It’s only been a week since the Fort Frances Lakers lost in Game 7 of the SIJHL Bill Salonen Cup finals, but the team is ready to get going again.
On Tuesday, the team announced that forward Gunnar Simon has been named the team’s captain for the 2026-27 season.
Lakers Head Coach and General Manager Luke Judson told The Times he wanted to go into the offseason with a new captain to help hold returning players to account.
“It’s something different from what we’ve done in the past,” Judson said. “I think it’s something a lot of junior programs do for a number of reasons, one, to show our fans and the team that our best players want to be back here and want to finish the job. And second to that, just have a voice all summer long that’s keeping tabs with the returning players and making sure he’s pushing for them to be committed this summer to their preparation and being ready to go for next season, and to have someone kind of steering that ship and setting an example of what that means.”
In a press release from the Lakers, Simon said he’s eager to come back and finish the job of winning a championship next season.
“The support from the community has been truly amazing, and we owe them next season,” Simon said. “The job isn’t finished, and we’ll be back. The work starts now; we want Bill!”
The Lakers went 37-11 over the 48-game regular season, including two overtime losses and two shootout losses. They lost only one game on home ice all season and allowed fewer than 100 goals against all year.
The board president for the community-owned team, Sarah Kivimaki, said it was a year of firsts.
“I think there were a lot of things this year with having a new president and pretty much a brand-new coaching staff, with the head coach being new and [assistant coaches] Foster Couvier and Mike Parisien and Joe Basaraba coming in as well,” she said.
I think we learned so much this year, and it wasn’t always easy, and we still have a lot to learn, but I think the only word I can use to cover the full season would be ‘incredible.’”
Reflecting on the year, Judson reiterated his admiration for the team following the deciding game.
“I’m proud of where we’ve come from and proud of what we did, it was an unbelievable experience for the players and coaches,” he said. “To get as far as we did, obviously, we fell short of our goal, but there are a lot of positives that are going to help us down the road and help us finish the job in the coming years.”
Judson is hopeful to see many of the players return, though he knows some are likely to seek a tougher challenge to improve their hockey skills next season.
“I think there’s a couple that have probably earned the right to look to challenge themselves at a higher level,” Judson said. “With that said, I think the overwhelming majority loved their time in Fort Frances and are hoping to return or are at the very least open to it, depending on what else is out there for them.”
To that end, Judson has already started exploring which players might be persuaded to come to Fort Frances next fall.
“It’s a new challenge for us, it’s part of being a successful program,” Judson said. “I think the reality is you’re going to have players that are looking to move on and find a new challenge and move up in the hockey world. But I think with that comes some attention from other recruits and guys that are going to give you some more time knowing where the program is at, and we should be a team that’s challenging for a championship every year.”
One player expected to seek a new challenge is rookie phenom Brady Cates, who stormed the league, winning Rookie of the Year and MVP as well as co-Lakers MVP with his partner in net, Nolan Koethler.
“I kind of told [Cates] that he would be crazy not to be looking elsewhere,” Judson said. “I felt over the past few years he’s deserved other opportunities beyond our league, even before last season. With what he did and how he proved himself this year, there’s going to be some doors open for him and being a local kid, we’ll do everything we can to help him navigate that and find somewhere that he’s going to get a real opportunity to show what he is and be part of another good program. With that, if it came about that he could be back here with the Lakers, we’ll gladly have him back, and he’ll carry a big load for us again.”
Kivimaki noted that the community support for the team is invaluable in a league that has teams with corporate owners who have deeper pockets.
“You know the old saying, ‘it takes a village’? This is the same case,” she said. “People all the way from Rainy River to Thunder Bay supported us. And as we went through our season, more and more people supported us. And that was totally apparent at the last game—we were at max capacity—and the way people talked about how proud they were of the organization and the boys this year. Without the community support, we wouldn’t be where we are today.”
Kivimaki said the season made her proud to be leading the organization as the board president.
“I’m just incredibly proud to be the president of the Fort Frances Lakers and also a proud billet mom,” she said. “I’m just hoping that if anybody else wants to get involved, they can find my number or give me a call or an email and join us, because we’re rolling now and our snowball is getting a lot bigger.”
