Eli Antoine’s five goals in a single period was put an exclamation point on Dryden’s week as the Ice Dogs opened up a six-point lead in the SIJHL standings. The Ice Dogs travel to Thunder Bay for a Tuesday match, then entertain the Fighting Walleye on Saturday and Sunday. The ‘Dogs have a 13-game point streak on the line. Twelve of those 13 games are wins.
McLaren Paulsen leads the league in scoring with 39 points on 16 goals and 23 assists. Carson Devine has 32, and Max Roby and Payton Hu have 31 points each. Emmanuel Nkombou has 26 points to hold down sixth place in league scoring. Dryden’s 107 goals pace the league.
Thunder Bay’s point streak came to an end with Sioux Lookout’s weekend sweep. As head coach Rob DeGagne noted, the team is allowing too many goals of late. Not too many of them are on the penalty kill however, as the Stars lead the league with a 94.2% kill rate. Tyler Jordan has 25 points, Alex Remenda 23, and rookie Evan Simeoni has 22. All three in the top 10. Rookie Marcellus Francis cracks the top-20 with nine goals and six assists in seven games played.
The Bombers are a point back of Thunder Bay, with six wins and a tie in their last seven. Alex Lucas has 16 points (10 goals) to pace the team offensively. Captain Jonah Smith has 15 points. The Bombers have allowed a league-low 43 goals. Goalies Matthew Ofukany (2.27 GAA, .928 SV%) and Matthew Spencer-Dahl (2.75 GAA, .924 SV%) are a big part of that.
Kam River is on a five-game heater with a big away series with Dryden fast approaching. Jett Mintenko’s 29 points paces the team offensively. Captain Daxton Lang has 23. Ashton Sadauskas has an 8-2-0 record, with a 2.60 GAA and .916 in his 10 60-minute starts.
Fort Frances turnaround season has them in fifth place, a win above .500 with an equal amount of goals for and against (47). Brady Krentz is averaging over a point a game and Jack Wood and Gavin Simon are right behind. The Lakers have a 30.0% powerplay, good for second place behind Dryden’s 37.8%.
Red Lake has a big series away against the Lakers in week nine. Just minus-3 in goal differential, the Miners are looking to reach .500 with a sweep. Nathan Dann has 18 points and rookie Quinn Szpak has 16 to pace the attack. Recent addition Ethan Rau has impressed in his two starts in net, sporting a 1.02 GAA and .964 SV%. He already has one of the six shutouts posted by goalies this year.
Ironwood ventures to Fort Frances for a Tuesday tilt, badly in need of a win. They’re on a eight-game slide. Marshall Thomas continues to shine, with 22 points in 18 games. Goalie Kole Kronstedt has appeared in a league-high 15 games with 783 minutes. The Ironwood powerplay is clicking along at 25.0%.
Kenora has a weekend pair away against Sioux Lookout with just four points on the year. Josh Boyko’s seven goals highlights the offence.
Two Tuesday games, two on Friday, three on Saturday and a Kam River/Dryden barn burner on Sunday highlight Week 9 action.
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