildcats. …[read more]
Voodoo magic is no. 1
A franchise in only its second year of existence, the small-town Powassan Voodoos are a national sensation early this 2015-2016 season. …[read more]
No excuses, says Soo Eagles coach
They are an expansion team that has played four of its first 10 games against the powerful Soo Thunderbirds but Soo Eagles coach-general manager Bruno Bragagnolo does not want to make — or hear — any excuses. …[read more]
Bad refereeing, in my opinion
Under the close watch of commissioner Rob Mazzuca, referees who work games in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League are held to high standards and are more accountable than ever before. …[read more]
Pink in the Rink at the Pullar
Soo Eagles of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League will support breast cancer research with “Pink in the Rink” home games tonight and Saturday evening at Pullar Stadium. …[read more]
High-scoring Hepler back in EL
Elliot Lake Wildcats have welcomed the return of a high-scoring forward in time for tonight’s Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League game against the visiting Soo Thunderbirds. …[read more]
French River seeks first win
They have been close more than once but the French River Rapids are still seeking their first win as a Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League expansion team. …[read more]
RBC halts five-game slide
Veteran forward Ryan Erickson scored once and assisted on four others and MacKenzie Savard stopped 28 shots as the Rayside-Balfour Canadians ended a five-game losing skid on Wednesday. …[read more]
Laker coach high on defensive duo
A pair of homegrown defencemen from the Sault Ste. Marie area are part of the present and the future for the Lake Superior State University Lakers of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. …[read more]
Old Hound leads pack of Coyotes
Jim Aldred can’t get enough of the game that he says is in his veins.
The 52-year old Aldred, a former prime-time grinder with the Soo Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League, has turned to coaching in recent years. …[read more]
This looks good on the NOJHL
It may only be a ranking that is conducted weekly by the Canadian Jr. Hockey League as a means of promotion. …[read more]
New to the Espanola Express
Four defencemen have recently joined the Espanola Express of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League, HockeyNewsNorth.com has confirmed. …[read more]
Birds show bad side in latest win
Let’s begin by stating that the Soo Thunderbirds were easily the better team in scoring a 4-0 win over the shorthanded Soo Eagles on Saturday. …[read more]
Wildcats waiting in the woods
There are four teams ahead of them in the overall standings but the Elliot Lake Wildcats are in good position heading into a pair of weekend home games. …[read more]
Here’s to the Alliston Coyotes
Not only are the Alliston Coyotes of the Greater Metro Jr. Hockey League winning games, they are doing so in resounding fashion. …[read more]
Laker coach talks up Headrick
Despite being the youngest player on the 29-man roster of the Lake Superior State University Lakers, 1997 birth-year defenceman Owen Headrick is poised for regular lineup duty with the Western Collegiate Hockey Association team for the 2015-2016 season. …[read more]
Mooney on the mark for Rayside
He is one of the younger players in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League and seven games into the 2015-2016 season, he leads his team and all defencemen in scoring. …[read more]
T-Birds v. Eagles for two more
Make way for two more rounds of the Soo Thunderbirds-Soo Eagles junior hockey border battle. …[read more]
More power to Powassan
Powassan Voodoos are living up to lofty expectations through six games of the 2015-2016 Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League season. …[read more]
Bannister bench boss era begins
Drew Bannister may be a rookie head coach in the Ontario Hockey League but the 41-year old bench boss of the Soo Greyhounds has one thing that none of his players have — a Memorial Cup ring. …[read more]
Mav and Doc were full of Bull
I still remember when the Belleville Bulls entered the Ontario Hockey League as an expansion team in 1981 — and subsequently meeting an iconic pair who would become the colourful faces of the franchise. …[read more]
Hockey-related performance training
Jeff Coccimiglio has initiated a performance training for hockey players using a program that extracts the movement which the players use in a game. …[read more]
Beavers ride Uhl tide
Sault Ste. Marie product Jason Uhl had a three-point night on Wednesday as the Blind River Beavers — who went winless during the 2014-2015 Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League season — skated to their second victory of the 2015-2016 campaign. …[read more]
N.O. Notes: Rapids, Rock seek revenge
Revenge could well be on the collective minds of the French River Rapids and Timmins Rock when they take to home ice in Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League play tonight. …[read more]
I began covering Hounds 40 years ago
The start of another Soo Greyhounds, Ontario Hockey League season has a way of bringing me back in time. …[read more]
NOJHL to QMJHL
Dakotah Woods, a 1998 birth-date defenceman who played with the Elliot Lake Wildcats of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League as a 16-year old in 2014-2015, has signed with the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Jr. Hockey League. …[read more]
Eagles make a point with the Rock
It was fitting that the game should end in a tie given the spirited effort put forth by the lineup-depleted Soo Eagles and the visiting Timmins Rock. …[read more]
Mitchell is the man…Eagles win first
A pair of late third-period goals lifted the unbeaten Soo Thunderbirds to a 4-3, come-from-behind victory over the visiting Timmins Rock in Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League play from Friday. …[read more]
60 years, for Petes sake
Peterborough Petes, a storied Ontario Hockey League franchise that exudes history, will be celebrating their 60th anniversary this 2015-2016 season. …[read more]
Beavers heading across the pond
Blind River Beavers — who already have one more win this season than all of last — will head across the International Bridge to play the Soo Eagles tonight in one of five games on the slate in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League. …[read more]