Dunbar, Whitten are talking
As first reported by HockeyNewsNorth.com, Damon Whitten has been named the tenth head coach in the 48-year hockey history of Lake Superior State University.
Whitten, the former Michigan State and Michigan Tech assistant, was introduced at a Saturday press conference on the LSSU campus.
The 37-year old Whitten replaces Jim Roque, who was fired on March 11 after nine seasons at the helm of the Lakers.
Following is some of what LSSU athletic director Kristin Dunbar had to say about Whitten — and what Whitten had to say about taking the Laker job. …[read more]
Warriors capture NAHL North
For the second time in their four-year existence, Michigan Warriors are headed to the North American Hockey League’s Robertson Cup championship tournament. …[read more]
Damon Whitten is new Laker coach
There is a new hockey coach in place at Lake Superior State University.
Damon Whitten was introduced at noon today as the new bench boss of the Lakers. …[read more]
Is Damon Whitten new Laker coach?
Lake Superior State University Lakers of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association will hold a press conference tomorrow at noon to announce the hiring of their new head coach. …[read more]
Soo Eagles to Detroit Red Wings
With starter Jimmy Howard battling the flu, Detroit Red Wings have called on 1994 birth-year goalie Jake Paterson to take his spot with the National Hockey League team. …[read more]
April on ice
On and off the ice, the hockey season plays on. …[read more]
Dan is the man in Brookings
Reputable junior coach Dan Daikawa has a new gig.
Brookings Blizzard of the North American Hockey League have hired Daikawa as head coach. …[read more]
Old school Moe and the Warriors
He is demanding but fair.
He is tough but has a soft side.
He is not easy to play for but his players play hard for him.
He is 53-year old Moe Mantha and he is the old-school coach of the Michigan Warriors of the North American Hockey League. …[read more]
Good as gold in Kirkland Lake
Hail to the champs from the mile of gold in historic Kirkland Lake.
In front of more than 1,000 frenzied fans at Joe Mavrinac Community Complex, Kirkland Lake Gold Miners edged Soo Thunderbirds 2-1 on Tuesday to win the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League championship. …[read more]
Good look ahead to ’14-15 Hounds
I am somewhat torn.
Try as I may, I am not sold on the belief that Soo Greyhounds will be better in 2014-2015 than they were in 2013-2014.
To me, the Hounds will be hard-pressed to replace four players in particular. …[read more]
Clayden kept NB Trappers afloat
David Beauchamp, who recently received approval from the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League to move his franchise from North Bay to Mattawa for the 2014-2015 season, has confirmed that Espanola Rivermen owner Tim Clayden kept the Trappers afloat for the 2013-2014 campaign.
As the NOJHL has approved the relocation of the Trappers from North Bay to Mattawa, Beauchamp and Clayden are currently involved in legal proceedings over who actually owns the NOJHL team.
At any rate, below is a copy of an-mail sent by Beauchamp to Clayden in February of this year acknowledging that Clayden kept the Trappers afloat for the 2013-2014 season. …[read more]
Tentative MWJHL-CIHL relationship
Should the new Canadian International Hockey League be approved for membership under the umbrella of the Amateur Athletic Union for the 2014-2015 season it figures to have a working relationship with the Midwest Jr. Hockey League.
MWJHL commissioner Scott Gardiner told HockeyNewsNorth.com on Monday that he met with CIHL founder Tim Clayden last week and the two discussed plans for a pair of showcase tournaments for next season. …[read more]
Here, there, where
We try not to put all of our eggs into one basket.
So, hoppity-hop we go on this Easter Monday, from here to there and possibly where. …[read more]
Soo forces Game 6 in KL
High-scoring forward Darcy Haines doubled his championship-round point total and Soo Thunderbirds have extended the best-of-seven Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League playoff final with Kirkland Lake Gold Miners. …[read more]
Laker coach interviews continue
The interview process will continue at Lake Superior State University on Tuesday.
Providence College assistant coach Ben Barr will be the latest candidate to visit LSSU. …[read more]
T-Birds in must-win mode
Win or stay home.
Soo Thunderbirds need a victory tonight to extend their best-of-seven Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League championship series with Kirkland Lake Gold Miners. …[read more]
Warriors winning ways
Michigan Warriors are one win away from capturing the North American Hockey League’s North Division playoff crown.
The Warriors blanked Port Huron Fighting Falcons 3-0 on Saturday to take a two-games-to-none lead in the best-of-five series. …[read more]
Michigan marathon
Colin Larkin scored at 5:37 of the third overtime period to give visiting Michigan Warriors a dramatic 1-0 victory over Port Huron Fighting Falcons in the opening game of the best-of-five series for the North American Hockey League’s North Division title. …[read more]
Road Warriors in Port Huron
Michigan Warriors are on the road to Port Huron for Game 1 of a best-of-five playoff series that will determine the champion of the North American Hockey League’s North Division. …[read more]
T-Birds need a Good Friday
Simply put, Soo Thunderbirds are in need of a victory tonight.
The regular-season champions lost 4-3 in overtime to Kirkland Lake Gold Miners on Thursday night and trail the best-of-seven, Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League championship series two games to one. …[read more]
Warriors chief respects Falcons
Michigan Warriors coach Moe Mantha likes where his North American Hockey League team is at.
Fresh from a three-game sweep of Janesville Jets in the first round of the playoffs, Michigan will face off against the Port Huron Fighting Falcons in a best-of-five series for the NAHL North Division crown. …[read more]
It’s now a best-of-five-series
There is less room for error.
The home-ice advantage has shifted.
And a best-of-seven series between Soo Thunderbirds and Kirkland Lake Gold Miners for the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League championship is now a best-of-five set. …[read more]
Silver medal for Silver Creek girls
Silver Creek Novice Wildcats of the Sault Female Hockey Association returned home from the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association provincial tournament recently with silver-medal honours.
The Wildcats won five straight games before falling 3-0 in the gold-medal game to the Sarnia Lady Sting. …[read more]
Laker coach interviews begin
Athletic director Kristin Dunbar is leading a series of interviews this week as Lake Superior State University zeroes in on a new head coach to replace Jim Roque, who was fired on March 11 after nine seasons at the helm of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association Lakers.
A search committee, headed by legendary coach Rick Comley — who guided Division 1 teams at LSSU, Northern Michigan University and Michigan State University over a 38-year period before retiring in 2011 — sifted through about 50 applications before moving forward a list of candidates to Dunbar. …[read more]
Soo Atom Wildcats strike gold
Hail to the champs.
Soo Great Lakes Bus Atom BB Wildcats captured the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association provincial championship over the weekend. …[read more]
Soo Eagles to Lawrence University
Brad Mueller is taking his talents as a steady, stay-at-home defenceman to the Lawrence University Vikings.
Mueller, a 6-foot-2, 195 pound, 1993 birth year from the Oak Park area of Chicago, played in 59 regular-season games for the Soo Eagles of the North American Hockey League in 2013-2014, scoring twice and adding five assists. …[read more]
OHL final four experience
It’s been said that there is no substitute for experience.
Well, the years of experience from among the general managers who have taken their teams to the conference finals in the Ontario Hockey League this season is significant, to say the least. …[read more]
Hounds, Hawks in Las Vegas
Six teams representing three junior hockey leagues sanctioned by the American Athletic Union will compete for a national championship in Las Vegas this week.
From this area, Traverse City Hounds will represent the Midwest Jr. Hockey League as champions from the 2013-2014 season. And Soo Firehawks, who lost to Traverse City in the league finals, are representing the MWJHL as its second seed. …[read more]
CIHL hires veteran official
The new Canadian International Hockey League has named veteran referee George Harrison as its Director of Officiating effective the 2014-2015 season.
Harrison has spent more than 15 years as an official in the professional ranks with stops in the Colonial Hockey League, United Hockey League, East Coast Hockey League, Central Hockey League and Western Professional Hockey League. …[read more]
NAHL North showdown
The top two teams from the regular season will face off for the North American Hockey League’s North Division playoff championship.
Port Huron Fighting Falcons and Michigan Warriors will meet in a best-of-five series to determine the North Division rep at the NAHL’s Robertson Cup Championship Tournament. …[read more]
Why chirp the CIHL?
So, the newly-formed Canadian International Hockey League intends to take to the ice for the 2014-2015 season with between six to 10 Ontario-based teams.
The new Tier 2 junior league is designed to be a global loop made up of Canadian, American and European players.
Espanola Rivermen owner Tim Clayden is the founder of the CIHL and he brings his team there from the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League where it finished third in the standings and first on the attendance chart in 2013-2014.
To be sure, Clayden isn’t leaving the NOJHL with hugs and kisses for certain team governors or commissioner Robert Mazzuca. …[read more]
KL ties up the Soo
Advantage, Kirkland Lake.
Kirkland Lake Gold Miners have seized home-ice advantage in their best-of-seven, Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League championship series with Soo Thunderbirds. …[read more]
T-Birds take title tilt opener
Gavin Burbach scored just past the five-minute mark of the second overtime period to lift Soo Thunderbirds to a 2-1 victory over Kirkland Lake Gold Miners in Game 1 of the best-of-seven, Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League championship series Saturday night at the Essar Centre. …[read more]
NOJHL finals begin tonight
Soo Thunderbirds and Kirkland Lake Gold Miners will face off tonight in Game 1 of the best-of-seven, Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League championship series.
Game 2 will also be played here on Sunday night. …[read more]
Michigan Warriors moving on
Hail to the Warriors.
Colin Larkin scored a pair of goals — including the game winner with less than three minutes to play — and Trevor Gorsuch made 31 saves as Michigan Warriors completed a three-game, opening-round, playoff sweep of Janesville Jets on Friday with a 3-2 road win. …[read more]
D1 deal for Soo Eagles forward
Power forward Mike Sabatini has committed to play for the Canisius College Golden Griffins of the Division 1, Atlantic Hockey Association effective the 2014-2015 season.
Sabatini, a 6-foot-1, 185 pounder, led the Soo Eagles of the North American Hockey League in scoring during the 2013-2014 season with 19 goals, 22 assists, 41 points in 58 games. …[read more]
Long-time NOJHL exec joins CIHL
The reputable Dean Pauli, who has held management positions with teams in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League and Ontario Jr. Hockey League, has joined the new Canadian International Hockey League as its Vice President and Chairman of the Discipline Committee.
A top investigator with the Ontario Provincial Police, Pauli is a Sault Ste. Marie native who has resided in the North Bay area for a number of years. …[read more]
Hockey season just keeps going
Fewer teams are playing today that were when the month started.
Some never made the playoffs to begin with.
Others have since been eliminated.
But activity has not subsided. …[read more]
Warriors get the message
Veteran headmaster Moe Mantha delivered a strong but simple message to his Michigan Warriors before the start of the North American Hockey League playoffs. …[read more]
What’s next for Hounds?
Anyone call for Erie Otters to sweep Soo Greyhounds in four straight in the second round of the Ontario Hockey League playoffs?
I know I didn’t.
Maybe I was being a homer — though I am not known for giving the Houndtown discount — but I did feel the Soo had the team to take Erie in a seven-game series. …[read more]
LSSU Laker coach update
It figures that the search for a new head coach of the Lake Superior State University Lakers is winding down.
Friday is the closing date for applications for the position that has been vacant since Jim Roque was fired on March 11 after nine years as Laker bench boss. …[read more]
CIHL is official
The Canadian International Hockey League has made its formation official.
CIHL founder Tim Clayden has served official notice that the Tier 2 junior league will begin operations effective the upcoming 2014-2015 season. …[read more]
Michigan Warriors take charge
So far so good for Michigan Warriors, who have picked a good time to solve an opposing puzzle.
The Warriors have taken a two games to none lead in their first-round, best-of-five, North American Hockey League playoff series with Janesville Jets. …[read more]
Erie Otters a formidable force
Erie Otters are in a sweet spot heading into Game 3 of their second-round, best-of-seven, Ontario Hockey League playoff series with Soo Greyhounds.
The Otters snagged successive wins on the road last week to take a 2-0 series lead over the Greyhounds with Game 3 tonight in Erie.
Playoffs included, the Otters have an OHL-best record of 32-3-1 on home ice this season.
And home is where Erie is at tonight and Tuesday. …[read more]
Soo-KL for NOJHL crown
And then there were two.
One and two.
Soo Thunderbirds and Kirkland Lake Gold Miners were the top two teams during the 2013-2014 regular season.
Ergo, it seems only right that the Soo and Kirkland Lake have emerged from the first two rounds of the playoffs and will face off in a best-of-seven series for the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League championship. …[read more]
Coach Hartsburg
Like father, like son.
33-year old Chris Hartsburg is following in the coaching footsteps of his 54-year old dad, Craig Hartsburg.
And as the old man is in his 25th season in the coaching ranks — and second as the associate bench boss of the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League — the kid is also doing alright for himself. …[read more]
In control in the NAHL North
Port Huron Fighting Falcons and Michigan Warriors have taken 2-0 leads in the opening round of their respective best-of-five playoff series. …[read more]
Hounds top dog Anthony Salinitri
Soo Greyhounds made Anthony Salinitri of the Windsor Jr. Spitfires their first-round selection at the 2014 Ontario Hockey League draft that is being held today via the Internet. …[read more]
Ashton Calder a hidden gem?
North American Central Scouting chief Mark Seidel calls Soo Indians winger Ashton Calder a “hidden gem” going into Saturday’s Ontario Hockey League draft. …[read more]