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.
[table “58” not found /]
