Dryden, Kam River, Sioux Lookout and Thunder Bay swept their weekend games as the SIJHL completed Week 16. The regular season is now 63 per cent complete.
Dryden reached 50 points on the year with two wins against Ironwood. They’re four points ahead of Kam River, with two games in hand. The Ice Dogs have an eight game points streak. McLaren Paulsen’s 50 points leads the team in scoring. Max Roby, Carson Devine and Payton Hu are seven through nine in the top 10. Eli Antoine and Emmanuel Nkombou are in the top 20. Kellan Mooney leads all SIJHL netminders with a 2.22 goals against average.
Kam River’s three wins against Red Lake has them in second place with 46 points, three ahead of Sioux Lookout. The Walleye received an “honorable mention” in the CJHL rankings released January 13th. Daxton Lang’s 25 goals, 38 assists and 63 points all lead the league. Jett Mintenko’s 59 points are second. Kaden Goodwin’s productive weekend (11 points) has him in sixth place with 46 points. Ashton Sadauskas is 16-7-0 with 1,366 minutes between the pipes Sadauskas grabbed two wins. Sam Keene grabbed the Saturday ‘W’.
Sioux Lookout is three points behind Kam River and a point ahead of Thunder Bay. The Bombers are on a four-game winning streak. Alex Lucas is fourth in league scoring with 47 points (24 goals). Jonah Smith’s 36 points are second. Matthew Ofukany is 13-3-0, with a 2.56 GAA and .913 SV%. Matthew Spencer-Dahl is 7-6-1 with a 2.73/.920 slash line. The Bombers 83.0% penalty kill is second in the league.
Thunder Bay’s five-game win streak will be put to the test in Week 17. The Stars have a Tuesday road tilt against Dryden and then entertain Kam River for a weekend pair at the Gardens. Tyler Jordan leads the team with 46 points (21 goals). Beau Helmeczi, Evan Simeoni, Marcellus Francis, Tag Bryson and Alex Remenda are all in the top 20. Keenan Marks will likely be prominent between the pipes. He’s 8-5-2/2.79/.918 on the year. Rochester, NY native Liam Letters won his Saturday night start. The Stars top-flight penalty kill fell to 89.6% on the year. Though in fourth place, Thunder Bay’s .700 winning percentage is second best in the league.
The Lakers took two on the chin against the Stars. Fort Frances’ 30.8% power play leads the league. Brady Krentz has 41 points to lead the squad in production. Gunner Paradis is 7-4-0 on the year, with a 2.71 GAA and .928 SV%. Rookie Nolan Koethler is 7-8-1/3.52/.907.
Red Lake dropped to 12-16-3 on the year, and are now seven points behind the Lakers. Their goal differential dipped into minus territory (minus-5) with three losses against the Walleye. The Miners are on a seven-game slide. Nathan Dann’s 34 points has him in 17th place in league scoring. Rookie Koen Webber is 8-6-1/3.23/.907 between the pipes.
Ironwood has yet to hit 100 team goals on the year. Their power play ranks fourth in the league at 22.8%, however. Marshall Thomas has 39 points to lead the team in scoring. Mid-season acquisition Trent Boryszczuk is 6-6-1 with a 2.95 goals against and a sparkling .937 save percentage (tops in the league). Workhorse Kole Kronstedt is one of four goaltenders over 1,000 minutes played.
Kenora’s woes continue. The Islanders are on a nine-game slide. Josh Boyko leads the team in scoring with 16 points in 22 games, followed by Tallen Caron’s 13. Konnor Sapp has 105 penalty minutes to lead the team in that category. Kenora’s 725 penalty minutes in 31 games lead the SIJHL.
Week 17 will feature nine games. Kenora and Red Lake will tangle in a home-and-home series, as will Fort Frances and Dryden. Ironwood travels to Sioux Lookout for a pair. Thunder Bay will be front and centre of three marquee match-ups. They travel to Dryden for a Tuesday tilt, and host the Walleye at home for a Friday/Saturday set-to.