SIJHL Week 12 Recap
By Gary Moskalyk
Thunder Bay 4 @ Sioux Lookout 1, Thu Dec 8
Keenan Marks remained undefeated through six games as the Thunder Bay North Stars defeated the Sioux Lookout Bombers 4-1 at the Hangar in Sioux Lookout.
Jonah DesRosiers scored his third of the season beating Ethan Penner from a tough angle at 14:40 of the first frame. Penner was making his first appearance in net for the Bombers. Thunder Bay’s Mason Wesley assisted on DesRosiers’ goal in his first game back from a season-long injury.
Dimitri Trahiotis and Dylan Winsor tacked on a second period pair as the visiting Stars upped their lead to 3-0. Owen Riffel notched his 7th at 14:41 to cut the lead to two.
Thunder Bay scored the lone third period goal. Easton Glousher tallied at 11:19. Liam Murdoch recorded his 9th assist on the year and Wesley picked up his second assist of the game.
DesRosiers added an assist for Thunder Bay, and Liam Murdoch also had two helpers.
Penner was pelted with 49 shots in his first start while Marks turned aside 17 of 18.
Thunder Bay was 0-5 on the power play. The Bombers were 0-3 in a lightly played game before 246 fans.
Thunder Bay hosts Dryden next Tuesday and Wednesday while the Bombers entertain the Wisconsin Lumberjacks Friday and Saturday.
Kam River 8 @ Fort Frances 1 Fri, Kam River 7 @ Fort Frances 0 Sat
In Friday’s contest Kam River scored six unanswered goals in the final 9:22 to break a close game wide open and defeat the Lakers 8-1. Ethan Lang, Kennan Reyelts, Ryan Doucette, Max Leduc, Daxton Lang and Brydon Bell all beat Laker starter Brenden Stroble in the barrage. Stroble kept Fort Frances in the game for the first 50 minutes.
Eric Vanska picked up win number 15 turning aside 16 shots–all of them in periods one and two. Kam outshot the Lakers 15-0 in the third.
Jack Cook scored in the first and Daxton Lang at 6:47 of the second to give the Walleye a 2-0 lead. Ryker Watt notched his 8th to keep the game close.
Six Walleye players recorded two or more points. Daxton Lang had two goals, Brydon Bell, Max Leduc and Jack Cook had goals and two assists. Reyelts and Ethan Lang had a goal and assist.
Fort picked up three or the four minor penalties. Ethan Lang had the only power play goal.
The game attracted 213 fans at Ice for Kids Arena.
Brydon Bell notched a pair and Jack Orchard made 19 saves for his second shutout as the first place Fighting Walleye defeated Fort Frances 7-0 in Saturday’s game.
Riley Borody scored his first of the season at 11:22 of the first. Affiliated player Kennan Reyelts tacked on midway through the second. Two quick goals ten seconds apart by Ethan Lang and Anthony Oviedo broke open a close game.
Bell scored his two back-to-back in the third and Carson Gorst scored unassisted to round out the offence.
Kam River was 1-5 on the power play.
Gorst and Borody added an assist each for two-points.
Brenden Stroble faced 53 shots including 41 in the first 40 minutes.
Fort took six minors to Kam’s three on the evening. Attendance was 229.
Dryden 2 @ Red Lake 4 Fri, Dryden 7 @ Red Lake 3 Sat
Luke Decorby scored at 13:14 of the third and Mason Mowat added an unassisted empty netter with 36 seconds left as the Red Lake Miners defeated Dryden 4-2 at Cochenour Arena. Jack Osmond stopped 44 of 46 to earn first star and his 10th win of the campaign. The Edmonton, AB native leads the SI in GAA, 2.57, and SV%, .934.
There was no scoring in the first. Six players were involved in a major dust up late in the period, and two players drew misconducts before puck drop at the beginning of the second.
The teams exchanged two goals each in the middle period. Ben Norlock scored his first of the season at 22 seconds on a dish from Matt Macpherson for a 1-0 Red Lake lead. Landon Stromme’s 11th tied it. Colton Crysler scored his 13th on the power play on assists from Quintyn Sidaway and Jacob Lamoureux at 13:35. Brady Frattinger tallied unassisted at 15:42 to knot it back up.
The second period was another physical affair. In all, Dryden drew 53 penalty minutes and Red Lake 57 in the game.
Eric Clark stopped 33 of 36 in the loss. The Ice Dogs were able to get him out of the net for a mere 24 seconds until Mowat’s marker at 19:36 sent him back between the pipes.
Only two minors were whistled in the third.
Dryden fired 61 shots in Saturday’s contest to defeat Red Lake 7-3. James Hooton had a pair, Bryce Benfield had a goal and four points, and Ben Hackl counted one and assisted on two to lead the Ice Dogs. Zac MacDonald thwarted 34 shots for his 5th win of the year.
Brennan Blatz had two goals for the Miners, while Ty Woodard assisted on two.
The game was tied 2-2 when Dryden’s Kody Norberg, Hooton and Landen Stromme struck for three in a 5:24 span in the second to put a stranglehold on the contest.
Special teams figured prominently. Bryce Benfield opened the scoring at 5:28 of the first with Dryden’s first power play marker. Luke Decorby tied it up.
In the second period, Jordan Pfoh gave Dryden a 2-1 on the power play. Blatz scored short-handed to knot the score. Stromme’s 12th at 15:51 of the middle frame was also short-handed.
Blatz pulled Red Lake to within two at 3:00 of the third, but Hackl and Hooton put the game out of reach.
Jack Osmond absorbed the loss for Red Lake.
Dryden took 51 minutes in penalties, but the Miners failed to capitalize on eight power play chances. Dryden was 2-6.
Wisconsin 1 @ Sioux Lookout 7 Fri, Wisconsin 3 @ Sioux Lookout 11 Sat
Sioux Lookout did most of the bombing, skating off with a 7-1 decision over the visiting Lumberjacks in game 1. Owen Riffel scored two and added an assist to lead the attack, and Jake Manners made 36 saves for his 11th win against seven losses.
The Bombers ended a three-game drought.
Alex Lucas and Ty Lone scored 22 seconds apart and Blake Burke fired in his 11th as the Bombers took a 3-0 lead into the dressing room after 20.
Nathan Dann and Wisconsin’s Zach Johnson traded second period goals.
Riffel scored at 1:13 and 13:33 of the third, and Mitchell Daines twisted the dagger at 16:56 for the convincing win. Daines scored his first goal and garnered his first assist in his third game with Sioux Lookout.
Emmett Doherty faced 45 shots in the Wisconsin net.
Blake Burke added an assist and Connor Burke and Ty Bahm each had two helpers.
Wisconsin was shut down in seven power play chances while Sioux Lookout was 0-2.
Attendance was 257.
Nathan Dann scored four goals to power the Bombers to a 11-3 thrashing of Wisconsin on Saturday.
The game was tied 2-2 entering the second period. Owen Riffel and Tait Howell gave Sioux Lookout 1-0 and 2-1 leads, while Wisconsin’s Conner Hacker and Caden Sutter replied.
In the second frame, Sioux Lookout struck for six unanswered goals. Peter Zilkalns, Blake Burke, Graeme Patrick and Dann with a hat trick, provided the knockout blows.
The Bombers scored the first three of third. Dann had his 4th by 1:37 of the period. Ty Bahm and Alex Lucas sent the game into double digits. Carson added 1 with 51 seconds left for Wisconsin’s third goal.
Dann now has six goals and two assists in six games with the Bombers.
Ty Bahm had a five-point night. Riffel had a goal plus two assists, and Logan James had three assists for Sioux.
Ethan Penner collected his first win of the year, shunting aside 30 of 33. William Forrester made 31 saves.
The Bombers were 1-4 on the power play.
The Hangar attracted 281.
Wisconsin 8 @ Fort Frances 4, Sun Dec 11
Two tired hockey clubs battled at Ice for Kids Arena Sunday afternoon.
Ryder McMillen scored two goals and Emmett Doherty stopped 43 of 47 as the Wisconsin Lumberjacks defeated the Fort Frances Lakers 8-4.
McMillen leads the SIJHL scoring race with 47 points.
The teams were tied two-all through one. Dylan Olsen scored from an impossible angle to get the Lumberjacks going, banking a shot off Ryan Tanner for a 1-0 lead. Ryker Watt tied it, McMillen got his 16th and Kevin Bond registered his 5th unassisted through 20.
Wisconsin would outscore Fort Frances 3-1 in periods two and three to win going away. Kayser, Drake Flynn (short-handed) and Timothy LeRoy counted for the Lumberjacks in the second. Raduy had Fort Frances’ goal. LeRoy registered his first goal of the season.
In the third, Shane Cassin, Sal Poggiali and McMillen on the power play would tally for the ‘Jacks, with Bond getting his second of the game for the Lakers.
Wisconsin was 1-4 with the man advantage while Fort Frances scored on one of two chances. Only six minor penalties were called.
Fort Frances stumbled to its fifth consecutive loss. Wisconsin halted a two-game slump.
Brandon McDonald and Zach Johnson had two helpers for Wisconsin.
Tanner faced 46 shots in the loss.
If you missed any of the action this week, all game videos are saved on SIJHLTV