All posts by Randy Russon
Crunch time for Ryan Leonard
The 2014-2015 season ended for the Cochrane Crunch a little over two weeks ago with a loss to the Soo Thunderbirds in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League championship series. …[read more]
Eagles poised to return to NOJHL
Pending approval from the various governing bodies, Soo Eagles are set to return to the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League effective the 2015-2016 season. …[read more]
French River makes 10
French River Rapids have been officially approved by the governing Northern Ontario Hockey Association as the 10th member of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League, HockeyNewsNorth.com has confirmed. …[read more]
May the fourth be with them
As the hockey season ends for more and more junior teams, today’s headline is for those who are still playing for a championship in May. …[read more]
221 season tickets in 13 hours
Here’s a sunny Sunday shout out to the great fans of the Iroquois Falls Eskimos. …[read more]
No joy in Houndtown
There is an Erie silence in Houndtown.
For the second successive spring, the Erie Otters have sidelined the Soo Greyhounds from the Ontario Hockey League, Western Conference playoffs. …[read more]
Hustling Hounds hang on
There is joy in Houndtown.
Temporary relief, too. …[read more]
Ex-NHLer to coach new NOJHL team
French River Rapids of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League have landed a highly-respected, well-known name to be their first-ever coach and general manager, HockeyNewsNorth.com has confirmed. …[read more]
Wandering and wondering
Thoughts to peruse on just another hockey day: …[read more]
12 teams for NOJHL?
Pending approval from various factions and governing bodies, the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League will expand to 12 teams for the 2015-2016 season, HockeyNewsNorth.com has learned. …[read more]
Thunderbirds represent Soo well
It was a nice sendoff for a junior A hockey team that has represented Sault Ste. Marie well over the years. …[read more]
KL is 2016 DHC host
As the Superior International Jr. Hockey League is playing host to the 2015 Dudley-Hewitt Cup, Central Canada Championships — they begin on Tuesday in Fort Frances — the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League will be home to the event in 2016. …[read more]
All eyes on Connor McDavid
Wayne Gretzky says Connor McDavid is the best 18-year old hockey player he has seen since Mario Lemieux was that age. …[read more]
Assistance for the Timmins Rock
Timmins Rock of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League will get assistance from three new assistants for the 2015-2016 season. …[read more]
Hounds 6, McDavid 3
The best junior hockey team in Canada met up with the best junior hockey player on the planet.
And if you happen to be an Ontario Hockey League fan of the Soo Greyhounds and an admirer of Erie Otters superstar Connor McDavid, it was a win-win night. …[read more]
Good and bad, we define these terms
Robert Mazzuca and I have had our differences over the years.
He’s a commissioner. I’m a writer. …[read more]
Iroquois Falls Eskimos approved
The Northern Ontario Hockey Association has given formal approval for the Mattawa Blackhawks to relocate and become the Iroquois Falls Eskimos, HockeyNewsNorth.com has confirmed. …[read more]
Beavers elect female president
In the words of legendary singer Tom Jones: She’s a lady.
Blind River Beavers of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League have elected a new president. …[read more]
Up in the OHL north country
Of the 20 teams that comprise the Ontario Hockey League, only three — Soo Greyhounds, North Bay Battalion and Sudbury Wolves — are based in the northern part of the province. …[read more]
Troops and Generals
Quite clear, no doubt, the Oshawa Generals are formidable favourites to fend off the North Bay Battalion in the Ontario Hockey League, Eastern Conference finals. …[read more]
Soo Indians to LSSU Lakers
Homegrown forward Ashton Calder, who played the past two seasons with the major midget Soo Indians, has made a future commitment to skate for the Lake Superior State University Lakers of the Division 1, Western Collegiate Hockey Association. …[read more]
Here’s to Headrick and the T-Birds
For the second time in the past four seasons, Soo Thunderbirds are champions of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League. …[read more]
Troops join Hounds in final four
Four teams remain in the quest for the 2014-2015 Ontario Hockey League championship — and two are from northern Ontario. …[read more]
Chad Catt commits to U-M
Soo Eagles goalie Chad Catt has committed to play for the University of Michigan Wolverines effective the 2015-2016 season, HockeyNewsNorth.com has confirmed. …[read more]
Catt carries Eagles to series sweep
The cool Catt flexed his claws once again.
Backed by the scintillating goaltending of Chad Catt, the Soo Eagles upended the visiting Keystone Ice Miners 3-1 on Friday to sweep the first-round, best-of-five, North American Hockey League, North Division playoff series. …[read more]
Eagles can put Keystone on ice
Soo Eagles can move on to the second round of the North American Hockey League playoffs with a win at home tonight. …[read more]
Cochrane can take command
Playing at home, Cochrane Crunch is in position to seize control of its Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League championship series with the Soo Thunderbirds. …[read more]
Soo-Erie series starts next week
Soo Greyhounds and Erie Otters are both on spring break. …[read more]
NOJHL circle of change
A storied franchise that had a presence within the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League from 1962 until 2005 will be revived for the 2015-2016 season, HockeyNewsNorth.com has confirmed. …[read more]
Here ‘n there
As the sun melts the snow and the grass starts to show, hockey is still a go. …[read more]
Best laid plans of the NOJHL
There is a lot happening on and away from the rinks of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League as we approach mid April.
On ice, Soo Thunderbirds and Cochrane Crunch are playing for the NOJHL championship. Off ice, there’s more action than working the Saturday night desk at a seedy northern Ontario hotel. …[read more]
When the game is not decided on ice
Hockey may be played on ice but much of what makes — or breaks — the game happens away from it. …[read more]
Classic Rock
Timmins will make its return to the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League in 2015-2016 after an absence of more than 15 years — and the team will be known as the Rock. …[read more]
Crunch v. Thunderbirds
Soo Thunderbirds will play host to the Cochrane Crunch tonight and Sunday evening in Games 1 and 2 of the best-of-seven, Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League championship series. …[read more]
Hounds pound all around
Might as well state the obvious here — Guelph Storm is no match for the Soo Greyhounds. …[read more]
Battalion of the north
Apropos, given its location, that the North Bay Battalion would feature a pair of high-end skaters from the north. …[read more]
Back in Iroquois Falls
It was so much older then, it is younger than that now.
The franchise, that is. …[read more]
State of the NOJHL
Fans and supporters who live in the north country — good girls and bad boys alike — may have even more junior A hockey to watch in 2015-2016. …[read more]
Soo Eagles v. Keystone Ice Miners
They finished a single point apart during the 2014-2015 North American Hockey League regular season.
And now, the Keystone Ice Miners and Soo Eagles will face off in a first-round, best-of-five, NAHL North Division playoff series. …[read more]
Where are they now?
He was a hard-toiling, hard-boiled left winger who worked the corners and became an old Memorial Gardens fan favourite following an Ontario Hockey League trade from the erstwhile Kingston Canadians to the Soo Greyhounds during the 1981-1982 season. …[read more]
Crunch time for Thunderbirds
It’s a sure sign of spring.
Soo Thunderbirds are off to the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League championship series for the fourth successive season. …[read more]
Lower the boom in Blind River
What is next for the Blind River Beavers?
Will they remain a part of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League? …[read more]
Battalion fends off Frontenacs
I went with the upset in calling for the sixth-seeded Kingston Frontenacs to upend the third-place North Bay Battalion in the first round of the Ontario Hockey League’s Eastern Conference playoffs. …[read more]
Cain is T-Birds cool hand
He is the main man behind the scenes.
He is the guy who manages the roster and uses his many contacts in the game to keep his team a contender.
He is polite but he can be gruff. He has a cool hand but an iron fist. …[read more]
Who is David Branch cheering for?
It’s playoff season in the Ontario Hockey League.
Which leads me to ask this question: Which team is OHL commissioner David Branch rooting for to win the championship this year? …[read more]
T-Birds in familiar territory
Soo Thunderbirds are one win away from advancing to the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League championship series for the fourth successive season. …[read more]
More growth for NOJHL?
During the last off-season, the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League added a team to go from eight in 2013-2014 to nine in 2014-2015.
And once the 2015-2016 season begins, the NOJHL could be at 10 teams, maybe more. …[read more]
Mantha shows coaching mettle
A wild weekend ended the 2014-2015 North American Hockey League regular season in stunning fashion.
Desperately needing to sweep two road games from the Soo Eagles and just as desperately needing the Johnstown Tomahawks to lose a home-and-home series with the Keystone Ice Miners to make the playoffs, the Michigan Warriors got all of that. …[read more]