Week 18 Recap

The powerhouse Dryden Ice Dogs enter Week 19 in unfamiliar territory. They lost one in overtime and one in regulation to see their lead dwindle to two points over Kam River. The Pack still has games in hand–three over the second place Fighting Walleye for example–but the stage is set for an dramatic end to the regular season.

The ‘Dogs slipped three slots to 16th place in the latest CJHL rankings released January 27th.

Sioux Lookout and Thunder Bay are four points off the pace.

Max Roby and McLaren Paulsen have 50 points each, with Carson Devine at 46 and Payton Hu at 44. Eli Antoine, 39, and Emmanuel Nkombou, 35, are in the top-20.

Kellan Mooney has posted exceptional numbers all year long as Dryden’s number one netminder. His 2.34 goals against average is .01 off the league lead. His 15 wins are second and his save percentage is .926.

Dryden’s power play is 27.7% and their penalty kill is 82.1%.

Kam River took three of four possible points against Red Lake last weekend. Daxton Lang and Jett Mintenko are one-two in points. Lang has 66 points and Mintenko has 63–the only two players above 60. Line mate Kaden Goodwin has 48.

Ashton Sadauskas leads the SIJHL in wins (17) and minutes 1,551. His 2.48 GAA and .927 GAA are up there as well. Sam Keene has six consecutive wins between the pipes for the Walleye, including two shutouts.

Kam River’s plus-84 goal differential is tops in the league. The Walleye have a home tilt Tuesday against Sioux Lookout and then a home series against Kenora on the weekend.

Sioux Lookout has seven consecutive wins, the top current streak in the SIJHL. They’ll be tested this week. The Bombers play in Kam River on Tuesday, and then host Dryden for two on the weekend.

Alex Lucas has 25 goals and 48 points overall. Jonah Smith’s 43 points are good for 12th among league scorers. Owen Cotter, 32, Tait Howell, 28, and Ty Kirk, 25, are in the top-30.

The Bombers are two points behind Kam River with two games in hand on the Walleye.

Matthew Ofukany, 14-3-0/2.33/.917, and Matthew Spencer-Dahl 8-6-1/2.68/.922, provide an exceptional one-two punch in net.

The Bombers power play is 17.1% but the penalty kill is second in the league at 83.7%.

Thunder Bay’s productive weekend–road wins against Dryden and Fort Frances–has them tied with Sioux Lookout for third place.

Tyler Jordan is third in league scoring with 54 points, 24 of them goals. Beau Helmeczi has 43 points in 30 games. Tag Bryson’s 40 assists (and lone goal) has him in 14th place. Marcellus Francis, 39 points in 27 games, rookie Evan Simeoni, 38 points, and Alex Remenda, 33 points, are in the top-20. The Stars are plus-70 in goal differential.

Thunder Bay’s power play is 25.7% and the penalty kill is number one at 89.2%.

Keenan Marks is 10-7-2/2.84/.922 and back-up Liam Letters is 2-0-1/2.30/.942 in his brief time with the team.  

Fort Frances is 11 points behind Thunder Bay and eight points ahead of Red Lake, solidly ensconced in fifth place. 

Leading the team offensively is captain Brady Krentz with 43 points. Jack Wood, 30, Tie Schumacher, 26, and Evan Kabel, 25, are next in line.

Gunner Paradis continues his fine season between the pipes. Paradis is approaching 1,000 minutes while posting a 9-5-0 record with a 2.62/.932 GAA/SV%. Rookie Nolan Koethler is 7-8-1/3.52/.907 in just under 1,200 minutes.  

The Lakers power play is league-leading at 30.2%, while the PK is 80.5%.

Red Lake is locked in sixth place. The Miners had a recent 2-2 overtime draw with Kam River, and a huge regulation win over Thunder Bay on Wednesday. They lost 5-0 to Kam River on Saturday, but outshot the Walleye 41-29 in that game. 

The Miners have a 17.3% PP and 76.5% PK.

Leading scorer Nathan Dann is the lone Miner in the top-20. Dann has 19 goals and 18 helpers. Rookie Quinn Szpak, 31 points, and defenceman Bryson Carlyle, 24 points in 31 games, are other key contributors. 

Nick Peters has been the goalie of choice recently, posting a 1-3-0 record in his five games. Rookie Koen Webber is 8-6-1 in 929 minutes.

The Miners have three games this week, one against Kenora and a home and home with Fort Frances.

Ironwood entertains Thunder Bay in a weekend pair in Week 18.

Marshall Thomas leads the team offensively with 41 points. Matteo Salvatore, defenceman Josh Gulden, Aidan Charron and Collin Baker are all over 20 points.

Trent Boryszczuk is 6-8-1 with a 3.13 GAA and outstanding .934 SV%. Kole Kronstedt is the team minutes leader with 1,207.

The Lumberjacks have a 21.2% power play. Their penalty kill is 62.8%. The Lumberjacks have just 456 penalty minutes. They are the only team below 500 minutes in the bin.

Kenora faces Red Lake on Tuesday and venture to Norwest Arena for two against a hungry Kam River team.

The Islanders have 59 goals for and 261 against and are in dire need of a morale-boosting win. They are currently on a ten-game slide.

Josh Boyko has 16 points in 23 games, the top scorer in the line-up. Captain Tallen Caron has 13 points in 31 games.

The Islanders have 739 penalty minutes as a team (23.1 minutes per game), virtually equal to Dryden on a per game basis.

 

RED LAKE MINERS
AT
THUNDER BAY NORTH STARS
Wednesday: Red Lake 3, Thunder Bay 2 (OT)
Gabe Tanton scored at 2:34 of overtime as the Red Lake Miners were full value for a 3-2 win over Thunder Bay before a school day crowd of 468 at Fort William Gardens.
The Miners outshot the Stars 37-27 and snapped a seven-game losing streak. Nick Peters collected his first SIJHL win in three tries. Liam Letters took the loss for Thunder Bay.
Kayne Pawlick opened the scoring at 17:45 of the first, capitalizing on a Thunder Bay turnover for his sixth of the year.
Thunder Bay tied the game at 2:56 of the second frame. Jarred Feist netted his first of two power play goals, playing a rebound off the boards and going top shelf on Peters for his first goal of the season.
The teams exchanged third period markers. Nathan Dann fished the puck out of a pile of players, going five-hole on Letters for his team-leading 19th of the campaign. Feist's second of the game tied it at 2-2. His low glove side blast came at 8:18.
The Stars were outshot 22-5 in the first but pushed back with 15-7 shot advantage in the third. It was Tanton who struck in overtime for the Miners, however.
Tanton's blocker side shot from the slot came on a Miners' power play. Dann recorded the primary assist and Quinn Szpak had the secondary as Red Lake's power play threw it around the offensive zone for thirty seconds before inserting the dagger.
Thunder Bay was 2-7 with the man advantage while Red Lake was 1-5. The Miners took seven of 12 minor penalties.
KAM RIVER FIGHTING WALLEYE
AT
RED LAKE MINERS
Friday: Kam River 2, Red Lake 2 (OT)
Ashton Sadauskas stopped 46 of 48 and Nick Peters shunted aside 40 of 42 as the visiting Fighting Walleye and hometown Miners battled to a 2-2 draw at Cochenour Arena. Kam River's 36-game streak of no overtime games came to an end.
Max Wright opened the scoring for Kam River at 4:56 of the first, elevating a backhander over Peters' glove for his 10th. Jager Marshall tied the game half a period later, intercepting an errant pass for his eighth. Both goals were unassisted.
After a scoreless second, Red Lake took a 2-1 lead midway through the third. Noah Tenney's rebound marker came on a Miners power play.
Zach Baumann tied the game at 14:22. His one-timer from point blank range on a Walleye power play was his sixth.
Seven minutes of 4-on-4 solved nothing. The Miners fired seven shots at Sadauskas and the Walleye had three shots on Peters in the extra frame. Evan Lachimea had the best look for Kam River. Sadauskas' denial on a Tenney wrap around attempt ranked among Red Lake's better chances.
The Walleye went 1-2 on the power play while Red Lake converted one of three opportunities. The Miners took 20 of 32 penalty minutes.
Marshall was the only multipoint player for either team recording a goal and assist.
Saturday: Kam River 5, Red Lake 0
Sam Keene made 41 saves and the Walleye broke open a tight game with three unanswered goals in the third frame as Kam River closed in on first place with a 5-0 win in Red Lake.
Jett Mintenko had two goals and an assist to spearhead the Walleye offence, while Daxton Lang chipped in with a goal and helper.
Mintenko got the lone marker of the first. His low wrister beat Nick Peters at 17:28. The Miners outshot the Walleye 16-7 in the initial period.
Mintenko's second of the game and 25th of the season came at 14:57 of the second. Edwin Liang and Lang got the assists on Mintenko's slapper on a Kam River power play. The Miners held a 20-11 shot edge in the second.
Kam River put the game away in the third. Lang, Carter Nailen and Evan Lachimea struck at 9:38, 14:38 and 18:23 respectively. Lang's league-leading 26th came on a backhander, Nailen got his ninth on a shorthanded breakaway and Lachimea redirected in his seventh of the campaign.
Kam River trails first place Dryden by two points. The Ice Dogs have three games in hand. Sioux Lookout and Thunder Bay have 49 points each.
The Walleye had good day on special teams, killing off six penalties while going 1-4 on their power play.
Keene won his sixth in a row as a Walleye, upping his record to 6-4-0, and bumping his save percentage to .914. He tied Dryden's Kellan Mooney with his second shutout.
IRONWOOD LUMBERJACKS
AT/VS
FORT FRANCES LAKERS
Friday: Ironwood 1, Fort Frances 4
Gunner Paradis stopped 39 of 40 shots as the Fort Frances Lakers defeated the Ironwood Lumberjacks 4-1 at Ice for Kids Arena. A crowd of 367 was on hand.
The Lakers improved to 38 points, with a .559 winning percentage.
Ian Ness, Tie Schumacher and Brady Krentz scored three unanswered goals in the first period. Ness got his 10th from the left dot. Schumacher scored his 10th on a rebound. Krentz went blocker side bar down for his 18th.
Collin Baker closed the gap to 3-1 at 3:12 of the second, sending a one-timer glove side past Paradis on a Lumberjacks' power play for his 10th. Carter Deschamps added an insurance tally at 12:34 of the frame for the Lakers second power play goal, cashing Schumacher's rebound for his 12th.
The third period was scoreless.
Ironwood's Trent Boryszczuk made 44 saves. The Lumberjacks absorbed their fifth loss in a row. Boryszczuk stymied Ian Snooks first period penalty shot.
Fort Frances was 2-4 with the man advantage while Ironwood was 1-4. The Lumberjacks took 18 of 31 penalty minutes.
SIOUX LOOKOUT BOMBERS
AT
KENORA DEVIL'S GAP ISLANDERS
Friday: Sioux Lookout 9, Kenora 0
Sioux Lookout routed the Islanders 9-0 for their seventh consecutive win, with seven players scoring two points or more. Matthew Ofukany collected the shutout win, his first of the year, upping his record to 14-3-0.
The Bombers led 4-0 after one and 6-0 after two.
Gursimar Mann had two goals and one assist, Tait Howell had two goals, Jonah Smith and Owen Cotter had a goal and two assists each, Ashton Cuvelier had a goal and helper, and Owen Riffel and Sage Roberts collected two apples each. Alex Lucas and Ty Lone had solo goals.
The Bombers' win, coupled with Kam River's tie, enabled Sioux Lookout to tie the Walleye for second place in the tight SIJHL standings with 49 points each. The Bombers have a game in hand.
Smith's goal at 17:46 of the first was the lone power play snipe of the match.
Ethan Beattie was on the hook for all nine goals against for Kenora. The depleted Islanders had a 15 skaters and saw their record drop to 2-28-2 on the year.
THUNDER BAY NORTH STARS
AT
DRYDEN GM ICE DOGS
Friday: Thunder Bay 5, Dryden 2
Keenan Marks stopped 34 of 36 for his 10th win as the Stars pulled out a 5-2 win before 538 fans at Dryden Memorial Arena.
Acoyen Fehr, Beau Helmeczi and Tyler Jordan had goals and assists for Thunder Bay, and defenceman Tag Bryson had three assists (giving him 40 helpers on the year). The Stars erased a 2-1 deficit with the final four goals of the contest.
Former Red Lake Miner Noah Davis stopped 32 of 36 to even his Dryden record to 1-1-0.
Emmanuel Nkombou had the lone goal of the first, jamming away at a loose puck and getting one off a North Star skate at 9:08 on an Ice Dogs power play.
Helmeczi tied the game on a Thunder Bay power play at 7:51 of the second, snapping home his 15th. The tie was short-lived. Jordan Wales put the 'Dogs ahead 1:26 later, playing a rebound off the boards and firing it past Marks for his 10th.
Fehr and Jordan scored Thunder Bay power play goals to put the Stars ahead. Fehr was wide open for his sixth at 12:03 and Jordan got his 24th on a rebound.
The Stars put the game away with late goals in the third. Alex Remenda scored a Dryden turnover at 17:12, and Eric Sheriff added an empty netter with 18 seconds left to seal the deal.
Thunder Bay was 3-10 with the man advantage while Dryden was 1-7 in a physical affair. The Ice Dogs took 41 of 61 penalty minutes assessed.
THUNDER BAY NORTH STARS
AT
FORT FRANCES LAKERS
Saturday, Thunder Bay 4, Fort Frances 2
Liam Letters made 36 saves and the Stars climbed into a tie for third place with a 4-2 road win over Fort Frances. Jarred Feist had a goal and assist, giving him five points in his last three games, and Tyler Jordan's two helpers gives him 54 points on the season.
Beau Helmeczi and Nolan Barker exchanged first period goals for their respective teams. Helmeczi went blocker side on Fort Frances' Gunner Paradis at 6:34, notching his 16th. Nolan Barker replied three minutes later with a point shot snipe for his sixth of the year.
Ben Exell put the Lakers ahead 2-1 at 15:50 of the second on a penalty shot. Impeded on a breakaway effort during regular play, Exell took a slow route to the net during the penalty shot firing one past Letters low glove side for his third of the year.
Feists' third of the year knotted the score at 2-2 at 18:13 of the second. He scored from a sharp angle on a Thunder Bay power play.
With overtime in the offing, Marcellus Frances scored on a Thunder Bay power play at 17:31 of the third. Tempers flared after the goal. Fort Frances bore the brunt of the penalties after the fracas.
Killing a penalty and down 3-2, Fort Frances pulled Paradis for an extra attacker. Acoyen Fehr fired the puck into an empty net after Jordan won the draw at the Laker blue line for the final 4-2 verdict.
The Stars were 3-4 on the power play while killing off one Laker chance. A total of 94 penalty minutes were assessed, 82 of them in the third. The Lakers took 56 penalty minutes, Thunder Bay had 38.