Return to play proposals
Junior hockey leagues throughout Ontario have been working on various proposals relative to a return to play at some point in the 2020-2021 season.
Under the Canadian Jr. Hockey League umbrella there are four junior A leagues that are based in Ontario. They are the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League, the Central Canada Hockey League, the Ontario Jr. Hockey League and the Superior International Jr. Hockey League.
The province is also home to the Ontario Hockey League, which is part of the major junior level, Canadian Hockey League.
…[read more]Kerfuffle in Kingston
This one ranks as a stunner.
After 12 years with the Kingston Frontenacs — first as assistant coach, then as assistant general manager, then as director of hockey operations, and most recently as general manager — Darren Keily was unceremoniously let go by the Ontario Hockey League team earlier this week.
The surprise announcement by Kingston owner Doug Springer was shocking for a number of reasons including the fact that Keily had just guided the Frontenacs through two trying seasons of rebuild and had them poised to become an Eastern Conference threat come the 2020-2021 season.
…[read more]Cross border hockey issues
Let us hope and pray that junior hockey will be played at some point during the 2020-2021 season. However, for example, what happens if the junior hockey season gets the go ahead to begin play but the Canada-United States border remains indefinitely closed?
…[read more]Spitfires swoop a defender
Windsor Spitfires have added another defenseman to their blue line brigade.
The Spitfires have acquired 2002 birth year defender Michael Renwick from the Hamilton Bulldogs for a second round pick at the 2022 Ontario Hockey League priority selections draft.
Of note, Renwick is a grandson of former Spitfires assistant coach Dave Prpich.
…[read more]Frontenacs take a pass
Kingston Frontenacs general manager Darren Keily is more than happy with the two import forwards that the Ontario Hockey League team has on its roster.
Thus, the Frontenacs — who are poised to become a very competitive OHL team after two seasons of major rebuild — have opted to pass on taking part in today’s Canadian Hockey League import draft.
Instead, the Frontenacs will retain their two players from the 2019 CHL import draft — forwards Martin Chromiak and Vitali Pinchuk.
…[read more]Junior hockey’s new normal
In one way at least, the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League has a potential advantage over the Ontario Hockey League.
That is, should attendance restrictions be mandated once junior hockey is cleared for game activity, the NOJHL would be in a more enviable position than the OHL.
Attendance is the major source of revenue for the OHL. And while NOJHL teams do rely on attendance as a means of survival, they are also enhanced financially as a ‘pay to play’ league.
As well, NOJHL teams are in a favourable geographical region relative to the COVID-19 pandemic.
…[read more]OHL trade reprise
Trade season in the Ontario Hockey League opened on June 1.
And while there has not been a flurry of activity, several seasoned skaters have been swapped from one OHL team to another.
North Bay Battalion has been involved in two significant transactions while frequent trade partners, Flint Firebirds and Guelph Storm, made yet another exchange with each other. In the space of 12 months — from last off season to this one — Flint and Guelph have made no less than five trades with each other.
Meanwhile, Saginaw Spirit pulled off what could be a helluva heist in getting a former first round pick from North Bay for a bargain price.
…[read more]Flint, Guelph make a deal
Flint Firebirds have bolstered their blue line brigade via Ontario Hockey League trade with the Guelph Storm.
Highly-touted defenseman Zack Terry is on the move from Guelph to Flint for a pair of 2023 draft picks.
In confirming the trade, Firebirds general manager Barclay Branch referred to Terry as “both an impressive player and person.”
…[read more]Kingston trio makes music
A troika of forwards stands tall in the talent pool that is poised to help elevate the Kingston Frontenacs into future Ontario Hockey League contention.
Center Shane Wright and wingers Zayde Wisdom and Martin Chromiak are first line pieces of the puzzle that have Kingston ticketed for emergence within the Eastern Conference come the next OHL season.
All three were major points producers with the Frontenacs during the 2019-2020 season — and they all have time on their side in the form of remaining OHL eligibility.
…[read more]Hounds have 50-50 shot
Soo Greyhounds have a better chance of being in the 2021 Memorial Cup tournament than they do of winning next spring’s Ontario Hockey League championship. To be sure, the Greyhounds have to beat out only one team — the Oshawa Generals — to gain automatic entry into the 2021 national championship event.
…[read more]Schlueting to Saginaw
Saginaw Spirit general manager Dave Drinkill has started the Ontario Hockey League trade season with a bargain pickup.
Drinkill has obtained 2002 birth year defenseman Pacey Schlueting from the North Bay Battalion for a fourth round draft pick in 2024 and a 12th round pick in 2023.
The 6-foot-1, 185-pound Schlueting was a first round pick of the Battalion, ninth overall, at the 2018 OHL priority selections draft from his hometown North Bay Trappers of the Great North Midget Hockey League.
…[read more]Dressed for the Knights
He has the hat. He has the t-shirt.
Next, it is the jersey of the London Knights that Mason Chitaroni wants to wear.
That’s because Chitaroni is a plum prospect of the Knights, who took the 5-foot-10, 150-pound defender in the fifth round, 99th overall, at this year’s Ontario Hockey League priority selections draft from the Soo Jr. Greyhounds of the Great North Midget Hockey League.
“I want to show London that they made the right choice in drafting me,” the 15-year old youngster relayed to Hockey News North.
…[read more]Top 12 OHL rookies are …
Ontario Hockey League has confirmed its first and second team all-rookie selections from the 2019-2020 season. General managers from the 20 OHL teams conducted the voting process.
…[read more]Two teams on the upswing
When a team has been at the bottom of the standings, it figures that there is no place to go but up.
Two years ago, the 2018-2019 season, it was the Kingston Frontenacs who finished in last place in the 20-team Ontario Hockey League. And this past season, the 2019-2020 campaign, it was the North Bay Battalion which had the dubious distinction of having the worst record in the OHL.
…[read more]Lambert to lead T-Birds
This is a multiple coaching hire of well known local hockey people.
Soo Thunderbirds of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League will have a new look coaching staff for the 2020-2021 season, Hockey News North has confirmed. And leading the way as the new bench boss of the T-Birds is a man who played the game at its highest level.
…[read more]Guarding the Greyhound net
A pressing question relative to the Soo Greyhounds ahead of the 2020-2021 Ontario Hockey League season correlates with the most paramount position of all.
Who will be the goalies for a Greyhound team that sees itself as a contender to the extent that it is bidding to play host to the 2021 Memorial Cup tournament and be a participant?
…[read more]Ryan Dugas has the numbers
On a Kingston Frontenacs team that posted the worst overall record in the Ontario Hockey League over the past two seasons, it was their youngest goalie who had the best numbers of any puck stopper. By far.
…[read more]Famine of the Frontenacs
General manager Darren Keily has a distant goal of bringing a long-awaited Ontario Hockey League championship to Kingston. So too does head coach Paul McFarland. But that may be much easier said than done considering the Kingston Frontenacs have never — ever — won an OHL title.
…[read more]Top dog in the Hound pound
Soo Greyhounds have confirmed the signing of their first round pick from the 2020 Ontario Hockey League priority selections draft.
…[read more]More of the future in Flint
Fresh from their finest season in a franchise history that began in 2015, Flint Firebirds have added fuel to the future with the signing of two more players from the 2020 Ontario Hockey League priority selections draft.
…[read more]OHL scouts put in the time
It can be a time consuming job as a nightly gig that also includes morning and afternoon assignments on the weekend. But passion and perseverance lies within the pores of the average Ontario Hockey League scout.
…[read more]Chitaroni has a flip side
It is destination unknown for Mason Chitaroni relative to the 2020-2021 hockey season. That is, the 15-year old defenseman with the world-class speed — he does not turn 16 until October 2 — could be playing in the Ontario Hockey League, the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League, or for any one of four teams in the Greater Ontario Jr. Hockey League when the 2020-2021 campaign gets going.
…[read more]Porco in the Nick of time
As dictated by the COVID-19 crisis, time is standing still in the hockey world. Still, as for time away from the hockey rink, Sault Ste. Marie product Nick Porco is putting it to good use.
…[read more]Coaching rerun in Kingston
It took the Kingston Frontenacs less than two weeks to fill their vacant head coach position. And it will be a familiar face manning the bench in Kingston when the next Ontario Hockey League season begins.
…[read more]Sting operation nets another
Sarnia Sting of the Ontario Hockey League has snagged a second American skater away from the Michigan State Spartans of the Division 1, National Collegiate Athletic Association.
…[read more]Northern lights of the OHL
It has been said that hockey players from northern Ontario are, on average, overlooked when compared to those from the Greater Toronto Area and the southwestern and eastern parts of the province.
…[read more]Trying for an OHL tryout
Landon Deforge is not what one would call a big kid, standing in at 5-foot-8 and tipping the scales at 155 pounds. Nonetheless, the skilled, smart, speedy skater played a big role for the Timmins Majors of the Great North Midget Hockey League during the 2019-2020 season.
…[read more]Mason has Knight vision
He is working out on his own, in the family basement and in the garage. He jogs alone through his neighbourhood — and thinks of the season ahead. A 2020 Ontario Hockey League priority selections draft pick of the London Knights, Mason Chitaroni has a vision of where he wants to be when training camp opens.
…[read more]Seca to manage the Sting
An educator with a long-time link to the Ontario Hockey League, Dylan Seca has been promoted to general manager of the Sarnia Sting.
…[read more]Frontenacs fire Foster
Kingston Frontenacs general manager Darren Keily has made head coach Kurtis Foster the fall guy for the failures of the Ontario Hockey League team over the past two seasons.
…[read more]Firebirds click top pick
Flint Firebirds of the Ontario Hockey League have confirmed the commitment of 2020 first round draft pick Gavin Hayes.
…[read more]Sarnia takes it to the Max
The third overall pick at the 2020 Ontario Hockey League priority selections draft has opted for the Sarnia Sting over the Michigan State Spartans of the Division 1, National Collegiate Athletic Association.
…[read more]Toms training for next term
Plum, home grown prospect Connor Toms is running the local hub trails and working out in the basement gym of his family’s Sault Ste. Marie home as he preps for the next hockey season.
…[read more]Good times, good Knights
Sustained success of 18 successive winning seasons under the current ownership and operation of brothers Dale Hunter and Mark Hunter is the latest chapter of a good London Knights history.
…[read more]Jack Matier, social distancing
Social distancing and bans on group activity relative to the coronavirus pandemic has had an obvious effect on hockey players and teams.
…[read more]Rolling dice on NCAA recruits
Teams in the Ontario Hockey League have not been shy to use early to mid round draft picks on players who have already made verbal commitments to Division 1, National Collegiate Athletic Association schools.
…[read more]New gig for Michael Kantor
Hard-driven Michael Kantor, who played in more than 200 Ontario Hockey League games for Saginaw Spirit, Soo Greyhounds and Sudbury Wolves despite never being drafted, is turning to the business side of the game.
…[read more]Nickel Caps ‘D’ gets OHL nod
Defenseman Teegan Dumont from the Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves of the Great North Midget Hockey League has been invited to the Ontario Hockey League training camp of the London Knights, Hockey News North has confirmed.
…[read more]OHL follower since 1972
I was still in school when the Soo Greyhounds and Sudbury Wolves departed the Northern Ontario Hockey Association to join the Ontario Hockey Association — now known as the Ontario Hockey League — back in 1972.
…[read more]North country Knights
Soo Greyhounds, Sudbury Wolves and North Bay Battalion are the northern teams of the Ontario Hockey League. But not to be outdone by geography, the powerhouse London Knights of southwestern Ontario have four skaters from northeastern Ontario in their system.
…[read more]Knights of the north
Ontario Hockey League powerhouse London Knights have gone to the often-overlooked Great North Midget Hockey League two years in a row now to take a player within the first five rounds of the annual priority selections draft.
…[read more]Steal of the Knights
Some projected him as a late third round pick. Others had him rated as an early fourth round selection who would not be available come the fifth round.
…[read more]OHL American draft?
Given the fact that 74 Americans were among the 300 players who were taken at the 2020 Ontario Hockey League priority selections draft, an altering of the process might be something to consider.
…[read more]OHL draft rehash
D-day is done for another year. With the 2020 Ontario Hockey League priority selections draft in the books, Hockey News North rehashes six picks who we deem notable.
…[read more]Jake Kovacs drafted
Bypassed at the 2019 Ontario Hockey League priority selections draft, the second time up proved to be a bonus for 2003 birth year forward Jake Kovacs.
…[read more]Devin Mauro drafted
Center Devin Mauro of the Soo Jr. Greyhounds of the Great North Midget Hockey League has become an Ontario Hockey League draft pick.
…[read more]What a Knight for Chitaroni
Mason Chitaroni said he was hoping the London Knights would draft him. And the Soo Jr. Greyhounds defenseman got his wish at today’s Ontario Hockey League priority selections draft.
…[read more]Mason Chitaroni drafted
A good day has turned into a good Knight. Slick defenseman Mason Chitaroni of the Soo Jr. Greyhounds of the Great North Midget Hockey League has become an Ontario Hockey League draft pick.
…[read more]Connor Toms drafted
Standout defenseman Connor Toms of the Soo Jr. Greyhounds of the Great North Midget Hockey League has become an Ontario Hockey League draft pick.
…[read more]