By Gary Moskalyk
Wisconsin 14-20-5 33 pts .423 6th GF 145 GA 189 -44 PIMs 726 PP% 20.2 PK% 76.9 at Thunder Bay 28-11-5 61 pts .693 3rd GF 200 GA 140 +60 PIMs 723 PP% 19.6 PK% 82.0 Tuesday
Head to head: WIS 1-5-0 TBN 5-0-1
Wisconsin comes to Thunder Bay with a big 6-4 win against Sioux Lookout under their belt.
Dillon Phillips leads the team in scoring with 57 points (23 goals), good for third place in the SIJHL. Phillips has 15 points in his last five games. Nolan Fowler is next in line with 39 points in 32 games, He’s one of 12 SIJHL-ers with 20 goals plus. Defenceman Ryan Kayser has 33 points (10 goals), good for third among rearguards. Kaden Postal (11G 16A), rookie Collin Baker (14G 9A), Simon Davidson (9G 11A) and rookie d-man Connor Corcoran (7G 13A) round out the 20-point players.
William Forrester leads the goaltending brigade with 850 minutes. He has an 8-5-1 record, 4.94 GAA and .882 SV%. Rookie Riley Burnett has a 3-5-1 record in his nine starts with a 4.72 GAA and .893 SV% in 508 minutes. Forrester secured the win against Sioux Lookout.
Wisconsin is 20.2% on the powerplay and have a 76.9% penalty kill. The Lumberjacks average 18.6 penalty minutes per game.
Thunder Bay is fresh off their 13-4 win over Kenora. A number of players benefitted from the spree.
Edison Weeks leads the league in points with 68 (25 goals 43 assists). EJ Paddington also crested the 60-point marks with 27 goals and 34 helpers. Easton Mikus is 5th in scoring with 28 goals and 25 assists. Tyler Jordan is 8th with 26 goals and 21 assists.
Dimitri Trahiotis has 32 points in 43 games. Defenceman Cameron Dial has 26 points, rookie Cohen Tangedal 25 points, Beau Helmeczi 22 points and Alex Remenda has 21 points in 15 games. Defenceman Drew Caddo has 20 points.
Keenan Marks is second in league wins with 18 and also number two with 1,608 minutes played. Ben Laurette had a pair of starts against Red Lake and still has not been beat in regulation with a 5-0-1 record.
Thunder Bay has a powerplay rating of 19.6% and kill penalties at an 82.0% clip. The Stars average 16.4 penalty minutes per game.
Kenora 2-37-1 5 pts .063 8th GF 79 GA 273 -194 PIMs 1,084 PP% 9.9 PK% 67.7 at Kam River 31-9-1 63 pts .768 1st GF 197 GA 119 +78 PIMs 853 PP% 25.5 PK% 80.5 Fri/Sat/Sun
Head to head: KEN 0-2-0 KRW 2-0-0
Kenora has five games left against first place Kam River, including this three game set at Norwest Arena.
Captain Aaron Bertschinger leads the team in scoring with 14 goals and 19 assists. Brayden Mackay has played in all 40 games and has 25 points in the archives. Jean Paul Scaringi is next with 22 points and defenceman Braden Swampy has 11 goals among his 20 points.
Defenceman Reid Zurkan leads all SIJHL players with 117 penalty minutes.
Matthew Stephens is the torch bearer in net with 1,044 minutes and all five points the Islanders have in the standings. Kaden King has 682 minutes and Connor Dunham-Fox has 521.
The Islanders have a 9.9 per cent success rate on the powerplay and a 67.7 per cent penalty kill. The Islanders average 27.1 penalty minutes per game.
Kam River took over first place in the standings.
Four players have 40 points or more. Jett Mintenko leads the charge with 46 (17 goals), followed by Jeremy Dunmore (21 goals, 45 points), Riley Borody, 41 (14 goals), and rookie Nickolas Fagnilli, 40 (17 goals).
Ryan Doucette, 36, rookie Carter Poddubny, 35, defenceman Brydon Bell, 33, and rookie Kaden Goodwin, 28 are next in line in point production. Defenceman Liam Bell, 27, Braeden Duchesne, 24, and rookie d-man Edwin Liang, 23, provide solid support.
In net, Ashton Sadauskas leads the league in wins with 24, and minutes with 1,623. Travis VanderZwaag has a 7-6-1 record in 835 minutes.
The Walleye are tied with Dryden for the best powerplay at 25.5% and have an 80.5% penalty kill. Kam River averages 20.8 penalty minutes per game.
Red Lake 26-14-2 54 pts .643 5th GF 185 GA 117 +68 PIMs 792 PP% 23.2 PK% 86.3 at Sioux Lookout 29-9-4 62 pts .738 2nd GF 167 GA 100 +67 PIMs 632 PP% 22.8 PK% 85.5 Fri/Sat
Head to head: RLM 1-3-1 SLB 4-1-0
Red Lake is 5-5-0 in their last 10, garnering a weekend split with Thunder Bay.
Aiden Corbett leads the squad offensively with 26 goals and 27 assists for 53 points and 6th place in the scoring race. Luke DeCorby has 40 points (15 goals). Defenceman Blake Hiltermann leads all rearguards with 14 goals and 37 points. Rookie Noah Tenney has 32 points, defenceman Gabe Tanton has 31, and Nathan Dann, still out with injury but expected back fairly soon, has 28 points (18 goals) in 22 games.
Ryker Watt has 23 combined points and rookies Ethan Cerone and Carter Deschamps have 20 points each.
Ethan Neitsch is 10-8-2 with a 2.26 GAA and .933 SV% in 1,221 minutes. Rookie Noah Davis is 10-4-0 with a 2.75 GAA and .907 SV% in 807 minutes. Jackson Pundyk is 2-1-0 in his four appearances.
Red lake has a 23.2 per cent success rate on the powerplay and a league-leading 86.3% penalty kill. The Miners average 18.9 minutes per game in the penalty box.
Thunder Bay at Fort Frances 9-28-5 23 pts .274 7th GF 120 GA 195 -75 PIMs 884 PP% 14.8 PK% 78.3 Friday/at Thunder Bay Sunday
Head to head: TBN 5-0-0 FFL 0-5-0
Fort Frances is 3-5-2 in their last 10 games.
Clark Scaddan leads the team in points with 37 in 40 games. Brady Krentz is one point behind. Jack Wood has 31 and Brody Lindal has 30. Pierce Gouin, Magnus Pearson and Evan Kabel all have 17.
Jack Orchard has 1,403 minutes in net with a 4-18-2 record, 4.45 GAA and .898 SV%. Lukas Toth is 3-8-2 in 818 minutes and Gunner Paradis is 2-2-1 in five games.
The Lakers have a powerplay efficiency of 14.8% and a penalty kill of 78.3%. Fort Frances averages 21.0 penalty minutes per game.
Wisconsin at Dryden 28-14-2 58 pts .659 4th GF 169 GA 129 +40 PIMs 926 PP% 25.5 PK% 79.7 Fri/Sat
Head to head: WIS 1-3-1 DRY 4-1-0
Dryden’s 44 games played lead the SIJHL (tied with Thunder Bay). They’re four points up on Red Lake and three back of third place Thunder Bay. They have a crucial season-ending doubleheader against Thunder Bay March 15th and 16th to close out the regular season.
Max Roby has 24 goals and 21 assists for 45 points in 39 games. McLaren Paulsen’s 25 goals lead the team. Paulsen has 18 helpers for a total of 43 points. Eli Antoine is 18th in league scoring with 39 points (15 goals). Carson Devine and Sean Smith both have 32 points each. Bryce Benfield should provide a healthy dose of scoring when he returns to the lineup, He has 27 points in 22 games.
Ryland Maier has 13 goals and 13 helpers. Defenceman Sebastiano Biagi has 23 points. Defenceman Geoff Bjarnason has 19 points in 26 games and James Hooton has provided a late season spark with 13 points with seven goals in nine games.
Ewan Soutar is 14-7-1 in the Dryden net, with 1,349 minutes. Soutar has a 2.27 GAA and .925 SV% and a league-leading five shutouts. He is backed up by late acquisition Christian Lynch, who brings a 5-0-0 record, 1.97 GAA and .913 SV% to the crease.
Dryden has the league’s top powerplay at 25.5% and has a 79.7% penalty kill. The Ice Dogs average 21.0 minutes per game in the penalty box.