All posts by Randy Russon
OHL playoff chase
In the Ontario Hockey League’s Eastern Conference, where only the Sudbury Wolves are eliminated from playoff contention, there is a dandy race going on.
Mere points are what separate the Niagara IceDogs, Belleville Bulls, Kingston Frontenacs, Mississauga Steelheads and Peterborough Petes as the five teams are in a frantic fight for the final two playoff spots in the Eastern block. …[read more]
Here comes the Fighting Irish
Detroit Fighting Irish of the Midwest Jr. Hockey League is headed north for a pair of interlocking matches with the Espanola Rivermen and Batchewana Attack of the Canadian International Hockey League. …[read more]
Dorval delivers for Frontenacs
Rookie centre Zack Dorval made the most of some extra playing time on Wednesday.
With the flu-riddled Kingston Frontenacs short of bodies, Dorval stepped up big with a goal and an assist in a clutch 3-2 win over the visiting Peterborough Petes. …[read more]
Big game for Brett Jeffries
He is not known as a big goal scorer.
But Brett Jeffries had a big game on Tuesday, scoring four goals to spark the Soo Thunderbirds to a 7-3 victory over the visiting Blind River Beavers in Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League action. …[read more]
MWJHL, CIHL in open dialogue
The commissioner of the third-year, seven-team Midwest Jr. Hockey League is of the notion that having an interlocking schedule with the fledgling Canadian International Hockey League in 2015-2016 will benefit the overall level of play. …[read more]
Detroit Fighting Irish to Soo Eagles
It’s official.
Soo Eagles of the Tier 2 North American Hockey League have signed 1995 birth-year forward Jacob Hernandez from the Tier 3 Detroit Fighting Irish of the Midwest Jr. Hockey League. …[read more]
Around the leagues
An alphabetical tour from the Canadian International Hockey League to the Great North Midget Hockey League to the Midwest Jr. Hockey League to the North American Hockey League to the North American 3 Hockey League to the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League to the Ontario Hockey League to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association: …[read more]
Too close to call in NAHL North
Soo Eagles, who are part of a frantic race for a North American Hockey League playoff spot, are on the road to Johnstown this weekend for two games with the Tomahawks.
Heading into action this weekend, the Eagles have 43 points in 43 games from a record of 21-21-1. …[read more]
Eagles get Catt
Soo Eagles have acquired 1994 birth-year goalie Chad Catt from the Aberdeen Wings in a North American Hockey League deal that was finalized just before Friday’s midnight trade deadline. …[read more]
RR’s rumour mill
Today’s tour of the mill begins on the Ontario Hockey League coaching circuit and shifts to state-of-the-franchise talk within the North American Hockey League, Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League and the Canadian International Hockey League. …[read more]
Eagles tender Tonkovich
Soo Eagles have signed a prime prospect from the Pittsburgh area to a North American Hockey League tender for the 2015-2016 season.
Eagles coach-general manager Bruno Bragagnolo has confirmed to HockeyNewsNorth.com that the Soo has tendered Austin Tonkovich, a strapping 6-foot-1, 185 pound, 1997 birth-year left winger. …[read more]
NAHL Central showdown
Two teams battling for the fourth-and-final playoff spot in the Central Division of the North American Hockey League will face off on Friday night. …[read more]
It’s not all fun and games
It is supposed to be all fun and games and for the kids but we all know it’s way more than that.
Junior A hockey isn’t the hundred million dollar business that the major junior game is but it’s still a business.
Take a look at the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League. …[read more]
Tuneup Tuesday
It’s official. The Ontario Hockey League is moving Michigan towns from Flint to Plymouth…Here and then and around the rinks… …[read more]
The puck stops with Halverson
It’s the big question being asked around Houndtown.
Can second-year goalie Brandon Halverson backstop the star-studded Soo Greyhounds to an Ontario Hockey League championship this 2014-2015 season? …[read more]
Attack headed to Detroit
Batchewana Attack will cross the International and Mackinac bridges later this week and head south along Interstate highway 75 to the Detroit area for a showcase tournament.
The Denny Lambert-coached Attack, which leads the Canadian International Hockey League with a record of 28-0-1, will take part in the showcase event that is being hosted by the Detroit Fighting Irish of the Midwest Jr. Hockey League. …[read more]
Net losses cost Eagles
Soo Eagles matched the top team in the 24-member North American Hockey League stride-for-stride this weekend only to drop back-to-back home games to the Janesville Jets.
Simply put, Janesville got better goaltending in upending the Eagles by 6-1 and 6-4 scores. …[read more]
29 saves, 2 assists
Detroit Fighting Irish goalie George Hill was stopping pucks and setting up goals on Friday.
Hill — who spent three days earlier in the week practising with the Soo Eagles of the North American Hockey League — made 29 saves and assisted on two Detroit goals as the Fighting Irish outlasted the visiting Motor City Monarchs 5-4 in one of three Midwest Jr. Hockey League games played. …[read more]
Eagles home to high-flying Jets
It’s back-to-back big tests for the Soo Eagles.
The Eagles, who are in pursuit of second place in the North Division of the North American Hockey League, are home to the top-seeded Janesville Jets tonight (7:30) and Saturday night (7:00) at Pullar Stadium. …[read more]
Hernandez hangs in with Eagles
So far, so good.
Detroit Fighting Irish forward Jacob Hernandez will continue his audition with the Soo Eagles next week. …[read more]
Eagles deal with Odessa
Soo Eagles have completed a four-player exchange with the Odessa Jackalopes.
In a North American Hockey League trade finalized late Tuesday, the Eagles have acquired hard-hitting, 1995 birth-year defenceman Jake Hamilton and energetic, 1995 birth-year forward Leo Lumm from Odessa. …[read more]
Tuneup Tuesday
If rumours do make the junior hockey world go around then the old mill is really turning.
Rampant rumours are running through the (in alphabetical order) Canadian International Hockey League, Midwest Jr. Hockey League, North American Hockey League and Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League. …[read more]
Beavers at the bottom of the barrel
Just what is going on down Highway 17 East at Blind River?
At the very bottom of the nine-team Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League are the once-proud Blind River Beavers with one point from a record of 0-38-1. That’s right, one lousy point.
And as bad as things are on the ice in Blind River, it is a mess off the ice as well. …[read more]
CIHL at the crossroads
Yes, there have been struggles. Major struggles, in fact.
For one reason or another, teams have either left on their own or have been shown the door.
To be sure, all has not gone according to the plan of the founder of the first-year Canadian International Hockey League. …[read more]
Six Soo teams win games
Six Sault Ste. Marie-based teams — representing six separate hockey leagues — all won their games on Friday night. …[read more]
Irish goalie and the Eagles nest
A second member of the Detroit Fighting Irish of the Midwest Jr. Hockey League has been invited to attend a week of practice with the Soo Eagles of the North American Hockey League. …[read more]
Here come the KL Gold Miners
The two teams that met for the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League championship last spring will face off on Saturday night when the Soo Thunderbirds play host to the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners. …[read more]
Eagles have eyes on second spot
First place may be out of reach for the Soo Eagles but finishing second will mean home-ice advantage come playoff time. …[read more]
Triumphant tale of T-Bird midgets
To be sure, major midget hockey has made a positive return to Sault Ste. Marie following a one-year absence that many feel should never have happened in the first place.
At any rate, gone are the Soo North Stars and their multiple Great North Midget Hockey League championships and in their place are the Soo Thunderbirds. …[read more]
Remo assists the Attack
He had once hoped to tend goal beyond the junior level, perhaps at a Canadian or American university.
But a groin injury that he suffered while playing for the Soo Thunderbirds of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League never fully healed so Remo Febbraro stepped away from the game as a 20-year old. …[read more]
Possible MWJHL, CIHL scenarios
Here’s to hockey without borders. …[read more]
How sweep it is
Having swept the visiting Bemidji State University Beavers on the weekend — the first such perfection under first-year head coach Damon Whitten — the Lake Superior State University Lakers have moved into Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoff contention. …[read more]
Formidable Attack
Batchewana Attack is establishing itself as the powerhouse of the new Canadian International Hockey League.
Almost perfect, the Attack leads the CIHL with a record of 25-0-1. …[read more]
Soo Eagles are about opportunity
It’s part of a never-ending search to try to improve the hockey team.
And at the same time, it allows the staff the opportunity to evaluate a player up close. …[read more]
T-Bird midgets home for three
In first place in the seven-team Great North Midget Hockey League with 41 points from a record of 20-7-1, Soo Thunderbirds will play host to the fourth-seeded Nickel City Sons tonight, Saturday evening and Sunday morning. …[read more]
First impressions and a sleepy goalie
The newest members of the Soo Greyhounds made memorable first impressions playing as a fearsome foursome in front of the hometown Ontario Hockey League fans.
But was the Greyhounds goalie awake enough to witness the offensive explosion of his new teammates? …[read more]
Plymouth Whalers moving to Flint
Pending formal approval from the Ontario Hockey League, the Plymouth Whalers will be moving an hour north to Flint effective the 2015-2016 season, HockeyNewsNorth.com has confirmed.
The announcement of the sale of the Michigan-based team from Peter Karmanos to IMS USA Inc. was made official this morning. …[read more]
Tuneup Tuesday
Soo Greyhounds may have assembled a dream team but will they awake as champions of the Ontario Hockey League in May?…Sudbury Wolves of the OHL need to get it right when hiring their next head coach…The coach-general manager of the Detroit Fighting Irish of the Midwest Jr. Hockey League is a fan of the style of play of the Canadian International Hockey League… …[read more]
OHL trade deadline aftermath
It’s not about what you give up, it’s what you get in return.
Let’s begin with the Soo Greyhounds, who were one of the top three teams in the Ontario Hockey League before the dawn of last week’s trade deadline. …[read more]
Blind River head coach resigns
Veteran bench boss Don Gagnon has resigned as head coach of the Blind River Beavers of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League. …[read more]
Young Wolves in the den
They are in last place in the overall standings and the odds are against them moving up to make the playoffs this 2014-2015 Ontario Hockey League season.
But general manager Blaine Smith has made good on trade deadline moves that have positioned the Sudbury Wolves for better seasons ahead — in 2015-2016 and beyond. …[read more]
Soo Greyhounds to Sudbury Wolves
Soo Greyhounds have dealt 1996 birth-year forward Charley Graaskamp to the Sudbury Wolves in an Ontario Hockey League trade finalized this afternoon. …[read more]
Hounds trade for DeAngelo
Another day, another trade.
Soo Greyhounds have acquired high-scoring, 1995 birth-year defenceman Anthony DeAngelo from the Sarnia Sting. …[read more]
Hounds get Ritchie, Boland
A day after acquiring 19-year old forward Justin Bailey from the Kitchener Rangers, Soo Greyhounds have swung another major Ontario Hockey League trade. …[read more]
Anthony Stefano traded to Windsor
Peterborough Petes have dealt 1996 birth-year forward Anthony Stefano to the Windsor Spitfires.
Stefano, who is in his second Ontario Hockey League season, had requested to be traded from the Petes. …[read more]
Hounds pay ransom for Bailey
Soo Greyhounds have paid a heavy price to acquire the Kitchener Rangers leading scorer.
In an Ontario Hockey League trade finalized earlier today, the Greyhounds obtained 1995 birth-year forward Justin Bailey from the Rangers — and he did not come cheap. …[read more]
Tuneup Tuesday
Canada has returned to the top of the world junior hockey summit…There are hockey moms and then there is this hockey mom who owns two junior teams and manages the arena that both play out of…Here and there and around the rinks we go… …[read more]
Cody Caron traded to Kingston
Kingston Frontenacs have acquired 1996 birth-year forward Cody Caron from the Niagara Ice Dogs for a sixth-round draft pick in 2015.
A Sault Ste. Marie native, Caron had 1 goal and 44 penalty minutes in 34 games for Niagara this season. …[read more]