Dryden took three of four points last week. Their current points streak is 10 games. The Ice Dogs have a lone home tilt against on Friday night against the North Stars in Week 18. The Ice Dogs dropped from 11th to 13th in the CJHL rankings released Monday, January 20th.
McLaren Paulsen continues to lead the team with 50 points. Max Roby (48), Carson Devine (45) and Payton Hu (43) are in the SIJHL top 10. Eli Antoine (39) and Emmanuel Nkombou (35) are in the top 20. Nkombou’s 110 penalty minutes tops the charts.
Kellan Mooney is 15-2-1 and leads the SI with a 2.34 goals against average.
Dryden’s power play ranks second at 28.4% and the penalty kill is third at 82.8%.
Kam River tees up a weekend pair at home against Red Lake in Week 18. The Walleye are 7-3-0 in their last 10. They’re a point ahead of Sioux Lookout in the battle for second place.
Daxton Lang paces the league in goals (25), assists (39) and points (64). Jett Mintenko has 60 points with 23 goals. Kaden Goodwin (19-29-48) is 6th in scoring. Edwin Liang is third among defencemen with 24 points.
Ashton Sadauskas is carrying the freight in net, sporting a league-leading 17 wins and 1,484 minutes between the pipes.
On special teams, Kam River has a 26.0% PP and 82.5% PK.
The Bombers swept a pair against Ironwood and have a lone game in Kenora on tap. Sioux Lookout has the longest current winning streak at six consecutive victories.
Alex Lucas (24-23-47) and Jonah Smith (12-28-40) pace the team in scoring. Matthew Ofukany is 14-3-0 in net. He crested the 1,000-minute mark with 1,022 last week. Matthew Spencer-Dahl is 7-6-1 in 961 minutes. The Bombers lead the SIJHL with the lowest GAA overall (90 goals in 34 games).
The Bombers improved to 16.4% and 83.7% on the power play and penalty kill respectively.
Thunder Bay won one of their three Week 17 games and will play three different opponents in Week 18. They entertain Red Lake in a rare Wednesday morning (11:00 a.m. EST) start at the Gardens. The Stars hit the road for a Friday match against Dryden and a Saturday contest in Fort Frances.
Tyler Jordan is 4th in league scoring with 23 goals and 26 assists. Five of his teammates: Beau Helmeczi, 40, Marcellus Francis and Evan Simeoni 37, Tag Bryson, 36, and Alex Remenda, 33, are in the top-20. Francis hit 20 goals in 24 games. Bryson leads all defencemen in points.
Keenan Marks, 9-7-2/2.88/.919, will likely see the bulk of work in net.
Thunder Bay’s power play is at 23.7% and the penalty kill is an outstanding 89.7%.
Fort Frances recorded a confidence building 4-3 OT win over Dryden last Saturday. Ironwood and Thunder Bay visit this Ice For Kids Arena this weekend.
Brady Krentz, 17 goals and 24 assists, is the Lakers top scorer. Jack Wood, Pierce Gouin and Tie Schumacher and Evan Kabel add depth to the offence. The Lakers number one 29.9% power play and solid goaltending are front and centre of their revival. Gunnar Paradis is 8-4-0 with a 2.72 GAA and .928 SV%. Nolan Koethler is 7-8-1 with a 3.52/.907 slash line.
Red Lake is in a seven-game losing streak and had Week 17 off due to postponed games. They travel to Thunder Bay for a Wednesday game and then host the Fighting Walleye on the weekend. Despite the recent dry spell their goal differential is still only minus-5.
Nathan Dann is the lone Miner in the top-20 with 34 points. Quinn Szpak has 30 points in 31 games. Rookie Koen Webber leads the squad with an 8-6-1 record between the pipes. The Miners have a 17.6% power play and 77.1% penalty kill.
Ironwood is on a four-game losing streak, 3-7-0 in their last 10. They have a lone road game against Fort Frances on Friday.
Leading the way offensively is Marshall Thomas with 17 goals and 24 helpers. Matteo Salvatore, Aidan Charron, Josh Gulden and Collin Baker are all over 20 points. The Lumberjacks have 97 team goals.
Trent Boryszczuk is 6-7-1 in net, sporting a .933 SV%. Kole Kronstedt is among the leaders in net time with 1,207 minutes.
The Lumberjacks have a 21.1% PP and a 63.2% PK. Ironwood has the least penalty minutes, 438, in the league.
Kenora host Sioux Lookout on Friday in their lone Week 18 game. Week 17 saw two Islanders games postponed.
|  | THUNDER BAY NORTH STARS AT DRYDEN GM ICE DOGS |  | |
Tuesday: Thunder Bay 3, Dryden 6 |
Eli Antoine scored the game winner at 16:42 of the third and Kellan Mooney made 41 saves as Dryden stretched their points streak to nine games with a 6-3 win over Thunder Bay before 450 fans at Dryden Memorial Arena. Payton Hu tacked on an insurance marker at 17:47 and Emmanuel Nkombou slid in an empty netter with 11 seconds left in the game while killing a penalty to account for the final score.
Thunder Bay tied the game at 3-3 at 12:56 of the third on a Connor Larrett face off win and subsequent goal by Acoyen Fehr.
The Ice Dogs opened up a six-point lead atop the standings while snapping the Stars five-game winning streak .
Dryden jumped out to a 1-0 lead 21 seconds into the contest. Elias Eisenbarth hit double-digits with his 10th on a rebound past Keenan Marks. Thunder Bay replied with two goals late in the frame. Chance Loke got his second of the year on a wrist shot on a Thunder Bay powerplay at 16:32, and Tyler Jordan scored on a 2-on-1 at 17:58 on a partial breakaway.
Dryden tied the game and took a 3-2 lead by 2:23 of the second period. Jordan Wales scored on the power play at 1:47 after Marks stymied several Dryden chances, and Max Roby fed Carson Devine 36 seconds later for his 13th marker of the year.
The teams battled through 30 minutes of scoreless play until Fehr tied the contest at 3-3. Dryden struck for three goals in less than three minutes late in the third salting it away.
Antoine added a pair of assists to secure first star status. His lone goal was his 20th. Nkombou also had an assist and Roby chipped in with two helpers for Dryden.
Marcellus Francis had two assists for Thunder Bay. Dryden outshot Thunder Bay 46-44. Thunder Bill killed off a five-minute major to Beau Helmeczi in the first, and Eisenbarth had two shot blocks in addition to his goal.
Dryden took 19 of 37 penalty minutes in the contest. Both teams were 1-4 with the man advantage. |
|  | KAM RIVER FIGHTING WALLEYE AT THUNDER BAY NORTH STARS |  | |
Friday: Kam River 1, Thunder Bay 2 |
Tyler Jordan scored eight seconds into a Thunder Bay penalty kill for the game winner as the North Stars took a 2-1 decision over the Fighting Walleye in a tight, play-off style tilt at Fort William Gardens.
Keenan Marks stopped 35 of 36 for his ninth win. Ashton Sadauskas shunted aside 37 of 39 in the Kam River net.
The game was scoreless through one period. Marcellus Francis opened the scoring at 8:48 of the second, teeing up a Jordan face-off win for his 19th of the campaign to give the Stars a 1-0 lead through two frames.
Max Wright countered for the Walleye, scoring on a rebound off an Adam Kukko shot for his eight of the year at 5:38 of the third.
Jordan's game winner was an unassisted shorthanded effort. Jordan won the draw, bulldozed his way through the Kam defence and snapping home his 23rd of the season at 11:54.
From there Marks and Sadauskas continued their stellar play. Sadauskas came up big with five minutes left, Marks did the splits to foil Wright's bid for the game tying goal. Sadauskas was pulled for an extra man with 1:31 left. The SI's top producer--Daxton Lang--was shut down with seconds left by Marks as the Stars prevailed before 1,379 patrons.
Both penalty kill units were perfect. The Walleye killed off four penalties while Thunder Bay shut down five Kam River opportunities. Kam River drew five minor penalties to Thunder Bay's four. |
Saturday: Kam River 4, Thunder Bay 1 |
Kam River was full value for an early three-goal lead, as they avenged Friday's loss with a 4-1 win before 812 fans at Fort William Gardens. All the scoring was done in the first period.
Carter Nailen was the star offensively with a pair of goals, while Ashton Sadauskas stopped 30 of 31 shots for his league-leading 17th win.
Sadauskas and Keenan Marks squared off in net for the second straight game. Marks saved 43 of 47 and saw his record fall to 9-7-2.
The Walleye went to work early, scoring three goals in a five-minute span starting with Max Wright's high slot five-hole one-timer at 3:09. Nailen's first, a rebound snipe at 6:12 made it 2-0, and Jett Mintenko's backhander, his 23rd, upped the ante to three-zip at 8:09.
Marcellus Francis' 20th, a top shelfer on a Thunder Bay power play at 14:24, cut the lead to 3-1. Nailen's second of the game, a high backhander with 11 seconds left in the first, rounded out the scoring.
The Walleye outshot the Stars 19-11 through one, and had Thunder Bay on its heels especially early on. Marks stopped 28 and Sadauskas 20 through the next two periods.
Wright added an assist and Edwin Liang had two helpers to aid the Walleye offence.
Kam River was 0-3 on the power play while Thunder Bay was 1-6. A major brouhaha erupted at the end of the first. Thunder Bay killed off a five-minute major penalty to start the second frame. Kam River took 18 of 31 penalty minutes called by Scott Wrigley and Tim Vaillant. |
|  | FORT FRANCES LAKERS AT/VS DRYDEN GM ICE DOGS |  | |
Friday: Fort Frances -, Dryden - |
Postponed |
Saturday: Dryden 3, Fort Frances 4 (OT) |
It took two gunners, but the Fort Frances Lakers defeated the first place Dryden Ice 4-3 in overtime. Gunnar Simon's fifth goal of the year at 5:10 of extra time and Gunner Paradis' 39 saves proved decisive as the Lakers overcame a 3-1 first period deficit for arguably their biggest win of the year.
Evan Mayer's one-timer on a 2-on-1 drew first blood as the Dogs scored at 3:48 of the first frame. Tie Schumacher's ninth on a breakaway high glove on Kellan Mooney tied it at 5:05. Emmanuel Nkombou breakout pass sent Max Roby into the clear for his 23rd at 11:56. Brodie Scopick's first as an Ice Dog, a dangle followed by a backhander, put the visitors up by 3-1 through 20 minutes.
Fort Frances tied it up 3-3 in the second. Carter Deschamps snuck one under Mooney's pad unassisted at 7:18, and Simon's first of the game on a Schumacher assist knotted the score.
Shots were 27-24 in favour of Dryden through two periods and were 11 apiece in a scoreless third. Dryden outshot Fort Frances 4-3 in overtime.
Dryden's Evan Mayer and McKale Paul had good chances against Paradis in overtime, and Mooney shut down Nolan Barker's opportunity before Simon's strike. Barker's point shot was redirected by Ian Ness and Simon was there to cash the rebound.
The fifth-place Lakers are eight points behind Thunder Bay and have a nine point lead on the Red Lake Miners. Kam River's win coupled with Dryden's lone point gives Dryden a five point lead atop the SIJHL standings with a two-games in hand on the Walleye. Despite the overtime loss, the Ice Dogs have points in 10 straight.
Paradis improved his record to 8-4-0 while Mooney fell--gently--to 15-2-1.
The SIJHL's two top power plays were held off the scoresheet. Dryden was 0-2, Fort Frances was 0-4. Attendance at Ice For Kids Arena was 351. |
|  | IRONWOOD LUMBERJACKS AT SIOUX LOOKOUT BOMBERS |  | |
Friday: Ironwood 1, Sioux Lookout 6 |
Ty Kirk netted a hat trick as the Sioux Lookout Bombers defeated the visiting Ironwood Lumberjacks 6-1 before 281 fans at the Hangar.
Kirk opened the scoring at 5:45 of the first period, burying a pass from Jonah Smith past Trent Boryszczuk for a 1-0 Sioux Lookout lead. Marshall Thomas replied unassisted for Ironwood when his centering pass deflected off a skate past Matthew Ofukany at 9:39. Kirk picked up a rebound 45 seconds later to put the Bombers up 2-1 through 20.
Sioux Lookout scored three unanswered second period goals 2:47 apart to put the game away.
Sage Roberts scored on a goal mouth scramble, Kirk got his hat trick marker on a snipe blocker side and Ty Lone completed the uprising with a sharp angle goal at 10:34. Boryszczuk was pulled at that point in favour of Kole Kronstedt.
Ashton Cuvelier closed out the scoring at 7:21 of the third.
Final shots favoured the Bombers 53-26.
Sioux Lookout struck twice on the power play on three chances while Ironwood was 0-4. Both teams were assessed five minor penalties.
Ofukany stopped 25 of 26 for his 14th win against three losses. Boryszczuk shouldered his seventh loss, stopping 28 of 33. Kronstedt saved 19 of 20. |
Saturday: Ironwood 2, Sioux Lookout 5 |
Sioux Lookout rumbled out to a 4-0 first period lead, made it 5-0 by 6:38 of the second, and held off Ironwood for a 5-2 win at the Hangar. The Bombers stayed one point behind second place Kam River with a game in hand.
Michael Casey had two goals, Owen Cotter a goal and three helpers, Jonah Smith and Gursimar Mann had a goal and assist each, and Tait Howell added three assists to lead the way for Sioux Lookout. Matthew Spencer-Dahl stopped 36 of 38 for win number seven. Kole Kronstedt was pelted with 43 shots in the loss.
The game had a late start due to bus issues. The Bombers started the game on fire. Casey snapped home his second of the year glove side at 1:31 of the first. Just 21 seconds later, Cotter's ninth doubled the lead. Casey's point shot on a Bomber power play at 10:53 made it 3-0, and Smith's 12th on a Bomber power play at 18:08 rounded out the explosion.
Mann's fifth slid under Kronstedt's pad at 6:38 of the second period for a 5-0 lead. Marshall Thomas got the Lumberjacks on the board one minute later. His 17th came on a rebound.
Aidan Charron's 13th came on a goal mouth pass from Matteo Salvatore at 2:51 of the third to round out the scoring.
The Bombers special teams killed off seven Ironwood power play chances while striking twice on three power play opportunities.
Attendance at the Hangar was 213. |
|  | KENORA DEVIL'S GAP ISLANDERS AT/VS RED LAKE MINERS |  | |
Friday: Kenora -, Red Lake - |
Postponed |
Saturday: Red Lake -, Kenora - |
Postponed |