By: Gary Moskalyk, SIJHL
WEEK 7 Preview
The SIJHL has six games on the schedule for week 7. In 83 games the league is averaging 3.58 goals per team, a 16.6% powerplay efficiency, and 21.83 penalty minutes per team per game. Six games have been decided via overtime or shootout.
Wisconsin 5-6-1 GF 46 GA 47 @ Kam River 10-4-1 GF 53 GA 48 Wed Nov 2
Wisconsin is flirting with .500 after a 3-0 start. The Lumberjacks are slightly better than league average in goals for. Notably, they have five players in the top 11 in league scoring. Ryder McMillen has been atop the leaderboard in points since the season began. He’s currently the only two points-a-game player in the league, sitting exactly at 2.00 on the season with 24 points (9-15) in 12 games. Dillon Phillips has 19. Zach Carson has 14 points and 10 goals as a defenceman. Salvatore Poggiali and defenceman Dylan Jouppi have 13 points.
Kyler Lowden has 505 minutes in net, with a 3.92 GAA and .915 SV%. Emmett Doherty and William Forrester have played equal time in back-up roles.
Their PP sits at 16.7%–league average, while the penalty kill is 77.6%. However, Wisconsin has five shorthanded markers in 49 chances, tied with Dryden for tops in that department.
Wisconsin is the least penalized team in the league at 15.33 minutes.
Kam River is looking to bounce back after dropping two to Sioux Lookout last weekend–their first two-game losing streak of the season. They sit 16th in the CJHL top-20 list through October 17.
Their 21 points lead the SIJHL by five. Their .700 winning pct. is second to Dryden. Their plus/minus is at +5. Ethan Lang, Holden Woodcroft, Carson Gorst and Jeremy Dunmore appear in the top-20 while nine players have six points or more.
Lang has 15 points (4-11) in 15 games. Woodcroft has 13, Gorst, 12, and Dunmore, 11. Woodcroft’s seven goals leads the squad.
Eric Vanska leads the SI in wins, seven, and minutes played, 610. Jack Orchard has provided solid back-up with a 2.99 GAA.
The Walleye’s 3.53 GFPG is league average. The powerplay is incrementally improving, but still lags at 8.0%. The PK is 82.1%.
Kam River has put the fight in the their Fighting Walleye moniker with 24.80 minutes in the box–second to Dryden.
Red Lake 5-6-2 GF 40 GA 41 @ Wisconsin GF 46 GA 47 Fri Nov 4
Last year’s league champs Red Lake have hovered near .500 all season.
Jacob Lamoureux has been lighting the lamp with 10 goals in his 13 games. Colton Crysler has 12 points (7-5). Aidan Corbett and Dayvan Bull sit at nine points each.
Jack Osmond has posted stellar numbers in net, posting 2.40/.932 numbers in 424 minutes of action. Jaxson Taupert has one less game played with a.3.59/.897 slash line.
Offensively, the team is a tick below league average, and slightly better (3.42 GAPG) at stopping the puck.
On special teams the PP sits at 12.9%, but on the PK it’s league-leading at 95.9%. They’ve allowed only two power play goals and have scored one shorthanded.
Red Lake averages 18.58 penalty minutes per game.
Dryden 8-3-0 GF 53 GA 31 @ Sioux Lookout 7-4-0 GF 48 GA 34
Dryden is looking formidable. Trailing Kam River by five points with four games in hand, the Dogs are on an eight-game winning streak and lead the league with a .727 W/L Pct.
Sioux Lookout however, will put that streak to the test.
Dryden is averaging 4.82 goals per game, allowing 2.82 goals per game, and have a goal differential of +22.
Leading the pack is Ryland Maier (7-8-15) in nine games, and Bryce Benfield (6-9-15). Jordan Pfoh (7-5-12) and Landen Stromme (7-3-10) bring a snipers touch. Rookie Max Roby has played in three games and scored in all of them, and Ben Hackle has six points in his three games after coming off an injury.
Eric Clark is second in league wins with six, with a 2.69 GAA and .914 SV%. Zac MacDonald backs up posting 2.77/.901 numbers.
Dryden’s PP is 25.0%, usurping Thunder Bay as league leader. The Ice Dog have killed off penalties at an 85.5% rate. They’ve scored five goals and allowed 10 in 69 shorthanded situations.
Penalties, well, the Ice Dogs have picked up their snarl lately, clocking in at 29.36 minutes in the box.
Sioux Lookout is not your average expansion team. Their two wins against Kam River last weekend have put a positive brand on the franchise, already an SIJHL success story. Their +14 ranks second in the league. In 11 games they are outscoring the opposition by 1.27 goals per game.
The Burke boys, Blake with 13 points (5-8) and Connor, 10 (5-5), populate the top-20, and Lucas Trimarchi (4-7-11 in 11 games) is among a dwindling number of players averaging a point or better per game. Defenceman Tyler Decoff also has 10 points. Graeme Patrick has nine points, and Phil and Aiden Parker and Ty Bahm have eight in a deep offense.
Goalie Jake Manners leads qualified goalies with 2.29 GAA. His .930 SV% is second. Raphael Marois and Odin Church have been steady in back-up roles.
The powerplay sits at 20.0% and the penalty kill at 87.3, both above average.
The Bombers average 22.91 penalty minutes per game.
Red Lake @ Fort Frances Lakers 1-9-0 GF 21 GA 58 Sun Nov 6
The Lakers are having a tough season so far.
Their offence sits at 21 goals. Brandon Rossetti has 10 points (3-7), a share in nearly half the teams’ goals. Clark Scaddan leads the Lakers in goals with five. Ian Snooks has six points (1-5). Ryker Watt has delivered in the physicality department with 44 penalty minutes–third most in the league. He has two goals and two assists.
Ryan Tanner has logged 307 minutes in net. Kaden King and Brenden Stroble have provided back-up.
The powerplay is at 13.7% and the PK at 67.4%.
The Lakers average 19.30 penalty minutes per game.
Thunder Bay North Stars 6-4-2 GF 36 GA 38 BYE WEEK
Thunder Bay sits in fourth place.
Their 36 goals for is misleading. They lost eight of them in their forfeited game against Fort Frances to open the season.
Edison Weeks has 16 points, on seven goals and nine helpers, the only North Star in the top-20 (3rd). Bobby Doukov, Dylan Winsor and Noah Broughton have nine each. Dimitri Trahiotis has six goals and two helpers, Anthony Kuzenko is 1-7-8.
Rookie Magnus Pearson has pocketed five markers.
Connor Lemieux leads the goaltending corps with 421 minutes played, with a 2.70 GAA and .922 SV%. Keenan Marks has posted two wins, allowing one goal in each. His .970 SV% and 0.96 GAA offer an intriguing game-day option.
The powerplay is at 24.4%. PK is 85.2%.
Penalty minutes are a league average 22.08.
They travel to Fort Frances on November 11 for a pair of weekend games.