By Gary Moskalyk
Fort Frances 7-23-4 18 pts .265 7th GF 93 GA 157 -64 PIMs 711 PP% 13.9 PK% 80.2 at Kenora 2-29-1 5 pts .078 8th GF 63 GA 218 -155 PIMs 877 PP% 8.6 PK% 70.0 Tuesday
Head to Head: FFL 5-0-0 KEN 0-4-1
The Lakers have five points in their last three games.
Clark Scaddan’s productive weekend against Wisconsin (five points) gives him 27 on the year. Brady Krentz has 25 points and Jack Wood has 24. Brody Lindal has 22 points including five in his last three games. Pierce Gouin, 15, and Evan Kabel, 14, are next in line.
Jack Orchard continues to lead the goaltending corps with a 4-14-2 record with 1,175 minutes in net. Lukas Toth is 2-7-1 in 634 minutes, with Gunner Paradis in reserve.
The Lakers are 13.9 per cent successful on the powerplay, with an 80.2 per cent kill rate. The Lakers average 20.9 minutes per game in the penalty box. League average is 20.2.
Kenora defeated Thunder Bay 3-1 for their second ‘W’ of the season. Matthew Stephens stopped 44 of 45, and then played half of a second game stopping 38 of 41.
The Islanders are just under two goals per game offensively (63 in 32 games). Captain Aaron Bertschinger continues to produce with 14 goals and 12 assists in 32 games. John Paul Scaringi has 21 points, Brayden Mackay has 19, and defenceman Braden Swampy has nine goals (tied for the league lead among d-men) with five helpers in 28 games.
Stephens dropped his goal against average to below 6.00 (5.97) with his Thunder Bay weekend, and increased his save percentage to .903. Stephens has secured all five points the Islanders have. Kaden King and Connor Dunham-Fox are in reserve.
Kenora averages 27.4 penalty minutes per game, with a league-leading 877 in the books in just 32 games. The Islanders have an 8.6% powerplay and reached 70.0% on the penalty kill.
Wisconsin 11-17-4 26 pts .406 6th GF 111 GA 151 -40 PIMs 648 PP% 15.5 PK% 80.0 at Kam River 24-9-1 49 pts .721 3rd GF 162 GA 99 +63 PIMs 739 PP% 25.7 PK% 81.3 Fri/Sat
Head to head: WIS 1-3-0 KRW 3-1-0
Wisconsin has beaten all the top teams in the SIJHL with the exception of Sioux Lookout. On a given night, they can beat anyone, and have the stats to prove it.
Dillon Phillips leads the Lumberjacks in points with 35, good for 14th place in the SIJHL scoring race. His 16 goals lead the team. Zach Johnson has 29 points (13 goals). Rookie Nolan Fowler has 15 goals in just 25 games. Added to his nine assists his 24 points put him a tick below a point a game. Ryan Kayser has 23 points from his defence position. Rookie Collin Baker has 19 points (11 goals). Kaden Postal and rookie rearguard Connor Corcoran both have 16 points.
Rylan Freshwater, William Forrester and relative newcomer Riley Burnett share net duties. Freshwater is 6-5-0, Forrester 3-7-1, and Burnett 2-3-0 since joining the team Dec. 16th.
Wisconsin’s powerplay stands in at 15.5% on the year, with a penalty kill at 80.0%.
The Lumberjacks draw 20.3 penalty minutes per game.
Dryden 23-13-2 48 pts .632 4th GF 143 GA 118 +25 PIMs 809 PP% 22.7 PK% 78.9 at Fort Frances Fri/Sat
Head to head: DRY 4-1-0 FFL 1-4-0
Dryden enters their series against Fort Frances on a six-game heater.
Max Roby and McLaren Paulsen lead the Ice Dogs in goals with 21 apiece. Roby has 39 points to Paulsen’s 36. Eli Antoine has 31 points to sit 20th in league scoring.
Carson Devine, Bryce Benfield and Sean Smith all have 27 points each. Benfield has done his damage in 22 games and should be back in time for the playoffs. Ryland Maier has 12 goals and 11 assists. Sebastiano Biagi leads Dryden defencemen with 22 points. Fellow rearguard Tag Bryson has 20 points with 18 of them assists.
Forward James Hooton has been a shot in the arm offensively with five points (three goals) in his three games back from injury.
Christian Lynch joins the goaltending ranks. In two games, both wins, he’s allowed three goals with a .948 save percentage. Ewan Soutar is 12-6-1 with a 2.41 GAA and .924 SV%.
Dryden’s powerplay is 22.7% and the penalty kill is 78.9%. Dryden’s 21.3 penalty minutes per game is a tick above league average.
Red Lake 22-10-2 46 pts .676 5th GF 157 GA 93 +64 PIMs 621 PP% 22.2 PK% 87.5 at Sioux Lookout 25-6-4 54 pts .771 1st GF 143 GA 80 +63 PIMs 573 PP% 23.2 PK% 87.2 Fri/Sat
Head to head: RLM 0-0-1 SLB 1-0-0
In a scheduling quirk, Red Lake faces Sioux Lookout six times in their final 15 games. That’s a lot of tough sledding for both clubs. Red Lake is +64 in goal differential and Sioux Lookout is +63. Red Lake and Sioux Lookout sit 1-2 in penalty killing.
Aiden Corbett is 5th in league scoring with 23 goals and 22 assists for 45 points. Luke DeCorby cracks the top-20 with 32 points, 12 of them goals. Gabe Tanton trails Sioux Lookout’s Dayvan Bull by five points in the top offensive defenceman category. Tanton has 29 points to Bull’s 34. They’ll be going head to head on the weekend. Nathan Dann has 18 goals in 22 games. Rookie Noah Tenney has 28 points and has played all 34 games.
Defenceman Blake Hiltermann has 27 points, eight of them goals, in 30 games.
Carter Deschamps has 20 points. Three Miners have 17–Ryker Watt, Ethan Cerone and Landon van Engelen.
Ethan Nietsch heads the goaltending corps with a 7-6-2 record, 2.22 GAA and .936 SV%. Noah Davis is 9-3-0 with a 2.88 GAA and .903 SV%. Jackson Pundyk has two wins in his 140 minutes.
Red Lake’s powerplay is 22.2% and their penalty kill is 87.5%. The Miners have nine shorthanded goals to lead the league in that category.
Red Lake averages 18.3 penalty minutes per game.
The first place Bombers took three of a possible four points from the Fighting Walleye and are 7-1-2 in their last 10. They are ranked 20th according to the CJHL rankings released Monday.
Owen Riffel’s back, leading the league in goals with 26. His 47 points are 4th in league scoring. Blake and Connor Burke, the Sedin twins of the SIJHL, are at 41 points and 40 respectively. Blake has 16 goals to Connor’s 20. Defenceman Dayvan Bull has nine goals and 25 helpers in 30 games. He’s the only rearguard averaging over a point a game (1.13). Fellow defenceman Nolan Palmer has 25 points. Jonah Smith has 13 goals and 23 points. Cobe Delaney, rookie Owen Cotter and Tait Howell have 21, 18 and 17 points respectively.
As decent as their offense is, defence and goaltending is Sioux Lookout’s specialty. The Bombers have allowed 80 goals all season long.
Jack Osmond is 13-5-2/2.35/.937 in the triple crown goaltending categories. Matthew Spencer-Dahl is 7-1-2/1.68/.953 and Matthew Ofukany hasn’t lost yet. He’s 4-0-0/2.75/.914 in his 240 minutes.
The Bombers have a 23.2% powerplay and an 87.2% penalty kill. They’ve allowed a league low two shorthanded goals while scoring six.
Sioux Lookout averages 16.4 penalty minutes per game–second lowest in the league to Thunder Bay’s 15.8.