Cougars knock on Wood
Graduated Soo Thunderbirds forward Caleb Wood is moving on to skate for the Sault College Cougars of the Division 2, American Collegiate Hockey Association for the planned 2021-2022 season.
…[read more]May days of junior hockey
Junior A level hockey leagues across Canada are closed for registry business until June 1.
Which, as an example, means that teams in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League can’t officially announce any new player transactions until June 1.
But, as they should be, NOJHL coaches and general managers will no doubt be busy throughout the month of May working on potential player recruitment and trades ahead of June 1.
…[read more]SMHA coaches for ’21-22
Hockey News North has confirmed a number of the coaches who will lead Sault Major Hockey Association teams for the 2021-2022 season. The list of coaches is as follows.
…[read more]Love the all Canadian division
I have often wished that the National Hockey League would re-align and have an Original Six division of the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Bruins and New York Rangers.
And while that has not happened — and likely never will — restrictions on travel relative to COVID-19 has created, temporarily at least, the formation of an all Canadian division of Montreal, Toronto, the Winnipeg Jets, Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, Vancouver Canucks and Ottawa Senators.
I am loving the set up.
…[read more]Hockey North Show will return
Currently on hiatus relative to the Ontario government’s stay at home order, the Hockey North Show will return to radio station Eagle 95.1 once its host site, Reggie’s Place Downtown, re-opens for business. The stay at home order is slated to be lifted during the third week of May.
…[read more]Leafs still not on my wish list
In my little town, I grew up believing that God and the Montreal Canadiens were good and non Catholic girls and the Toronto Maple Leafs were bad.
But some of that has changed for me from then to now.
While I still believe that God is good, I no longer depict the Montreal Canadiens in a religious way. And while all girls — not just Catholics — are good, the Toronto Maple Leafs um, you know, still haven’t made it to my list of top favourites.
…[read more]Summer tournament hockey
Dependent on factors related to COVID-19 and a return to more controllable numbers, summer tournament hockey may be more prevalent this year given the low total of games that were played at the junior and under 18 levels during the 2020-2021 season.
…[read more]Oh, so close for Sault High
Close but no cigar. All in all, though, it was a passing grade for a Sault High Blue Devils hockey team that extended a short season into two rounds of the playoffs.
…[read more]Devils season is over
A last-minute goal lifted the Alpena Wildcats to a 3-2 win over the Sault High Blue Devils in Michigan high school hockey Region 18 semi-final action from Thursday.
…[read more]The file on Bobby Jones
There are not many who have an association to the Ontario Hockey League that can match the longevity of Bobby Jones.
Not only did Jones play in 240 OHL games from 1985 to 1990 as a dependable defenseman with the Soo Greyhounds but he coached in the league from 1995 through 2018 with six different teams and won a pair of Memorial Cup championships behind the bench of the Windsor Spitfires.
Jones has always been a favourite of mine. And not just because of the hockey and that he is a good kid from a good family but that he happened to go to the same elementary school in Sault Ste. Marie — St. Mark — that I, my two kids, and my younger sister did.
…[read more]High school semis tonight
Michigan high school hockey will determine its Region 18 finalists tonight from a pair of semi-final matches at Tawas Bay Ice Arena.
Sault High Blue Devils will face off against the Alpena Wildcats in a 5 p.m. game ahead of a second semi-final contest between the Cheboygan Chiefs and Gaylord Blue Devils.
…[read more]Blue Devils skate to semis
Sault High Blue Devils have advanced to a semi-final match on the Michigan high school hockey Region 18 playoff scene.
…[read more]Playoff date for Sault High
Win and they play on. Lose and they return home.
Sault High Blue Devils are downstate in Tawas tonight for a Michigan high school hockey, Region 18 quarter final playoff match against the host Braves.
…[read more]Making the best of pandemic
EDITOR’S NOTE: The following article was prepared for Hockey News North by Michelle Guzzo, secretary of the Sault Major Hockey Association.
…[read more]Blue Devils get even
Next up, the regional playoffs.
A resounding 7-2 road victory over the Petoskey Northmen today lifted the Sault High Blue Devils to the .500 mark and a record of 5-5-0 to end the abbreviated regular season.
…[read more]Sault High class of 2021
Playoffs are looming.
But before that, Sault High Blue Devils, with a record of 4-5-0, conclude an abbreviated regular season today with a 12:30 p.m. road tilt against the Petoskey Northmen.
…[read more]Stevenson still in the game
His hockey playing career ended a dozen years ago at age 34. But now, at 46 years of age and at his playing size and weight of 6-foot-1, 215 pounds, Jeremy Stevenson still looks fit and trim enough to be patrolling the left wing.
A first round pick of the Cornwall Royals in 1990 who would finish his Ontario Hockey League career with the Soo Greyhounds, Stevenson defied the odds to play in 228 National Hockey League games after being an 11th round pick of the Anaheim Ducks in 1994.
…[read more]Sault High surges to .500
Two straight home ice wins have lifted the Sault High Blue Devils to an even mark with the Michigan high school hockey season approaching playoff time.
…[read more]Home win for Sault High
Freshman goalie Camden Labadie made 31 saves to backstop the Sault High Blue Devils to a 2-1 victory over the visiting Petoskey Northmen.
Friday night’s win for the Blue Devils improves their record on the Michigan high school hockey season to 3-4.
…[read more]Sault High home at last
Following five straight road tilts, Sault High Blue Devils will finally be at home this weekend.
The friendly ice of Big Bear Arena awaits the Blue Devils in the aftermath of their latest away game, which was a narrow 3-2 loss to the Alpena Wildcats tonight.
…[read more]A winning story
Hockey News North has received the following press release relative to a school based fitness curriculum that includes National Hockey League star Nick Foligno.
…[read more]Sault High is all even
A road victory at Big Rapids has lifted the Sault High Blue Devils to the .500 mark through four games of the recently started Michigan high school hockey season.
…[read more]Eskymos 5, Blue Devils 4
Sault High Blue Devils have yet to pass a road test in the early going of the Michigan high school hockey schedule.
The Blue Devils came up just short on Wednesday, dropping a 5-4 decision to the Escanaba Eskymos.
Sault High will have another road test on Saturday afternoon when it travels to Big Rapids for a 2 p.m. start.
…[read more]On the road and on the air
Sault High Blue Devils will continue a 10-game regular season slate tonight with a road match.
The Blue Devils are in Escanaba to play the Eskymos in what will be the third outing of the COVID-19 delayed, 2020-2021 season for Sault High.
…[read more]Sault High slate is set
A 10-game regular season to be followed by the playoffs is what has been set up for the Sault High Blue Devils.
Having now played two games in a 2020-2021 regular season that finally began on February 10 relative to COVID-19, Sault High has three more matches slated for this month and another five in March.
Playoffs will then begin on March 15 as part of a state format in which all high school hockey teams in Michigan qualify for the post season.
…[read more]Devils night goes to Gaylord
The battle of the Blue Devils went to Gaylord. Playing at home, Gaylord Blue Devils hissed past the Sault High Blue Devils 7-3 in Michigan high school hockey action from Saturday night.
…[read more]Battle of the Blue Devils
The chilly confines of the Otsego County Sportsplex will serve as the frozen stage for a Michigan high school hockey showdown tonight when the Gaylord Blue Devils play host to the Sault High Blue Devils.
Sault High, which began the 2020-2021 season earlier this week with a 2-1 win over the Cheboygan Chiefs, will face off against a Gaylord squad which will be playing its third game in four nights, having blanked the Cadillac Vikings 4-0 before dropping a 6-4 decision to the Midland Chemics.
…[read more]Michigan Sault hockey hub
There are four high profile hockey teams that are based in the small town of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, which has a population of less than 14,000 full-time residents.
They include the Lake Superior State University Lakers, the Soo Eagles juniors, the under 18 Soo Indians, and the Sault High Blue Devils.
And following clearance from the state of Michigan, high school hockey has finally been able to begin the 2020-2021 regular season. Thus, the return to play of the Sault High squad.
…[read more]Sault High hockey set to go
High school hockey in the state of Michigan has been cleared to begin the 2020-2021 season.
And the Sault High Blue Devils will begin play tonight against the visiting Cheboygan Chiefs with a 7:00 match at Big Bear Arena.
All Sault High games will be broadcast live on local radio station Eagle 95.1 http://EagleRadio951.com with Tim Ellis calling the play by play and his brother, Clayt Ellis, providing the colour commentary.
Four other games are on the slate for Sault High this month and they are as follows.
…[read more]Telling it like it is
If I had a dime for every time I spoke my mind and got in trouble for it, I would have at least a couple hundred thousand extra dollars in my bank account.
Just like if a player could speak his mind about a coach and not have to worry about being labelled as a trouble maker and either be released or traded.
Or if a coach could reasonably criticize a referee without fear of reprisal from not only the ref himself but from the league in the form of a fine or suspension.
…[read more]Tales of an old hockey writer
It has been a few years in the making.
And now, my book, Tales Of An Old Hockey Writer, is slated to be published and ready for release at some point in 2021.
The book will date back to the mid 1970s when I first became a paid member of the media after a mediocre departure from Sault College where I really liked English classes with Neil Carter and learned a few things in Broadcast Journalism from Tom Iley.
…[read more]Final playoff push for Kovacs
Sault Ste. Marie product Bronson Kovacs has had his wish granted to join a playoff contender in the Erste Liga pro hockey loop.
The 30-year old defenseman has been transferred to MAC Budapest from the Dunaújvárosi Acélbikák Steel Bulls.
Kovacs noted that as this is his sixth and final season of playing pro in Hungary, “I was granted my release so I could sign with a contender for my last playoff push.”
…[read more]Nick Porco with Texas Stars
As the Ontario Hockey League remains in limbo as to when or if the 2020-2021 season will begin, junior age players from the various teams are, in the meantime, getting opportunities to play pro.
One such prospect is Nick Porco, a 19-year old left winger from Sault Ste. Marie who is a member of the OHL’s Barrie Colts and a National Hockey League draft pick of the Dallas Stars.
…[read more]