All posts by Randy Russon
Batchewana Attack hires a GM
He’s structured, organized, honourable and respected.
He’s also been around the game for a while.
After six years in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League as an associate coach and assistant general manager, Dennis Bolton is moving to the new Canadian International Hockey League. …[read more]
It starts tonight
The annual National Hockey League draft begins tonight in Philadelphia and several Ontario Hockey League players with ties to Sault Ste. Marie are expected to be selected over the course of the two-day event.
Brendan Perlini, who grew up in Sault Ste. Marie and played some of his minor hockey in the Soo, is ranked as the eighth-best skater by NHL Central Scouting. …[read more]
Scouting the tryout camps
Players who attend the various and multiple junior hockey tryout camps are not just showcasing their skills to the team they are trying out for.
As an example, Soo Eagles of the North American Hockey League are holding their second tryout camp of the off-season this weekend in Detroit with well over 100 players in attendance. …[read more]
Sudbury is eighth team in CIHL
The new Canadian International Hockey League has added an eighth team — and fourth from Northern Ontario.
Under the ownership of the father-son duo of Dr. Martin Beals and KB Beals, the Greater Sudbury Royals will be based out of the Capreol Community Arena. …[read more]
St. Charles Spirit makes first signing
Alexandre Savard, a 1997 birth-year defenceman from the Sudbury area, has become the first player to sign with the St. Charles Spirit of the new Canadian International Hockey League.
A strapping 6-foot-1, 215 pound defender, Savard played for the Great North Midget Hockey League champion Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves in 2013-2014. …[read more]
The CIHL is here
It is here. It is a reality.
And it is a viable option for hockey players from the ages of 15-20. …[read more]
Two MWJHL teams add players
MC Monarchs and Detroit Fighting Irish of the Midwest Jr. Hockey League have added to their respective rosters as both teams prep for the 2014-2015 season.
The Monarchs, a first-year entry into the MWJHL, have signed five players while the Fighting Irish has added some beef to its blueline. …[read more]
Cade Nolan on the Attack
Batchewana Attack of the new Canadian International Hockey League has committed to its second player in as many days.
Cade Nolan, a 6-foot-2, 170 pound, 1996 birth-year defenceman from Garden River First Nation, confirmed that he will play for the Batchewana entry in the new CIHL in 2014-2015. …[read more]
NOJHL aftermath
On the surface, the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League appears to be in good shape in the aftermath of its annual general meeting in which it ended the 2013-2014 season and began the 2014-2015 campaign on one weekend.
Despite the departure of the attendance-leading Espanola Rivermen to the new Canadian International Hockey League, the NOJHL is now a nine-team league with seven franchises returning from 2013-2014 and new ones in Elliot Lake and Powassan added for 2014-2015. …[read more]
First signing for Batchewana Attack
David Maciuk has his first player commitment as director of hockey operations for the Batchewana Attack of the new Canadian International Hockey League.
Maciuk has confirmed that 1997 birth-year forward Jacob Palmerio has signed up to play for Batchewana, which recently became the seventh member of the CIHL and will play out of Rankin Arena in Sault Ste. Marie effective the 2014-2015 season. …[read more]
Back in the Bird nest
He has a passion for hockey and a good reputation as a community volunteer.
Jamie Henderson, who has been part of multiple championships as an assistant coach with the St. Mary’s Knights high schoolers and Soo Thunderbirds of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League, is back in the game after two years on the sidelines. …[read more]
Batchewana Attack joins CIHL
Junior hockey is returning to Rankin Arena in Sault Ste. Marie after a 32-year hiatus.
Batchewana Attack has become the seventh team in the new Canadian International Hockey League, which will begin play effective the upcoming 2014-2015 season.
The Attack will be based out of Rankin Arena, which housed the Soo Thunderbirds of the erstwhile International Jr. B Hockey League from 1978 until 1982. …[read more]
AGM agendas
The Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League and the Midwest Jr. Hockey League are both holding their annual general meetings this weekend.
Governors from the NOJHL will welcome new franchises from Elliot Lake and Powassan to make it a nine-team league.
MWJHL executives will be joined by officials from the upstart Canadian International Hockey League at their AGM. …[read more]
Ex-NHLer to coach in new CIHL
Dennis Maruk, who played in the Ontario Hockey League and the National Hockey League with distinction, has been hired as head coach of the Milton Battle Arts Cobras of the new Canadian International Hockey League. …[read more]
Soo Thunderbirds v. Soo Eagles
Soo Thunderbirds of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League and Soo Eagles of the North American Hockey League will resume the Rollie King Cup series after a two-year hiatus, officials from both teams have confirmed.
The cross-border Soo teams established the Rollie King Cup during the 2011-2012 season when both were members of the NOJHL. …[read more]
Steve Glover turns Irish
Detroit Fighting Irish of the Midwest Jr. Hockey League has beefed up its player development department with the addition of Steve Glover to the staff.
Fighting Irish coach-general manager Dan Vasquez said Glover will assist the MWJHL team as a scout and consultant to the hockey department. …[read more]
DFI recruit played for Kevin Conway
There is a Sault Ste. Marie connection to one of the new recruits of the Detroit Fighting Irish of the Midwest Jr. Hockey League. …[read more]
CIHL-MWJHL invitational in Detroit
The Ice Box Sports Center in the Detroit suburb of Brownstown will be the site of a pre-season invitational tournament for teams from the Midwest Jr. Hockey League and the new Canadian International Hockey League.
Detroit Fighting Irish of the MWJHL will play host to the Shamrock Showcase Showdown, which will be held from September 18-21. …[read more]
Brett Findlay is a Kelly Cup champ
Alaska Aces have a connection to Echo Bay, Ont. on their East Coast Hockey League championship team of 2013-2014. …[read more]
Soo Eagles to Washington Capitals
Chris Waterstreet, a swooping left winger who played for Soo Eagles of the North American Hockey League in 2012-2013, will attend a National Hockey League tryout camp next month. …[read more]
Wainman et al to ACHA
Three players who skated in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League in 2013-2014 are off to the American Collegiate Hockey Association ranks.
The three are forward Duane Wainman via the Espanola Rivermen and North Bay Trappers, forward and NOJHL scoring leader Gavin Burbach of the Soo Thunderbirds and defenceman Vinny Barra of the Blind River Beavers. …[read more]
Home sweet home
The hometown kid is back home.
Former Lake Superior State University Lakers assistant coach Rich Metro is returning to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association team in a similar role under new bench boss Damon Whitten. …[read more]
Geographical interlock
Teams from the Midwest Jr. Hockey League and the new Canadian International Hockey League are perusing a 2014-2015 regular-season schedule that would include interlocking games based on geography. …[read more]
CIHL adds two more teams
Two more teams have confirmed their membership into the new Canadian International Hockey League.
Central Ontario HTI Stars and St. Charles Spirit are the latest additions into the CIHL, giving the new league five confirmed teams to date. …[read more]
Eagles eye Twin Soo talent
As Soo Eagles prepare for their third season as members of the North American Hockey League, coach-general manager Bruno Bragagnolo continues to try to take advantage of the area talent pool. …[read more]
Sewell, Stephens are Fighting Irish
There is no place quite like home.
Detroit Fighting Irish of the Midwest Jr. Hockey League have inked a pair of area products, coach-general manager Dan Vasquez has confirmed to HockeyNewsNorth.com. …[read more]
New CIHL confirms teams
The new Canadian International Hockey League has confirmed that Colborne Cramahe Hawks and Milton Battle Arts Cobras have cleared the United Hockey Union screening process and will ice teams effective the 2014-2015 campaign.
CIHL president and founder Tim Clayden, who also owns the Espanola Rivermen — formerly of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League — said he expects to announce four more teams to the new loop within the next week to 10 days. …[read more]
Soo Indians to Michigan Warriors
Andrew Barbeau really wants to play for the Michigan Warriors in 2014-2015.
And the Warriors in turn are impressed with what the 1997 birth-year defenceman from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. has to offer. …[read more]
Beavers land all-state star
Chris Zajac, a 5-foot-11, 180 pound, 1996 birth-year forward from Naperville Central high school in the Chicago suburb of Bolingbrook, has committed to the Blind River Beavers of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League for the 2014-2015 campaign. …[read more]
Bird nest is full
The recent addition of a pair of 1995 birth-year forwards via trade has just about shut the door on any rookie skater who has aspirations of securing a roster spot with the Soo Thunderbirds for the 2014-2015 campaign.
By acquiring out-of-towners Ryan Erickson and Jake Staples from Pembroke Lumber Kings of the Central Canada Hockey League in exchange for goalie Joel Horodziejzcyk, the number of veteran forwards who can play for the Soo’s Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League team in 2014-2015 now stands at 12. …[read more]
T-Birds trade top goalie
Soo Thunderbirds of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League have dealt 1995 birth-year goalie Joel Horodziejczyk to Pembroke Lumber Kings of the Central Canada Hockey League. …[read more]
Still puckin’ around
It may be June but there are hockey stories to be written.
Take yesterday — June 3 — for instance when HockeyNewsNorth.com posted five separate stories all relevant to the moment.
Take a summer vacation from hockey?
Nah.
There are too many potential stories out there. …[read more]
Soo Eagles draft Owen Headrick
Garden River First Nation product Owen Headrick became a North American Hockey League draft pick today.
Soo Eagles selected the 6-foot, 190 pound defenceman in the third round of the 2014 NAHL draft. …[read more]
Andrew Barbeau to Michigan Warriors
Hard-hitting defenceman Andrew Barbeau of Sault Ste. Marie was selected in the second round of today’s North American Hockey League draft by the Michigan Warriors. …[read more]
Dan Oleksy joins MC Monarchs
MC Monarchs of the Midwest Jr. Hockey League have rounded out their coaching staff.
The new Michigan-based, MWJHL franchise has brought aboard 31-year-old former college and minor-pro player Dan Oleksy as an assistant under head coach Jason McCrimmon. …[read more]
Junior hockey landscape
There are multiple junior hockey leagues of three degrees throughout Canada and the United States.
Basically, the levels are classified as Major Junior, Tier 2 Junior (aka Jr. A and Jr. B) and Tier 3 Junior. …[read more]
Laker grad joins Army
A former Lake Superior State University Lakers goalie has joined the Army.
The Division 1, National Collegiate Athletic Association hockey Army, that is. …[read more]
Midwest merry-go-round
Round and round it goes.
There are major confirmations to relay today from the Midwest Jr. Hockey League.
Michigan Ice Dogs — who are based in Farmington Hills — have a new head coach.
As well, the MWJHL has approved the relocation of the Bloomington Blaze to the Illinois town of Decatur.
And the new MC Monarchs have announced upcoming tryout dates. …[read more]
Fighting Irish at the Ice Box
Summer heat? What summer heat?
Detroit Fighting Irish of the Midwest Jr. Hockey League held a three-day spring skates tryout camp that concluded on Friday night at the Ice Box Sports Center in Brownstown. …[read more]
Saginaw offers to sign Soo boy
Hulking right winger Adam McPhail of Sault Ste. Marie has been offered a contract by the Ontario Hockey League’s Saginaw Spirit, sources have told HockeyNewsNorth.com. …[read more]
Good NAHLers out there
A few weeks ago, the coach of the Lake Superior State University Lakers told me that he was looking to finalize his roster for the 2014-2015 Western Collegiate Hockey Association season with another three to five players.
“A forward or two, a defenceman or two and a goalie,” is what new Lakers headmaster Damon Whitten replied when I asked him how many more newcomers he wanted to add for the 2014-2015 campaign. …[read more]
Wise on these guys
Teammates on the Soo Thunder minor midgets two seasons ago, they all moved up to the major midget ranks in 2013-2014, albeit on different teams in different leagues.
Undrafted by any major junior team, all three 1997 birth-year forwards are still eligible to play at the midget level in 2014-2015.
But wise men say they are all capable of playing at the tier two junior level in 2014-2015, if not in the North American Hockey League, then most-definitely in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League or the new Canadian International Hockey League. …[read more]
Lakers add to net worth
Lake Superior State University Lakers now have their three goalies for the 2014-2015 Western Collegiate Hockey Association season.
HockeyNewsNorth.com has learned that the latest twine tender to commit to LSSU is Gordy Defiel, a 1993 birth-year who played for Coquitlam Express of the British Columbia Hockey League in 2013-2014. …[read more]
CIHL progress
Its membership into the United Hockey Union and Amateur Athletic Union is secure.
Now, the Canadian International Hockey League begins the screening process through the UHU and AAU that will determine the teams and locations that will comprise the new loop.
So, where to from here? …[read more]
Francis Anzalone, head coach
The kid has graduated.
Again.
Francis Anzalone has become a head coach at a high level at the tender age of 26. …[read more]
Reggie Leach is a Blind River Beaver
Blind River Beavers have added a retired National Hockey League superstar to their scouting staff.
The Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League team has confirmed that legendary goal-scorer Reggie Leach will scout for the Beavers as he travels across Canada conducting hockey schools and on guest-speaking tours in which he encourages Aboriginal youth to make good life choices. …[read more]
Pucks ‘n mucks
I am not a fan of the one-game-winner-take-all format to decide the Memorial Cup championship.
The way I see it, it takes a seven-game series to win any playoff round in the Canadian Hockey League. So why should the CHL championship — and the Memorial Cup that goes with it — be decided by one game? …[read more]
Busy in Blind River
Don Gagnon has started the process of rebuilding the Jr. A hockey program in Blind River.
The 60-year old Gagnon, a retired steelworker from Sault Ste. Marie, is busy preparing for the 2014-2015 campaign — which will be his first full term as coach and director of hockey operations for the Beavers of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League. …[read more]