Lucas Punkari
Following a month in which they won just three of nine games and slid down to fifth place in the SIJHL standings, the Fort Frances Lakers were eager to start December off on the right foot.
And with a 3-0 shutout over the Minnesota Iron Rangers in Hoyt Lakes on Saturday night, they certainly did just that.
“There were three key factors to that victory,” said Lakers’ head coach and general manager Wayne Strachan.
“One was the fact that we had better team defence and when we needed a save we got it, and we played for the most part of the 60 minutes,” he noted.
“It was a team effort where everyone contributed in some way, and it was a good start to December.”
Second-year goalie Tanner Hamilton led the way as the 20-year-old from Saskatoon stopped all 32 shots to earn his first career SIJHL shutout.
“Tanner has been working on his game, communicating with me about his play, looking at film, and trying to correct things,” Strachan said.
“He brought the game that we know he has and he was challenging the shooters all night, which was good to see.”
A trio of forwards from International Falls provided all of the offence for the Lakers in Saturday’s win, with Mason Meyer, Alex Bruess, and Jordan Christianson all beating Iron Rangers’ netminder Chase Hollander.
The triumph was a huge bounce-back for the Lakers after a rough 7-2 loss to the league-leading Minnesota Wilderness on Friday night in Cloquet.
“I know I said it the last time we played them, but the score did not indicate the game that we played in my opinion,” Strachan stressed.
“We had good intensity, we played hard, and at times we had control of the play and the momentum,” he recalled.
“We did have some breakdowns but so did they, and the two deciding factors in the game were soft goals on our part and them being able to capitalize on our breakdowns,” Strachan added.
Christianson and Jon Carlson netted the Lakers’ goals while Jake Larson and Jordan Shockley led the Wilderness with three-point nights.
Prior to starting their three-game road trip, which wrapped up last night in Dryden (the outcome wasn’t known as of press time), the Lakers collected their second-straight home win with a 3-1 victory over the Duluth Clydesdales last Wednesday.
But Strachan was not too happy with how his team performed against the Clydesdales, who have just one win to their name so far this season.
“It’s mind-boggling right now to see what we are doing, and it’s sad to see the hockey team that I believe we have here not playing anywhere near our ability,” he lamented.
“I thought we were asleep for about 16-and-a-half minutes in the first period, and I shouldn’t have to come into the dressing room and give it to the guys about being outworked and not skating anywhere near our calibre against a team that is playing their fourth game in five nights.
“We responded a little bit in the second period and did a better job, but we played down to the other team’s level in the third,” Strachan added.
Christianson, Colton Spicer, and Miles Nolan scored in that one while Duluth’s Brandon Blauer spoiled Hamilton’s shutout bid with a third-period goal.
Heading into last night’s game in Dryden, the Lakers (13-10-0-1) found themselves in fourth place in the SIJHL standings with 27 points, just one behind the third-place Thunder Bay North Stars and three back of the Ice Dogs for second.
With the race for second place already looking like it will last until the end of the campaign, the Lakers will try to continue to move up in the standings here this Saturday night against the Clydesdales before hosting the Ice Dogs next Wednesday night (Dec. 12).
“As the great coach John Wooden once said, ‘Repetition, repetition, repetition,’” Strachan said about what the focus will be at practice this week.
“We will continue to shore up our team defence, bring our intensity level up, and work on our special teams,” he noted.
The Lakers also will welcome a new player to the roster this week after the squad acquired defenceman Johnny Dora from the MJHL’s Portage Terriers over the weekend.
An 18-year-old from Frederick, Colo., Dora had two assists in 16 games for the Terriers.
In the health department, the Lakers will be without the services of Spicer for the next two weeks with an upper body injury.
Meanwhile, the status of blueliners Joel Bogacki and Hunter Bowlin remains up in the air for this week.
