SIJHL WEEK 4 Preview October 12-16, 2022

October 12, 2022

By: Gary Moskalyk, SIJHL

The SIJHL will head into week 4 with eight games on the slate. Fort Frances 1-5-0 GF 12 GA 32 has the bye this week and will not see action again until next weekend’s annual showcase event held this year in Superior, WI at Wessman Arena.   Wednesday, Thursday and six games over the weekend highlight the package.

WEDNESDAY October 12 Wisconsin 4-2-0 GF 29 GA 22 at Thunder Bay 1-3-1 GF 10 GA 15

The Lumberjacks enter action with the SIJHL’s top powerplay at 26.7%. Ryder McMillen has 16 points to lead the league by five over teammate Dillon Phillips. Kyler Lowden has been carrying the mail in net and has delivered. The 20-year-old out of Grand Rapids, MI is 3-2-0 with 3.95 GAA.

The North Stars are hoping a little home cooking will get them back in the win column. They lost their 8-1 win against Fort Frances to skew the team stats. Edison Weeks has five goals, three on the powerplay. Conner Lemieux has seen plenty of time in net and has 2-1-1 record with a 2.24 GAA and .921 SV%.

Best to stay out of the penalty box when these teams hook up. Thunder Bay has a 26.1 PP rate just behind Wisconsin. They lead the league in penalty kill with an 86.2 percentage.

THURSDAY October 13 Red Lake 4-3-1 GF 31 GA 25 @ Kam River 5-1-1 GF 24 GA 25

Two teams that really won’t be exchanging Christmas gift exchange ideas anytime soon faceoff for their fourth consecutive game against each other on Thursday.

Red Lake garnered five points on two wins and tie, while Kam River secured a win and a shootout loss in their rare 3-game match-up in Red Lake last weekend.

Jack Osmond leads the SIJHL with 1.72 GAA in 244 minutes played. Jaxson Taupert sits at 4.17 GAA in 245 minutes for Red Lake.

Vanska leads the league with 336 minutes between the pipes with Jack Orchard at 5.08 in a back-up role for Kam River in 94 minutes played.

R.J. Dickie leads the Miners with 10 points. Jacob Lamoureux has eight (with seven goals), former Walleye Colton Crysler has seven while Aiden Corbett hits the top-20 with six points.

Ethan Lang and Holden Woodcroft lead the Walleye with seven and six points respectively.

Kam River has reeled in an impressive record despite having a powerplay sputtering at 7.7%. They’re 84.7% on the PK. Red Lake’s powerplay sits below league average at 14.0% but do lead the league with a 93.9% penalty kill. Neither team has a shorthanded goal. Wisconsin has five.

FRIDAY/SATURDAY October 14/15 Sioux Lookout 3-1-0 GF 18 GA 13 @ Kam River

Sioux Lookout will be testing their road prowess after establishing a .750 winning percentage at home. The Bombers have been averaging 4.50 goals a game. They’ve taken the committee approach to scoring.

Defenceman Tyler Decoff has three goals and two helpers, while Lucas Trimarchi has five points. Blake and Connor Burke, Jack Hale and Phil Parker all have two goals and an assist, while Owen Riffle sits at one goal and two assists.

In net, Jake Manners has two wins and a 2.38 SV%. Raphael Marois has the other win.

FRIDAY/SATURDAY October 14/15 Red Lake @ Thunder Bay  

FRIDAY/SATURDAY October 14/15 Dryden 3-3-0 GF 25 GA 17 @ Wisconsin

The Dryden Ice Dogs have established themselves as a force winning their last three games after dropping their first three. Ryland Maier leads team scoring with nine points, followed by Jordan Pfoh (7), Bryce Benfield (7) and captain Brady Frattinger (6).

The team averages 26:30 per game in the bin.

Eric Clark and Zac MacDonald have shared the net. Clark has a 2.34 GAA and MacDonald has a 2.70 GAA.