By Gary Moskalyk
Games aplenty (10) in Week 19 of the SIJHL. First place Kam River travels to Dryden for a heavyweight weekend match-up against the second-place Ice Dogs after a Wednesday home tilt against Thunder Bay.
Sioux Lookout has a three-game road trip to Fort Frances and then Wisconsin after a stretch of off days.
Red Lake heads to the Gardens for a weekend pair against Thunder Bay in a battle for fourth place.
Thunder Bay has a midweek tilt against the cross-town rival Fighting Walleye and then hosts the aforementioned Miners.
Wisconsin is 5-2-3 in their last 10 as they host Dryden and the Bombers for two.
Fort Frances has a lone Thursday match against the Bombers.
The schedule is over two-thirds completed.
Dryden 26-10-1 GF 155 GA 100 @ Wisconsin 12-18-6 GF 147 GA 158, Tue/Wed Feb 7/8
Dryden is on a seven-game winning streak. Wisconsin is at home, undefeated in three.
The Ice Dogs have no players in the top 10 but does have five in the 11-19 category. Bryce Benfield leads the team in points with 35. Recently injured Landen Stromme has 19 goals and 33 points. James Hooton leads the team in goals (21) and has 11 helpers. Ryland Maier (11-28-29) and Brady Frattinger (14-14-28) are the remaining two.
Max Roby is of 15 players still averaging a point a game. He’s 15-10-25 in 24 contests. Jordan Pfoh, Ben Hackl and defenceman Easton Debray round out a potent and deep offence.
In net, Eric Clark carries the freight. Clark is 18-8-1 with a 2.57 GAA and .920 SV% with two shutouts. Zac MacDonald has seven wins in a back-up role with 2.75 GAA.
The Ice Dogs average 4.19 goals per game, and 2.70 goals allowed per game. Both their powerplay, 22.7%, and penalty kill, 87.2, are tops in the league. Dryden is the most penalized team in the league at 31.9 minutes per game.
Dryden is 3-1-0 against the Lumberjacks. The teams haven’t squared off since Nov. 13th.
Wisconsin is having a better second half. They are 5-2-3 in their last 10, and are undefeated in three.
Ryder McMillen has 58 points–12 more than teammate Zach Carson in second place. McMillen’s 35 assists alone would tie him for 10th in league scoring. He’s one behind Jacob Lamoureux of Red Lake with 23 goals. Carson has 20 goals and 26 assists from his defence position. His nine powerplay goals are tops in the SIJHL.
Dillon Phillips has 36 points in 36 games, on 14 goals and 22 apples. Brandon McDonald with 24 points, and defenceman Dylan Jouppi, 23 points, round out the top tier of the Lumberjack attack.
As much as the Lumberjacks score they let them in, too. Their 4.08 GPP is offset by their 4.39 GAPG. Kyler Lowden, the main man in net, is at 3.96 GAA, with a 9-9-3 record on a team that has a .417 winning percentage. Emmett Doherty and William Forrester provide support.
Wisconsin has played Dryden tough all year. They have a win and an overtime loss, and their two losses have been by 4-3 and 6-4 scores.
Wisconsin has the second best powerplay at 17.8%. Their 81.7% penalty kill is slightly below the league average of 82.9%.
Expect a cleanly played high scoring affair when the Lumberjacks hit the ice. Their 16.1 penalty minutes per game is the lowest in the league.
Thunder Bay 17-15-4 GF 119 GA 110 @ Kam River 29-7-1 GF 161 GA 101, Wed Feb 8
Thunder Bay is 0-4-2 against the Walleye. Two of the four losses have been by a goal. Four of the six games have been settled by a goal. They enter play with two recent losses against Dryden, and a 4-6-0 record over their past 10.
Edison Weeks leads the team in scoring with 17 goals and 17 assists for 34 points. Dylan Winsor (9-14-23) and Noah Broughton (8-13-21) are 33rd and 37th in league scoring. Nikolas Campbell has seven goals in 10 games since returning to the Stars line-up. Mid-season acquisitions Colby Feist (7-13-20, 21 games) and Jamie Fuchs (6-11-17, 15 games) have provided a shot in the arm.
Keenan Marks continues to shine in net. The 18-year-old from Thunder Bay leads the SI in GAA with a 2.29, and SV% .930. Veteran Conner Lemieux leads the Stars in minutes (1,203) and has a 2.94/.923 slash, with a 9-9-3 record.
The Stars powerplay is at 15.1%. They excel at killing off penalties with an 85.3 percent rating. Thunder Bay has allowed two shorthanded goals all season.
The Stars are close to league average in penalty time at 20.9 minutes per game.
Kam River is 6-0-0 against Thunder Bay this year. They entertain the Stars while on a five-game winning streak and are 8-2-0 in their last 10.
Jeremy Dunmore, Ethan Lang and Jack Cook are 3rd, 5th and 7th in the SIJHL in scoring, sitting at 41, 39 and 37 points respectively. Dunmore and Cook lead the team with 15 goals apiece. Ryan Doucette (10-17-27), Max Leduc (also 10-17-27), Euan Morrison (8-18-26) and Anthony Oviedo (12-12-24) comprise a strong supporting cast.
Affiliated goalie Andrew Kreis picked up a win in his lone start, with a 41-save effort against the Lakers. It’s been Eric Vanska carrying the load all season with 20 wins and four shutouts on the year. Jack Orchard has an 8-3-0 record in 13 games.
The CJHL rankings have the Walleye pegged at 16th in their latest poll.
The Walleye are league average–17.1%–on the powerplay. Their penalty kill clocks in at 85.6.
Kam River averages 21.9 minutes per game in the bin.
Sioux Lookout 20-14-1 GF 142 GA 106 @ Fort Frances 6-31-0 GF 89 GA 234, Thu Feb 9
Sioux Lookout is plus-36 in goal differential. They travel to Fort Frances with a 3-0-0 record against the Lakers. The Bombers are on a two-game slide, but sport a 6-3-1 record in their last 10.
Ty Bahm’s 38 points places him 6th in league scoring. Blake Burke (15-18-33), Owen Riffel (17-15-32), and Lucas Trimarchi (11-16-27) round out the Bomber players in the top-20. Riffel’s 17 goals lead the team. Connor Burke (11-16-27), Tegan Neuman (9-16-25 in 19 games), Nolan Palmer (8-14-22) and Graeme Patrick (7-14-21) are in the 21-39 range.
Jake Manners has a 16-10-1 record on the season with a 2.54 GAA and .929 SV% and a league-leading 1,608 minutes between the pipes.
The powerplay is 16.7%. They lead in the league in powerplay opportunities with 210–25 more than second place Red Lake. The penalty kill is 85.0%.
The Bombers average 22.3 minutes in the box.
Fort Frances is on a three-game losing streak and are 1-9-0 in their last 10. Fort is winless in three games against the Bombers.
They are the only team in the league to not go into overtime.
Ryker Watt has played in all 37 games and leads the team in scoring with 15 goals and 11 assists. Clark Scaddan is 9-15-24 in 34 games. Kevin Bond (13-7-20), Brady Krentz (7-11-18 in 26 games) and Ian Snooks (5-12-17) are next in line.
Ryan Tanner and Brenden Stroble share netminding chores.
Tyler Miller’s crew is 15.3% on the powerplay. The penalty kill has improved to 68.5%.
The Lakers average 17.9 minutes of penalty time.
Red Lake 18-16-4 GF 132 GA 136 @ Thunder Bay, Fri/Sat Feb 10/11
The Miners are on four-game losing streak, but are 5-5-0 in their last 10. They have a slim two-point lead on the Stars. Thunder Bay has three games in hand.
Thunder Bay is 3-0-0 against the Miners. Red Lake is 0-2-1 in the season series.
Six games remain in head-to-head matches between the two clubs.
Aiden Corbett has played in all 38 games and leads the team in scoring with 39 points. Colton Crysler (19-17-36) and Jacob Lamoureux (24-11-35) are in the top-10. Lamoureux’ 24 snipes lead the league. Defenceman Dayvan Bull has 5 goals and 19 helpers. Bull and Matthew MacPherson (5-16-21) appear in the top-40.
Jack Osmond is 14-9-2 with a 2.95 GAA and sparkling .929 SV%. Trent Boryszczuk has a 2-3-0 record and .919 SV% in limited action.
The Red Lake powerplay is 14.6% and PK is 85.0%. At 17.8 minutes, they rank second lowest in penalty minutes per game.
Sioux Lookout @ Wisconsin, Fri/Sat Feb 10/11
Sioux Lookout has four regulation wins against the Lumberjacks.
Kam River @ Dryden, Fri/Sat Feb 10/11
Kam River has three wins and two losses against Dryden, all games settled in regulation. Dryden has 25 goals to Kam River’s 21.