SIJHL Week 20 Preview
By Gary Moskalyk
Oh baby, it’s a 12-game slate in Week 20 as the SIJHL catches up to a slew of canceled games over the season.
Sioux Lookout 22-15-1 GF 152 GA 116 @ Thunder Bay 19-16-4 GF 129 GA 119, Mon Feb 13
Sioux Lookout is 4-3-1 vs. Thunder Bay. The Bombers are three points up on Thunder Bay with a game in hand. The successful expansion team is +36 on the year, averaging 4.00 goals a game while giving up 3.05.
Ty Bahm has 14 goals and 29 assists for 43 points–fourth in league scoring. Owen Riffel (18-18-36) is above a point-a-game, one of 17 players in the SIJHL at that pace. Blake Burke (17-18-35) is 15th in production. Lucas Trimarchi (13-17-30), Connor Burke (11-18-29), Tegan Neuman (9-20-29), Nolan Palmer (8-16-24) and Graeme Patrick (8-14-22) round out a potent attack.
Jake Manners is number one in three of four goaltender stats. His 2.43 GAA leads qualified goalies, as does his .931 SV% and 1,728 minutes played. His 18 wins are five behind Kam River’s Eric Vanska. Ethan Penner serves as back-up.
Sioux Lookout powerplay is 17.3%. Their penalty kill is 82.4%. Both marks are league average. The Bombers average 21.4 penalty minutes per game.
Sioux Lookout and Thunder Bay are on current two-game winning streaks. The Bombers are 5-4-1 in their last 10.
Thunder Bay has five games in eight days against four different opponents. The Stars are 4-4-0 against Sioux Lookout.
Edison Weeks has shot up to 7th in league scoring with 18 goals and 22 assists. Dylan Winsor hasn’t played since January 28 but still hangs in the top-40 with 23 points in 27 games. Noah Broughton joins Winsor on the injured list. He also has not played since January 28. Broughton has 21 points in 27 games.
Entering the top-40 in Colby Feist with eight goals and 14 assists in 22 games. Former and current North Stars forward Nikolas Campbell has added 10 goals and five assists in 13 games. Jamie Fuchs has eight goals and 12 assists in 18 games, and captain Matt Halushak has been a rock on defence with eight goals, 12 helpers and a feisty 114 penalty minutes.
Conner Lemieux has an 11-9-3 record with a 2.85 GAA and .926 SV%. Keenan Marks has eight wins, with a 2.48/.925 slash line.
Thunder Bay enters week 20 three points behind Sioux Lookout for third place.
The Stars PP is at 14.6%. The PK is second in the league at 85.8%.
The Stars average 20.2 penalty minutes per game.
Fort Frances 7-31-0 GF 97 GA 238 @ Dryden 28-12-1 GF 172 GA 115, Wed Feb 15
Fort Frances picked up a decisive 8-4 win over Sioux Lookout on Thursday with Ryker Watt picking up three goals and five assists.
Watt rose to 18th in league scoring with 18 goals and 16 assists with 100 penalty minutes to go with it. He’s played in all 38 games this year. That’s a lot of heavy lifting for an ’04 player. Clark Scaddan (9-15-24, 70 PIMs) and Kevin Bond (14-9-23) are in the top-40.
Brenden Stroble and Ryan Tanner share the net. Stroble has 1,192 minutes to Tanner’s 897.
Fort Frances’ PP is above league average at 17.7. They still haven’t hit 70 per cent in the penalty kill department, sitting at 68.7.
The Lakers average 17.6 penalty minutes per game, second lowest in the SI.
Fort Frances is 1-6-0 in the season series.
Dryden had their nine-game winning streak snapped by Kam River at home last week in a statement series. They’re still 8-2-0 in their last 10.
Their 4.20 goals per game offense has nine players in the top 30–all in the 14-30 range. Bryce Benfield (15-21-36) leads the team in points. James Hooton’s 22 goals leads the team. He’s one of four SIJHL players at 20-plus in goals. Landen Stromme came back from injury sooner than originally expected. The ’04 from Choiceland, SK has 19 goals and 15 helpers. Captain Brady Frattinger has 11 goals in his last 10 games. Ryland Maier (12-19-31), Max Roby (15-11-26 in 26 games), Jordan Pfoh (13-13-26), Ben Hackl (9-16-25) and defenceman Easton Debray (7-18-25) round out a deep corps.
Eric Clark is the primary netminder as his 1,719 minutes would attest. Clark is 18-9-1. Zac MacDonald is 9-3-0 in the back-up role.
Dryden has the best powerplay in the league at 22.6 per cent, and the best penalty kill at 86.5 per cent. The Ice Dogs lead the SIJHL in penalty minutes with 1,224, 350 more than second place Kam River.
In a scheduling quirk, Dryden plays four games against four different opponents in Week 20. Dryden is 6-1-0 against Fort Frances.
Wisconsin 12-22-6 GF 154 GA 176 @ Thunder Bay, Wed Feb 15
Any discussion about the Lumberjacks involves goals, both for and against. Ryder McMillen leads the SI in points with 60, on 25 goals and 35 assists. Defenceman Zach Carson is next with 46 points on 20 goals and 26 helpers.
The team averages 3.85 GPG and allows 4.40 GPG. Salvatore Poggiali has 38 points in 38 games. Dillon Phillips has 37. Dylan Jouppi has dished out 23 assists to go with two goals. Brandon MacDonald is 34th in scoring with a 24-point total.
Cooper McClure, twin brother of Connor McClure, has nine points in eight games.
Wisconsin’s PP is at 17.5%–slightly above the league average of 17.4%. Their PK is 80.1%–below the league mark of 82.6%.
Kyler Lowden has played 27 games in net. He’s 9-12-5 with a 4.00 GAA. Emmett Doherty and William Forrester are in reserve.
The Lumberjacks draw 15.3 penalty minutes per game, lowest in the league.
Wisconsin is 2-4-1 against Thunder Bay this season. They are currently on a four-game losing streak.
Thunder Bay is 5-1-1 against the Lumberjacks.
Dryden @ Red Lake 18-17-5 GF 13 GA 144, Fri Feb 17
Red Lake is 2-4-0 against Dryden this year. The Ice Dogs are 4-2-0 against the Miners.
Red Lake’s goals for of 3.69 is exactly the league average. The Miners six-game winless streak saw them slide to fifth place, a point behind Thunder Bay.
Sniper Jacob Lamoureux’ 26 goals lead the SIJHL. Aiden Corbett (14-25-39) and Colton Crysler (19-19-38) lead the team in points. Defenceman Tegan Neuman has played in all 40 games and has 24 points.
Jack Osmond has 14-10-2 record with a 3.02 GAA and .928 SV%. Trent Boryszczuk’s 57-save effort in an overtime loss to Thunder Bay improved his SV% to .925.
The Miners average 17.8 minutes in the box, nearly three minutes less than the league average of 20.6.
Red Lake’s PP is last in the league at 13.9%. They kill off 85.1% of their penalties.
Wisconsin @ Kam River 32-7-1 GF 176 GA 108, Sat/Sun Feb 18/19
Kam River is 5-1-0 against Wisconsin. The Lumberjacks are 1-4-1 against the Walleye.
The Walleye are fresh off a two-game sweep of Dryden in Dryden. They enter this weekend series on an eight-game winning streak.
There are plenty of “”A’s” on the Walleye report card. Most wins–32, most goals–176, least allowed–108, winning percentage–.813, most points–65. With 14 games to go they’re eight points clear of second place Dryden.
Jeremy Dunmore has 45 points–good for third in the SIJHL scoring race. His 17 goals lead the team. Defenceman Jack Cook has 16 goals and 25 assists. Ethan Lang also has 41 points with 13 goals and 28 assists. The Walleye are the only team with three 40-plus point producers.
Max Leduc is the youngest regular in the SIJHL. The ’06 forward will be turn 17 in February. His 13-19-32 line has him 20th in league scoring. Ryan Doucette (10-20-30), Euan Morrison (9-20-29) and Anthony Oviedo (12-12-24) round out an offense that scores 4.40 goals per game.
Eric Vanska leads the league in wins with 23. Jack Orchard’s 2.33 GAA and .912 SV% offer a pretty good plan B.
Kam River’s powerplay has risen to 17.6%. The penalty kill is 86.1–just below number one Dryden. The Walleye average 21.9 penalty minutes, also second to the Ice Dogs.
The team has had six games with 800+ fans in attendance.
Dryden 5-2-1 @ Sioux Lookout 3-5-0, Sat Feb 18
Dryden is 5-2-1, Sioux Lookout is 3-5-0 in the season series.
Thunder Bay 1-4-0 at Fort Frances 1-4-0, Sat/Sun Feb 18/19
Sioux Lookout 3-2-0 @ Red Lake 2-2-1, Mon Feb 20
Thunder Bay 1-5-1 @ Dryden 6-1-0, Mon Feb 20
Wisconsin 5-0-1 @ Fort Frances 1-5-0, Mon Feb 20