The SIJHL will crest the half-way point of the 2024-25 regular season in Week 13. Eight weekend games are on the slate.
First place Dryden has a six-point lead. Four teams are tightly packed in the second tier. Second place Sioux Lookout and fifth place Fort Frances are separated by four points. Kam River and Thunder Bay are sandwiched in between. Sixth place Red Lake is still north of .500 with a plus-three in goal differential with games in hand.
The Lumberjacks and Islanders are 3-18-2 and 2-21-2 respectively.
The Ice Dogs lead the league in several categories. Captain McLaren Paulsen continues to top the circuit in goals with 20, and points, 47. Carson Devine (11-28-39), Max Roby (19-18-37) and Payton Hu (15-22-37) sit 4th, 5th and 6th in the points race. Eli Antoine and Emmanuel Nkombou are in the top-20. The ‘Dogs have the best power play at 31.0%.
Things are looking good in net as well. Kellan Mooney leads all goaltenders with 12 wins, a 2.29 goals against average, and two shut outs. He’s .001 behind Gunner Paradis of Fort Frances in save percentage title (.927).
Sioux Lookout salvaged an overtime point in their two-game road swing into Fort Frances. They’re still 7-2-1 in their last 10.
Alex Lucas’ 34 points (19G-15A) has him 8th in the scoring race. Jonah Smith is number two with 24 points.
Sioux Lookouts’ calling card has always been defence. The Bombers are right there in fewest goals allowed, 67.
The Matthew Boys–Ofukany and Spencer-Dahl–are at 2.54 and 2.82 in GAA, sporting .915 and .918 save percentages respectively.
Kam River is tied with Thunder for third place with 32 points. They have 16 wins to the Stars 15, but have played one more game. Both teams are a point behind Sioux Lookout for second.
Jett Mintenko (43) and Daxton Lang (42) give the Fighting Walleye two of the three 40-point men is the SI. Kaden Goodwin (30), and Carter Poddubny (25) are both in the top-20.
Rookie Tie Schumacher has 22 points.
Ashton Sadauskas carries the load in net. His 11 wins are second in the league. He’s a start away from reaching 1,000 minutes in goal.
New head coach Larry Wintoneak has an 11-3-0 record since being hired. Kam River is the only team to not play a minute of overtime.
Thunder Bay’s 123 goals is number one offence in the league based on goals per game (5.35). The Stars are on a five-game points streak.
Captain Tyler Jordan has 35 points with a 17G/18A split. Beau Helmeczi has 33 points. Top rookie Evan Simeoni has 29 points, tied with Alex Remenda. Defenceman Tag Bryson and his 27 helpers, has 28. Cohen Tangedal, out with a foot injury for a couple of months has 25 points. Marcellus Francis has cooled off a tad with 23 points in 14 games.
Ben Laurette (10-3-0/2.69/.921), and Keenan Marks (5-3-2/3.06/.910) share netminding chores.
The Stars’ penalty kill is clicking along at 91.3%. They’ve allowed seven goals in 80 kills, scoring three shorties in the process.
The Lakers took two from Sioux Lookout in Week 12, further establishing their credentials. Captain Brady Krentz has 31 points (13G-18A). Jack Wood and Evan Kabel have 23 and 20 points respectively.
The Lakers power play is second best at 31.0%. They’ve scored 32 goals while allowing just one with the man advantage.
Gunner Paradis (5-3-0) leads the league with a .928 save percentage. Rookie Nolan Koethler is 7-5-1 with 981 cage minutes.
Red Lake is 5-2-3 in their last 10. Nathan Dann leads the 6th place team in scoring with 14 goals and 27 points. Rookie Quinn Szpak, 23, and Gabe Tanton, 20, are the other 20-point players.
Rookie Koen Webber sports a 6-2-1 record in net. Ethan Rau is 2-2-1.
The Miners have not allowed a shorthanded goal in 83 power plays.
Ironwood is 1-8-1 in their last 10. Forward Marshall Thomas continues to be a bright spot. The ’04-born Thomas has 12 goals and 22 assists in 24 games. Nolan Fowler has 21 points.
Recent acquisition Trent Boryszczuk has a 3-3-1 record overall. Kole Kronstedt leads the league in goaltender minutes with 1,023.
The Lumberjacks 24.1% per cent power play is 4th in the league.
Kenora has a lone win in their last 10 games. The Islanders 609 penalty minutes leads the league. Their penalty kill has improved as of late.
Josh Boyko’s 10 goals and 13 points lead the team.
Newcomer Ethan Beattie has seen the lion’s share of net time recently, recording the Islanders’ last win with a 45-save performance against Ironwood.
 | AT THUNDER BAY NORTH STARS |  | ||
| Tyler Jordan scored into an empty net with six seconds left in overtime as Thunder Bay overcame a three-goal deficit to defeat Red Lake 4-3 before 350 fans at Fort William Gardens. The Miners struck for their three goals in a 3:45 span of the first. Flynn Maxcy jammed in his fourth at 8:31, Kai Hughes beat Ben Laurette on a spin-around move at 11:38, and Quinn Szpak notched his eighth on a low wrister glove side at 12:16 to culminate the mid-period barrage. Keagan Jones chipped a goal off the lead with his fourth of the campaign, scoring on a centering feed from Peter Forester at 15:18 as the Stars went to work. Easton Glousher got his eighth at 2:35 of the second to tighten the score to 3-2, scoring on a Red Lake turnover and pass from Jones. Defenceman Max Buffone got his second of the year at 13:22 of the third on a Stars' powerplay, firing a blast from the point to tie the game. Red Lake successfully killed off an early two-minute minor in overtime. With 2:05 left, Stone rolled the dice by pulling his goalie for an extra attacker. To be sure, the Miners had their looks to win the game. Jones and Chance Loke of Thunder Bay iced the puck looking for the empty netter to seal the win. Forward Nathan Dann stole a goal off Jordan with 20 seconds left by making a miraculous save, but the Stars' forward got another chance and buried his 17th at 6:54 of period four for the Stars win. Thunder Bay rolled to their fourth consecutive victory to pull within a point of second place Sioux Lookout. The Miners took 21 of 34 penalty minutes. Thunder Bay was 1-8 with the man advantage, while killing off four minors. Jones and Glousher added assists, and Evan Simeoni had two helpers to bolster the Stars' offence. Maxcy was the lone two-point man for Red Lake. Koen Webber stopped 40 of 43 in 64:55 of action for Red Lake. Ben Laurette handled 34 of 37 in 66:54 for his 10th win against three losses. |
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 | AT KENORA DEVIL'S GAP ISLANDERS |  | ||
| Dominic Collins deflected Dontae Bear's shot at 4:19 of the second to give Kenora a 1-0 lead, but the Lakers crashed the Island for six straight in the middle frame, adding four more in the third, for a 10-2 win before a large noisy school day crowd in Kenora. Pierce Gouin tied the game at 5:56 on a Lakers power play. Additional power play strikes by Landon Lowes and Nolan Barker, an unassisted tally by Carter Deschamps, Brady Krentz' ninth at even strength, and Emerson Evans' shorthanded and unassisted tally at 18:01 rounded out the second period scoring for the Lakers. Ian Snooks made it 7-1 at 3:01 of the third, Josh Boyko's ninth reduced the lead to five, but goals by Gunnar Simon, Lowes and Krentz polished off the scoring. Nolan Koethler picked up win number four. James Sinclair was on the hook for all 10 goals against for the Islanders. Lowes added two assists for four points. Simon and Evans had two assists each in addition to their goals. |
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| VS/AT KAM RIVER FIGHTING WALLEYE |  | ||
| Jett Mintenko scored a hat trick, Daxton Lang had five points, Carter Nailen scored a pair and assisted on two and Sam Keene recorded his first shutout as the Fighting Walleye routed the Islanders 11-0. Kam River outshot Kenora 65-17, including 33 in a six-goal second period. Nailen's pair of goals put the Walleye up 2-0. Lang got his 16th on a Kam River power play to make it 3-0. Mintenko, Nico Simeoni, Carter Poddubny, Callum Halls, Mintenko and Cole Piccinin bulged the twine in the second frame. Piccinin got his first of the season on a rebound for a 9-0 lead. Mintenko got his hatty midway through the third and Lang got his 17th with two minutes left to close out the scoring. Only four minor penalties were called. The Walleye were 1-2 with the extra man. Mintenko added an assist for a four-point night, giving him 41 points on the year. Lang joined the 40-point club. Piccinin, Simeoni and Halls had two points, and Tie Schumacher registered two assists in the lopsided win. Keene reached the .900 save percentage mark, making 17 saves to elevate his season record to 3-4-0. Ethan Beattie let in eight goals on 36 shots. Ben Cailo came on in relief after Mintenko's second goal at 11:25 of the second, saving 26 of 29 in 28:35 of work. Attendance at Norwest Arena was 305. |
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| Kam River scored the final six goals en route to a 10-3 win over Kenora before 410 fans at Norwest Arena. The game was close for over half the game. Josh Boyko tallied unassisted for the Islanders at 13:38 of the second period to shave the Walleye lead to 4-3. Nicholas Fagnilli and Even Lachimea on a Kam River power play made it 6-3 after 40, and four unanswered third period snipes led by Zach Baumann's pair with solos by Tie Schumacher and Cole Piccinin salted it away. The Walleye edged to within a point of second place Sioux Lookout, tied with Thunder Bay, with the weekend haul. Sam Sargent and Kaden Goodwin scored 1:10 apart in the first period to stake Kam to 2-0 lead. Despite being outshot 27-7 the Islanders tied it up late in the frame. Maliq West got his first goal of the season, picking up a loose puck and getting it through Ashton Sadauskas at 17:27, and Keestin Deschamps went low pad after a fortuitous bounce--perhaps two--found him wide open on the doorstep. Carter Poddubny restored the lead with a breakaway goal--his 11th--at 13 seconds of the middle frame. Daxton Lang got his 18th on a five-hole breakaway snipe to make it 4-2. Boyko's unassisted goal at 13:38 on a failed clearing attempt going off his body and in tightened the score to 4-3. The Islander stream of good luck ran out from that point forward. Eight Fighting Walleye registered two points or more. Poddubny added three assists for four points, Piccinin and Fagnilli had three, Brodie McLeod had three assists, Lachimea and Lang added assists, Adam Caddo had two apples, and Baumann had his two goals in the third. Sadauskas made 18 saves in the win, giving him 11 W's on the season. Boyko added an assist for Kenora. Ethan Beattie finished with 47 stops for Kenora. Kam River's Callum Halls was leveled on a clean hit from Tallen Caron in the third period. The game turned contentious after that. |
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 | AT THUNDER BAY NORTH STARS | | ||
| Evan Mayer's one-timer was the deciding factor, as first place Dryden defeated Thunder Bay 4-3 in overtime. Kellan Mooney won his league-leading 12th, shunting aside 35 of 38 shots. Third period power play goals by Max Buffone and Beau Helmeczi allowed the Stars to tie it. Dryden took a 3-1 second period lead after a scoreless first. Jordan Wales connected for his eighth at 8:08, beating Keenan Marks glove side to open the scoring for Dryden. Tyler Jordan's wrap around was stymied by Mooney, but Acoyen Fehr was there to cash in the rebound as the Stars tied the game at 12:15. Eli Antoine picked up a loose puck in the crease at 18:51, and Payton Hu scored unassisted just 12 seconds later as the Ice Dogs forged a 3-1 edge heading into the third. Thunder Bay outshot Dryden 17-6 in the third. Buffone's slap shot from the point made it 3-2 at 7:30, and Helmeczi's doorstep snipe with exactly no seconds left on a Stars' power play at 17:58, tied the contest. Marks made a couple of big saves in the Stars' net, but was no match for Mayer's one-timer at 2:32 of extra time. Marks stopped 39 of 43 for Thunder Bay. Dryden had no power play chances. Thunder Bay was 2-3. Only seven minor penalties were called--six to Dryden. Wales and Hu added assists for the Ice Dogs. The win, coupled Sioux Lookout's one-point weekend, allowed Dryden to open up a six-point gap atop the SIJHL standings. A crowd of 550 attended. |
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 | AT FORT FRANCES LAKERS | | ||
| Ian Ness scored at 18:22 of the third period as the Fort Frances Lakers defeated Sioux Lookout 5-4 before a home town crowd of 327 fans. The Lakers led 4-1 but consecutive goals by Noah McPherson, Alex Lucas and Beau Bannerman tied it up. Nolan Koethler made 43 saves for the win, outdueling Matthew Ofukany, who shunted aside 23 of 28. Fort Frances led 3-1 after one. Evan Kabel's end-to-end dash, deke and deposit got the Lakers off on the right skate. Brady Krentz went bar down for his 11th at 11:21 to double the lead. Ty Kirk shaved the lead to one, beating Koethler on a rebound at 19:32. Krentz got his second of the game just 16 seconds later to regain a two-goal edge for the Lakers before the expiration of the period. Noah McPherson deflected Nolan Barker's point shot at 8:53 of the second period to build the Lakers' lead to 4-1. Alex Lucas banked one off Koethler from an impossible angle to reduce the margin to two. Sioux Lookout's Beau Bannerman got one through traffic and Brodie Wood scored unassisted on a power play at 12:41 of the third to tie the score at four-all. Ness corralled a loose puck and shot it over Ofukany's pad and in for the game winner with 1:38 left. Sioux Lookout pulled Ofukany with 1:19 left but couldn't find the equalizer. Ness added an assist and Pierce Gouin had three helpers in addition to Krentz' two goals. |
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| Fort Frances forged a hard-earned weekend home sweep over the reigning SIJHL champions with a 4-3 overtime win before 426 fans at Ice For Kids Arena. Ian Ness scored at 4:14 of extra time to break a 3-3 tie--his second game-winning goal in a row. Nolan Koethler made 34 saves for his seventh win of the year. Brodie Wood put the Bombers ahead 1-0 at 4:08 of the first with a top shelf drive. Ness got his first of the game at 8:07 on a breakaway snipe over the glove of Matthew Spencer-Dahl to tie it. Jack Wood and Brady Krentz made it 3-1 for Fort Frances in the middle session. Ian Snooks' pass allowed Wood to cash his 11th at 4:48. Krentz banged home his 13th off the post and in on a Lakers' power play at 11:17. Alex Lucas narrowed the lead to 3-2, scoring his 19th on a blocker side shot at 14:56. In the third, with Spencer-Dahl off for an extra attacker, Kaden Veller struck with 21 seconds left in regulation to knot the score at 3-3. The Bombers outshot Fort Frances 4-2 in four-on-four overtime. Ness deflected Gavin Simon's pass for the game winner. Krentz added an assist for two points for the Lakers. Lucas had two points for the Bombers. Sioux Lookout took five of the six minor penalties and had no power play chances. The Lakers were 1-4 with the man advantage. Spencer-Dahl made 32 saves for Sioux Lookout. Fort Frances climbed to within four points of second place and ran their winning streak to three. |
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