Dryden enters the last three weeks of the regular season with a seven point lead over second place Kam River. Both teams have six games left. Four points separate fourth place Sioux Lookout and the Walleye. The Bombers have two games in hand on Kam River and one in hand on third place Thunder Bay. The Stars are three behind Kam River with a game in hand.
Fort Frances and Red Lake are locked in a battle for fifth place. The Lakers have played 45 games with 47 points. The Miners are a point back with a game in hand.
Dryden’s McLaren Paulsen is back from his upper body injury. The team captain has 53 points in 30 games, behind only Daxton Lang of Kam River on a points-per-game basis. Max Roby (57), Payton Hu (51) and Carson Devine (50) join him in the SIJHL top ten. Eli Antoine is 18th with 43 points.
Kellan Mooney leads the league in GAA with 2.36 and .929 SV%. He’s 17-3-1.
Dryden is second in PP% with a 27.5 success rate teamed with a 82.0% PK. Notably, the Ice Dogs have scored nine shorthanded while allowing seven shorties.
The Ice Dogs climbed to 16th place in the Feb. 24th CJHL rankings, up one notch from last week. The Fighting Walleye held steady in 20th.
Kam River has 207 goals for and 103 against, a ratio of better than 2:1. Daxton Lang, 75 points, and Jett Mintenko, 71 points, are the only two players in the league above 70. Kaden Goodwin with 57 points is 6th in league production. Carter Poddubny has 37 points on the year.
Ashton Sadauskas leads the SIJHL in wins, 21, and minutes in net, 1,820.
The Walleye sport a 24.6% PP and 83.7% PK.
Thunder Bay has 199 goals for, tied with Dryden, for second most.
Tyler Jordan leads the team with 62 points, with a league-leading 30 goals.
Defenceman Tag Bryson has 47 assists and one lone goal to occupy 10th in league production. Rookie Evan Simeoni (46), Beau Helmeczi (46), Marcellus Francis (44) and Alex Remenda (43) round out a deep attack. Cohen Tangedal, 25 points in 18 games, is expected to rejoin the team shortly.
Keenan Marks is 12-8-2 with 2.85 GAA and .924 SV%.
The Stars are third in PP% at 25.6%. Their number one penalty kill is 89.1%. They’ve allowed just 15 power play goals while scoring four shorthanded.
Sioux Lookout is one of three teams with a .700 winning percentage (.702). The reigning SIJHL champs have points in nine of their last 10 games.
Alex Lucas paces the team offensively with 57 points. Jonah Smith has 47. Owen Cotter, 35, and Tait Howell, 30, are the other 30-point men.
Matthew Ofukany, 16-4-0/2.37/.918 in 1,267 minutes and Matthew Spencer-Dahl, 11-6-2/2.70/.921 in 1,202 minutes form a formidable tandem in net.
The Bombers have a 16.2% PP and 81.6% PK.
Fort Frances is in a battle with Red Lake for fifth place. The Walleye struck for a pair of dominant weekend wins over the Lakers, while Red Lake swept Ironwood leading to a four point swing.
Brady Krentz is the lone Laker in the top-20. Krentz has 47 points with 20 goals. Pierce Gouin, 33, Jack Wood, 33, and Evan Kabel, 32, provide depth scoring. Wood leads the SI with 12 power play goals.
Gunner Paradis, 10-7-1/3.13/.920, saw his numbers take hit over the weekend. Rookie Nolan Koethler suffered a similar fate Friday night. Regardless, the Lakers are solid in net.
Fort Frances leads the league with a 28.1% power play. They’ve scored 47 and allowed just two shorties. Their penalty kill is 79.2%.
Red Lake will be in for some tough sledding in their last six games. They’ll face Dryden, Thunder Bay and Sioux Lookout for two games each–a great playoff primer on the plus side.
The Miners are plus-1 in goal differential (141 goals for, 140 goals allowed).
Nathan Dann continues to snipe, slotting in among the league leaders with 28 goals. He has 47 points. Quinn Szpak’s 39 points places him in 20th position. Defenceman Bryson Carlyle, 31 points, and Euan Morrison, 30 are top offensive threats.
Rookie Koen Webber is 10-6-2/3.02/.910 and newly acquired Nick Peters is 3-4-1 in net.
Red Lake has an 18.7% PP and 76.8% PK. They’ve allowed two shorthanded goals against and have one shorthanded goal for.
Ironwood entertains Sioux Lookout on February 28th, and then welcomes Kam River for a schedule-ending pair against Kam River in mid-March. Their 46 games played lead the league.
Marshall Thomas remains their top scoring threat with 44 points. Matteo Salvatore has 30 points. Josh Gulden has 27 points. Collin Baker and Aidan Charron have 25 points each. Baker hasn’t played since February 7th.
Trent Boryszczuk is the primary go-to option in net, sporting a .920 save percentage since being acquired in mid-November. Kole Kronstedt still leads the team in net time with 1,333.
Ironwood has a 21.0% PP and 66.0% PK. The ‘Jacks have the fewest team penalty minutes–559 in 46 games. Next lowest is Sioux Lookout with 621 in 42 games.
 | AT KAM RIVER FIGHTING WALLEYE |  | ||
| Alex Remenda scored two and Keenan Marks stopped 37 of 38, coming within two seconds of a shutout, as Thunder Bay defeated Kam River 4-1 before a Family Day Tournament Centre crowd of 1,200. Tyler Jordan got the Stars on the board at 18:38 of the first, beating Ashton Sadauskas on a partial breakaway for his league-leading 30th of the year. Remenda's wrist shot glove side found the mark at 14:23 of the second. The Stars scored a pair of third period power player goals to increase their lead to 4-0. Marcellus Francis converted a cross-ice pass from Chance Loke at 10:28 for his 22nd. Remenda's second of the game at 20th of the season at 15:19 provided additional insurance. A late goal mouth scramble netted Jacob Lamoureux the lone Kam River tally with two ticks left on the clock. Thunder Bay was 2-5 on the power play while killing off three Kam River chances. The Walleye took five minor penalties to Thunder Bay's three. Jarred Feist and Loke had two assists each for the Stars. |
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 | AT RED LAKE MINERS |  | ||
| Nathan Dann's third goal of the game at 48 seconds of overtime led the Red Lake Miners to a 5-4 win over Fort Frances at Cochenour Arena. The Miners shaved a point off the Lakers lead. Fort Frances retain a five point edge in the battle for fifth place. Red Lake has a game in hand with eight games to go. Fort Frances scored twice to take a 2-0 lead. Ian Ness and Jack Wood scored their 11th and 15th goals of the year respectively. Wood's goal came on the power play. Red Lake's Euan Morrison's eighth made it 2-1 through 20. The Miners scored three of the five second period goals to knot the game at four-all. Dann tied it 2-2 at 1:20. Gavin Simon's fifth at 5:17 gave Fort Frances a 3-2 edge. Noah Tenney's 10th and Dann's 25th 38 seconds later gave the Miners a 4-3 lead. Evan Kabel's seventh at 12:51 closed out the scoring, tying the score at 4-4. The third period was scoreless. Kabel of Fort Frances took a minor penalty with 10 seconds left in regulation. Dann collected his 26th on a Red Lake power play in OT, with Tenney assisting. Tenney assisted on two of Dann's three goals for a three-point night. Morrison added an assist. Kabel had an assist and Brady Krentz had two helpers for Fort Frances. Red Lake's Nick Peters raised his record to 2-4-1, stopping 25 of 29 shots. Gunner Paradis faced 29 shots in the Lakers' cage. The Lakers took 17 of 32 penalty minutes. |
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 | AT DRYDEN GM ICE DOGS |  | ||
| Dryden overcame a 3-1 third period deficit and defenceman Nicholas McAllen struck at 33 seconds of overtime as the Ice Dogs defeated Sioux Lookout 4-3 before 629 fans in Dryden. Kellan Mooney secured his 17th win in net, stopping 32 of 35 shots. Owen Riffel notched his 13th midway through the first frame for a 1-0 Bomber lead. Rylan Oatman scored on a rebound at 5:49 of the second for Dryden. The Bombers scored power play goals back-to-back at 10:30 and 11:17 to lead a 3-1 lead through two periods. Ashton Cuvelier won a draw deep in the Dryden zone which Riffel converted for his 14th of the year. Veller's glove hand snipe on a 5-on-3 47 seconds later was his 12th. The Bombers outshot the 'Dogs 23-8 in the second. Sioux Lookout's Owen Riffel was stoned by Mooney on a breakaway attempt at the eight-minute mark of the third. Devine tightened the score to 3-2 at 10:28, his slapshot from the point was his 15th. Karson Kerbes tied the game at 14:32 on the doorstep for his 5th on the year. McAllen scored on a rebound to give Dryden their seventh win a row. Eli Antoine garnered his 20th helper on the play. Riffel had two goals for Sioux Lookout. Devine and Oatman had two-point nights for Dryden. The Bombers were 2-5 on the power play. Dryden scored on their lone power play chance. The Ice Dogs took seven of nine minor penalties. |
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 | AT DRYDEN GM ICE DOGS | | ||
| Dryden outshot Ironwood 46-19 but needed two third period goals to put the visiting Lumberjacks away 6-3. The Ice Dogs had built leads of 3-0 and 4-1. The home squad opened up a 2-0 edge in a 20 shot first period. McLaren Paulsen picked up a loose puck in the crease and slipped his 22nd past Trent Boryszczuk at 7:11. Eli Antoine bulled his way to the Ironwood net and fired in his 23rd at 15:22. Karson Kerbes left his defensive position and struck from the slot at 1:22 of the second period for the 3-0 Dryden lead. Josh Gulden was credited with Ironwood's opening goal on a Dryden misplay. Gulden "struck" at 2:10 for his fifth of the year. Evan Mayer rang one off the glass (or back boards), and corralled his own rebound to score his 12th of the year to up the Dryden lead to 4-1. Jack Croghan scored on a backhander rebound after a shot from the point to tighten the score to 4-2 at 13:02. Despite being outshot 35-12 and outplayed by a wide margin through two periods Ironwood pulled to within one on Gavin Lafferty's first goal of the year at 5:42 of the third. Timothy Hanulik collected his first assist of the year on the play. Oatman, one of five Dryden players to hit the post or crossbar throughout the contest, scored his 13th at 7:45, and Nkombou's 13th late in the game, sealed the deal for Dryden. Four Dryden players recorded multiple points, led by Paulsen's goal and two assists. Nkombou, Oatman and Mayer also collected assists. Boryszczuk was named third star. The 'Jacks netminder made multiple five star saves among his 40 stops. His record dropped to 6-11-1 on the year. Davis improved his record to 3-1-0. Both teams were 1-3 on the power play. Ironwood and Dryden drew four minor penalties each. Attendance was 329. |
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| VS/AT KAM RIVER FIGHTING WALLEYE | | ||
| Kam River rumbled out to a 4-1 first period lead, tacked on two in the second and two more in the third for an 8-1 win before 491 patrons at Norwest Arena. Carter Poddubny and Kaden Goodwin had two goals and an assist each. Daxton Lang crested 70 points with one goal and three assists. Amar Powar had a goal and assist, and Jett Mintenko had a pair of helpers to power the Walleye attack. Ashton Sadauskas picked up his 20th win, shunting aside 28 of 29. Sadauskas leads the SIJHL in wins, goals against average (2.36) and minutes, 1,738. His .927 save percentage is .002 off the league lead. Sam Sargent, Powar and Lang had the home squad off to a 3-0 lead by the 5:40 mark of the first. Former Walleye Tie Schumacher got the Lakers on the board at 8:08, stuffing a backhander past Sadauskas for his 11th on the year. Goodwin re-established the three-goal margin with his 22nd 74 seconds later. Goodwin and Poddubny scored in the second frame. Poddubny struck on the power play at 3:48 of the third for his 15th. Jacob Lamoureux scored 1:01 later with a top shelf wrister. Fort Frances' Nolan Koethler was on the hook for all eight Kam River tallies. He made 40 saves while dropping to 7-11-1. The Lakers were 0-5 with the man advantage. Kam River went 1-6. Fort Frances took six of 11 minor penalties. |
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| Kam River fired in six goals in a 4:34 span of the second period en route to a 9-5 win over the visiting Fort Frances Lakers. Daxton Lang led all point producers with a goal and three assists, giving him a league-leading 75 points on the year. Nine Walleye players scored and all but three had at least a point. Carter Deschamps led the Laker attack with two goals and an assist. Fort Frances held a 3-2 lead until midway through the second period until the Fish started biting. Brodie Wood with his second and Lang with his 28th established an early 2-0 Kam River lead. Former Walleye Ben Exell and Ian Ness replied for the Lakers to tie the game at 2-all. Noah McPherson's third of the year, a roof job on Walleye starter Sam Keene at 1:27 of the second gave Fort a 3-2 lead. Keene was pulled for Ashton Sadauskas at that juncture, having stopped nine of 12. Easton Debray's goal kicked off the Walleye six goal explosion at 9:17 of the second with a point shot wrister on the power play that eluded starter Gunner Paradis. Carter Poddubny, Caleb Labelle, Nickolas Fagnilli, and Zach Baumann at 12:07 put the Walleye up by four. Deschamps made it 7-4 at 12:42, but Kaden Goodwin capped off the fireworks at 13:50 to restore the four-goal Walleye margin. The teams exchanged third period goals. Deschamps scored his 14th at 12:10 for the Lakers and Callum Halls notched his 13th with 32 seconds left in the game to round out the scoring. Sadauskas won his 21st of the year in relief, stopping 15 of 17. Paradis faced 40 shots in the Fort Frances cage. Jett Mintenko had three assists, Goodwin, McLeod and Brodie added helpers, and Jacob Lamoureux had two assists. Carter Thiessen chipped in with two assists for Fort Frances. The Walleye were 1-4 with the man advantage while killing off three Laker power plays. The Lakers took 26 of 42 penalty minutes. Attendance was 609. |
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| VS/AT IRONWOOD LUMBERJACKS | | ||
| Red Lake overcame a two goal deficit with three unanswered third period markers to defeat Ironwood 4-2 before 300 patrons at the Pat O'Donnell Civic Center. Nathan Dann had a pair of goals and Koen Webber made 22 stops as the Miners closed to within three points of fifth place Fort Frances. Dann snapped one home from the high slot past Ironwood starter Trent Boryszczuk at 12:02 of the first. Ironwood's Matteo Salvatore scored two on the power play as the Lumberjacks went ahead in the second. Salvatore's first goal, a wrist shot shelf on Webber, came at 7:47. His second caromed off the far post and in at 16:57 for his 11th. Marshall Thomas collected secondary assists on both goals. Quinn Szpak tied the game at 2-2 at 2:57 of the third. Szpak connected from a tough angle on a rebound for his 10th. Landon van Engelen's wrap around at 6:08 put the Miners ahead 3-2. Dann's second goal with six seconds left in the game, his 28th of the year, sealed the deal. Szpak also had an assist, and Euan Morrison and Corbyn Demchuk had two helpers each for Red Lake. The Lumberjacks were 2-4 with the man advantage while killing off three minor penalties. Webber improved to 10-6-2 while Boryszczuk's record fell to 6-12-1 in his 33-save effort. |
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| Down 1-0 through 20 minutes, the Miners scored five unanswered goals--three on the power play--to defeat the Lumberjacks 5-1. Will Porter's power play one-timer opened the scoring for Ironwood at 17:02 of the first. Bryson Carlyle and Kayne Pawlick struck on the power play, and Corbyn Demchuk added his fourth of the year at 19:04 of the middle frame for a 3-1 Miners' lead. Red Lake goaltender Nick Peters stymied an Aidan Charron breakaway attempt in the second to maintain the Red Lake lead. MacPherson scored from the blue paint on Red Lake power play at 4:23 of the third for a 4-1 lead. Pawlick's second of the game and 10th of the year at 11:11 provided additional insurance. Euan Morrison had three assists, Carlyle added two helpers, and MacPherson had a two-point night for the Lakers. Ironwood took eight minor penalties to Red Lake's three. The Miners were 3-7 with the man advantage. Ironwood went 1-2. |
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| VS/AT SIOUX LOOKOUT BOMBERS | | ||
| Beau Helmeczi scored two goals and Keenan Marks picked up win number 12 as the North Stars prevailed 5-2 in game one of a pivotal weekend series with Sioux Lookout. The Stars moved three points ahead of the Bombers in the battle for third place with the victory. Thunder Bay took a 2-0 lead through 20 minutes. Evan Simeoni backhanded a goal past Matthew Ofukany at 5:19 to open the scoring. Matthew Lysak capitalized on Ofukany's attempt to play the puck for his 8th of the year 1:19 later. Brodie Wood narrowed the lead to 2-1 with the lone second period goal. Wood picked up the loose change in Marks' crease for his 12th. Thunder Bay scored three of the four third period goals. Peter Forester made it 3-1, blasting home a rebound at 3:24. Michael Casey's power play marker at 8:30 narrowed the lead to one. Helmeczi's 17th of the year, a knuckler along the ice through the wickets of Ofukany at 12:29, gave the Stars a 4-2 lead. The Bombers pulled Ofukany for an extra man with two minutes to go. Helmeczi's 170-footer with 35 seconds remaining ended the scoring. The win gave Thunder Bay points in their last nine games--seven of them wins--and has them a point back of Kam River with a game in hand. Forester added an assist and Chance Loke had two assists for Thunder Bay. Wood had a two-point night for the Bombers. Ofukany suffered just his fourth loss against 16 wins. The Bombers were 1-4 on the power play while Thunder Bay was 0-2. Attendance was 457. |
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| Sioux Lookout turned the tables on Thunder Bay avenging Friday's 5-2 loss with a 5-2 win Saturday. Matthew Spencer-Dahl stopped 27 for his 11th win of the year. The Bombers pulled to within a point of the Stars with a game in hand. Thunder Bay opened the scoring at 6:48 of the first. Jarred Feist fed Alex Remenda who dangled his way into prime scoring territory, beating Spencer-Dahl with his 21st at 6:48. Kaden Veller scored less than a minute later to knot the score, cashing in a Sage Roberts' rebound for his 13th. Owen Cotter gave the Bombers a 2-1 lead at 19:21. His power play marker was his 12th. Dylan Orr scored his first goal of the year at 14:24 of the second to give the Bombers a two-goal edge. Alex Lucas' pass found a wide open Orr at 14:24. Owen Riffel promptly retrieved the puck as a souvenir for the young defenceman. The Bombers scored two of the three third period goals. Owen Cotter's pass to Ty Love resulted in a 4-1 Sioux Lookout lead. Evan Simeoni narrowed the margin to 4-2 with his 19th, beating Spencer-Dahl five-hole. Benjamin Dias notched his first goal of the year with an empty netter from centre ice with 44 seconds left. Keenan Marks stopped 38 of 42 in the Thunder Bay net. Cotter and Orr also had assists and Roberts and Lucas had two helpers each for the Bombers. Remenda added an assist and Feist had two primary helpers for Thunder Bay. The teams racked up a combined 108 penalty minutes, with Thunder Bay taking 74 of them. A total of eight 10-minute misconducts were whistled. Attendance was 382. |
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