Thunder Bay and Dryden ended week six tied in first place with identical 10-2-1 records. The teams exchanged 5-4 overtime outcomes to snap each other’s win streaks. The Stars have points in 11 straight. Dryden has points in nine straight.
Sioux Lookout won both of their games over Ironwood and reside in third place, six points back of first.
Kam River accepted the resignation of head coach Dwight Lee and are two wins into Vern Ray’s interim period as bench boss. Jett Mintenko is fifth in league production, the only player other than a Dryden or Thunder Bay player to be in top 11.
Fort Frances is still above .500, and still has a plus/minus of +3. They are winless in four.
Red Lake dropped a home pair to the Walleye and have a won/lost percentage of .417.
Ironwood is on a three-game slide.
Kenora is winless in six.
As mentioned, Dryden has five players in the top 11, as does Thunder Bay. Dryden’s McLaren Paulsen leads the SI in points with 27. North Stars forward Tyler Jordan’s 11 goals leads the league in that department. Thunder Bay defenceman Tag Bryson has 19 assists. Seven players have 20 points or more. Paulsen, Jordan and Mintenko are the only players with 10 or more goals.
Dryden’s Kellan Mooney, Thunder Bay’s Ben Laurette, and Kam River’s Ashton Sadauskas lead the SIJHL in goalie wins with six.
Matthew Ofukany of Sioux Lookout has a GAA of 1.80 and a SV% of .935. Ironwood’s Kole Kronstedt has 610 goalie minutes.
The top powerplay belongs to Fort Frances at 34.9%. Thunder Bay’s penalty kill stands at 42 kills in 43 penalties, 97.7%. Dryden has four shorthanded goals. The league overall is 21.4% on the PP.
Emmanuel Nkombou (Dryden) leads the league in penalty minutes with 65. Mintenko and Jack Wood of Fort Frances are both in the top 20 and have zero penalty minutes.
Payton Hu (Dryden) has the longest points streak, six games, with 16 points in that stretch. Notably, Marcellus Francis of Thunder Bay, has six goals and 10 points in his first four games played.
So far 220 players have suited up to play in the league this year.
 | AT THUNDER BAY NORTH STARS |  | ||
| Thunder Bay rattled off six consecutive goals en route to a 7-2 win over the Ironwood Lumberjacks before 180 fans at Fort William Gardens. Beau Helmeczi scored two and assisted on one, and Marcellus Francis had a goal and two helpers to lead the way offensively. Ben Laurette backstopped the win with a 35-save effort. The North Stars ran their winning streak to nine, and grabbed a share of first place with Dryden. The Lumberjacks held leads of 1-0 and 2-1 heading into period two. Marshall Braunscheidel got the visitors on the board at 8:32 on a goal mouth scramble. Tyler Jordan recorded his league-leading 11th at 15:27 with a deke and top corner snipe. Ironwood retook the lead on Cooper Malkowski's first of the year less than a minute later. Thunder Bay went ahead 3-2 with two unanswered goals in the second frame. Easton Glousher got his seventh at 2:26. He recorded the first 'Michigan' in North Stars history, setting up behind the Ironwood net and roofing it lacrosse-style past Kole Kronstedt to tie the game. The third-year winger is on pace to obliterate the 13 points he garnered in his 50-game rookie season two years ago. Matthew Lysak connected at 6:04--the eventual game winner--with a wrist shot blocker side. The Stars poured in four unanswered goals in the third. Cohen Tangedal on a Stars' powerplay, Helmeczi twice and Francis with a shorthanded marker at 17:39, put an exclamation mark on the win. Tangedal, Lysak and Glousher added assists, and Peter Forester with two assists, were multi-point players for Thunder Bay. Malkowski also added an assist for Ironwood. Kronstedt left the game after Helmeczi's second goal having stopped 34 of 40 for Ironwood. Mathias Anderson came on in relief, stopping 11 of 12. Thunder Bay outshot the Lumberjacks 52-37 overall. The Stars killed off six minors, while going 1-4 on their powerplay. Thunder Bay has two shorthanded goals and allowed just one powerplay goal through their first 11 games. Ironwoods' two-game winning streak was snapped in the loss. |
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 | AT FORT FRANCES LAKERS |  | ||
| Gabe Tanton's third period goal through the pads of Gunner Paradis was the game winner as Red Lake defeated Fort Frances 3-2. It was Tanton's first goal of the year. Koen Webber stopped 33 of 35 shots for the win. Ryan Heuser picked up a loose puck and fired home his third of the year to give Red Lake an early lead. Gunnar Simon scored on a re-direct to tie it at 5:53 of the second. Dayden Collier batted one past Paradis exactly a minute later to make it 2-1 for Red Lake. Ben Exell notched his first of the year on a one-timer at 12:54 to the game at 2-2. Tanton's strike at 1:28 of the third proved to be the winner. The Lakers pulled Paradis for 1:19 but to no avail. Fort Frances outshot Red Lake 35-24. Heuser was originally credited with two goals, but video review will likely give Collier the nod on Red Lake's second goal. Kayne Pawlick had two assists for Red Lake. Only four minor penalties were called. Red Lake was 0-3 with the man advantage. Fort Frances was 0-1. |
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| AT KENORA DEVIL'S GAP ISLANDERS |  | ||
| A late giveaway cost the Kenora Islanders a win on Friday. Kobie Anderson capitalized on the miscue for his first of the year to tie the game with 32 seconds left in regulation. Seven minutes of scoreless overtime solved nothing as the Fort Frances Lakers and Kenora played to a 3-3 tie before 201 fans in Kenora. Ethan Han got his first of the season at 51 seconds of the first. Keestin Danielson fanned on his shot, but Han stayed with the play and fired in the loose puck. Ian Ness' first goal of the year tied it up for the Lakers at 14:29 on an Islanders turnover. Fort Frances and Kenora exchanged second period goals. Ian Snooks scored for Fort Frances at 8:27 on a high blocker side snipe on James Sinclair. Danielson jammed in his second of the year at 16:37 to tie it at two-all. A major dust up at the expiration of the second period resulting in major and misconduct penalties. A total of 19 minutes were assessed along with game misconducts. Cooler heads prevailed in the third. Josh Boyko gained a step on a Lakers' defender and backhanded his sixth of the season unassisted past Nolan Koethler at 12:40 for a 3-2 Islanders' lead. Anderson took advantage of a poor clearing attempt with time running out to secure the point for Kenora. Sinclair was replaced by Kaden King at 4:43 of the third period due to injury with the score tied 2-all. Koethler was the goalie of record for Fort Frances. |
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| AT DRYDEN GM ICE DOGS |  | ||
| McLaren Paulsen scored three including the overtime winner as Dryden defeated Thunder Bay 5-4 before a crowd of 572. The top nine scorers currently in the SIJHL were playing in this one. Dryden held a 4-1 lead with 25 minutes to go, before the Stars rallied. Evan Simeoni scored first for Thunder Bay, counting from the high slot at 17:24. Paulsen got his first of the game with 23 seconds left in the first period, depositing a loose puck past Keenan Marks on a delayed penalty to tie it. Eli Antoine, Max Roby and Paulsen counted for Dryden to open up a three-goal bulge in the second frame. Paulsen assisted on Antoine's two-on-one, Roby wristed home his ninth, and Paulsen went blocker side at 15:02. Rookie Marcellus Frances narrowed the gap to two with blocker side snipe on Kellan Mooney at 18:48. In the third period, Frances got his second for Thunder Bay at 12:12 and Alex Remenda tied the contest at 4-4 at 14:45 to send the game into overtime. Paulsen ended the contest on a wrap around before a minute ticked off in the extra session. Antoine added two assists. Paulsen had a four-point night. Simeoni joined Frances with two points for Thunder Bay. Mooney stopped 23 of 27 for his league-leading sixth win. Marks dropped to 4-1-1 with 31 stops on 36 shots. The Stars had four powerplay opportunities to Dryden's two. All goals were even strength. The win ended Thunder Bay's winning streak at nine, extended Dryden streak to eight wins, and placed the Ice Dogs one point ahead in first. |
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| The North Stars overcame a three-goal deficit for the second game in a row, and Alex Remenda completed the job with an overtime goal at 3:31 of period 4 as Thunder Bay defeated Dryden 5-4 before a crowd of 840. New arrival Marcellus Francis struck for three goals, giving him six in four games, with four assists for 10 points. Both teams lost their winning streaks over the weekend but the Stars stretched their points streak to 11 games and Dryden hasn't lost in regulation in nine contests. Things looked great for Dryden early on. Elias Eisenbarth scored on a shorthanded breakaway, Emmanuel Nkombou got his ninth on a give-and-go with McLaren Paulsen, and Paulsen got his 10th on a behind-the-net pass from Jordan Wales for a 3-0 Ice Dogs' lead through 20 minutes. Francis and Co. reduced the deficit to one in a 17-shot second period. Francis got his first of the game at 3:47. Beau Helmeczi emerged from the sin bin, accepted a long pass from Tag Bryson, and beat Braxton Castagno on a breakaway at 12:41. In the third, Francis cleaned up Helmeczi's shot off the post to tie the game at three-all. Carson Devine's seventh of the year on a three-way passing play with Max Roby and Payton Hu gave Dryden a 4-3 edge. Francis' hat trick marker with 2:29 left in the third tied it up once again. In overtime, Jamieson Franz found Remenda on Castagno's doorstep and Remenda fired in his ninth for the win. Thunder Bay was 0-7 on the powerplay while killing off two Dryden powerplays. A pair of 10-minute misconducts inflated Thunder Bay's PIMs to 26, while Dryden had nine minor penalties. Ben Laurette stopped 30 of 34 for his sixth win, while Castagno made 30 saves to drop to 4-1-1. |
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 | VS/AT RED LAKE MINERS | | ||
| Carter Poddubny's two goals helped interim head coach Vern Ray secure his first win as the Fighting Walleye defeated Red Lake 5-3. Former head coach Dwight Lee resigned earlier in the week. The search for a replacement is underway. Jager Marshall hit the scoresheet in his very first Red Lake game. Marshall parked one over Ashton Sadauskas' glove at 1:10 of the first. Poddubny tied it at 5:28 and put the Walleye ahead at with six seconds left in the first, putting his own rebound home past Trent Boryszczuk. In the second period, Red Lake scored back-to-back powerplay goals 22 seconds apart to retake the lead. Quinn Szpak's wrister and Dayden Collier's converted rebound gave the Miners a 3-2 edge entering the third. A three-goal Kam River third sent the Walleye to victory. Tie Schumacher scored unassisted at 3:34, Jett Mintenko got his eighth on a backhander from close range for the game winner, and Max Wright added an empty net marker on a backhand shot from centre ice at 19:26 to seal the deal. Final shots were 40-30 in favour of Kam River. Sadauskas picked up win number five. Boryszczuk dropped to 2-3-0 on the season. The Walleye were 0-5 on the powerplay, while Red Lake was 2-7. The Walleye took 23 of 40 penalty minutes. |
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| Jett Mintenko, Tie Schumacher and Evan Lachimea scored in a 1:56 span in the latter stages of the third period to break open a 3-3 tie, propelling the Fighting Walleye to a 6-3 win over Red Lake. Kam River held a 3-1 lead through one period, the Miners responded with a pair to tie it, leading into the pivotal Kam River uprising. Cayden Adams tallied his first of the year 42 seconds into the contest, scoring from the point. Mintenko doubled the Kam River lead. His low shot from a bad angle beat Koen Webber. Corbyn Demchuk's re-direct of a Nathan Dann point shot at 15:03 shaved the Kam River lead to one. Daxton Lang fed Kaden Goodwin to restore the two-goal margin at 17:07. Kayne Pawlick went five-hole on Ashton Sadauskas at 8:56 of the second to pull the Miners to within one. Quinn Szpak deflected Bryson Carlyle's point shot less than a minute into the third to tie it. Mintenko scored the game winner at 14:11 of the third, firing in a loose puck. Schumacher registered his fifth of the year on a Walleye powerplay at 15:03. Kam River's Callum Halls' roughing minor precipitated a major reaction from Red Lake's Justin Gelderland, who took three minors and a major in retaliation. Lachimea notched his second of the year on the ensuing powerplay at 16:07 to wrap it up. Kam River outshot Red Lake 41-33. Sadauskas won his sixth of the year, while Webber fell to 3-2-0. |
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 | AT IRONWOOD LUMBERJACKS | | ||
| Matthew Ofukany stopped 25 of 26, backstopping the Bombers to a 3-1 road win over Ironwood. Ty Kirk's backhander over Sam Keene's blocker gave Sioux Lookout an early 1-0 lead. Ironwood tied it up late in the frame. Jack Carruthers corralled a loose puck and sent it past Ofukany with 41 seconds left in the period on an Ironwood powerplay to knot the score at 1-1. Alex Lucas snapped one into the top right corner midway through period two to give the Bombers a 2-1 edge. Lucas' powerplay goal was his seventh overall. Owen Riffel notched his second of the campaign, snatching a pass out of mid air, dropping it to the ice, and chipping it in for an insurance tally at 15:22 of the third. Keene was pulled with 41 seconds left but to no avail. Both teams scored once on the powerplay. Ironwood and Sioux Lookout took five minor penalties each. Attendance at the Pat O'Donnell Civic Center was 215. |
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| Alex Lucas had two goals, Cedrik Robidoux added one goal and two assists, and Matthew Spencer-Dahl stopped 23 of 24 shots as the visiting Sioux Lookout Bombers build period leads of 2-0, 5-0 to defeat the Ironwood Lumberjacks 7-1 before 315 fans in Ironwood. Lucas scored his 8th at 11:33 unassisted and Ashton Cuvelier got his first at 13:51 for a 2-0 first period Bomber lead. Sioux Lookout did all their second period scoring in quick succession. Lucas at 0:26, Jackson Keeble with his first of the year 31 seconds later, and Tait Howell at 2:37 put a lock on the game. Cedric Robidoux and Rylen Leroux made it 7-0 by 4:50 of the third. Ironwood head coach Doug Lein replaced Kole Kronstedt with Mathias Anderson at this juncture. Kronstedt made 33 saves. Anderson stopped all eight Bomber shots from there on in. Jack Croghan broke Spencer-Dahl's shutout bid with 9:10 to go. Both teams were 0-2 on the powerplay. The Bombers absorbed 13 minutes in penalties to Ironwood's 10. |
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