Lucas Punkari
As the SIJHL prepares for its annual holiday break, the Fort Frances Lakers are about to embark on their most hectic slate of games so far this season.
Starting with a 7:30 p.m. clash tonight against the Dryden Ice Dogs at the Ice For Kids Arena, the Lakers will play seven games in 12 days, with five of those taking place on the road.
The team will head out for a three-game road swing following tonight’s game, including a rematch with the second-place Ice Dogs tomorrow night in Dryden.
The Lakers also will travel to Thunder Bay to take on the North Stars on Saturday night, then visit the lowly Duluth Clydesdales on Sunday.
The Lakers will return to the Ice For Kids Arena next Tuesday night (Dec. 18) to take on the league-leading Minnesota Wilderness, before heading back down to Duluth to play in the SIJHL “showcase” event, where they will play the North Stars on Dec. 22 and the Clydesdales the following morning.
“Having five games in seven nights isn’t what you want as a coach, but as a team you have to fight through it,” stressed head coach and general manager Wayne Strachan.
“Preparation will be the key to those games as we’ll need to take care of ourselves by getting some rest and staying properly hydrated with our nutrition,” he added.
Heading into tonight’s tilt with the Ice Dogs, the Lakers (14-11-0-1) sit in third place with 29 points, which puts them one up on the North Stars and two ahead of the Minnesota Iron Rangers.
The team vaulted into third place thanks to Saturday night’s 6-5 victory over the visiting Clydesdales—their third-straight meeting with the league’s cellar dwellers on home ice in the last two weeks.
“Our first period was one of the best periods that we have played in a long time,” Strachan recalled.
“We were into the game, working hard, and using our speed, and it was the most physical that we have been all year.
“We went into the second period in control of the game, and we were able to bounce back from giving up a power-play goal to take a 4-1 lead,” he added.
After that, though, the Clydesdales stormed back with a pair of power-play goals before the halfway mark of the game, following a situation that left Strachan fuming.
“Their player ran our goalie [Tanner Hamilton] and tripped him, which there was no call on, and our player responds, stands up for his goalie, and we get 12 minutes in penalties,” Strachan remarked.
“I can take penalties that are deserved,” he said. “But when the ref watches the other team get away with the same thing and doesn’t call it because he is calling by the scoreboard, it is absolutely disgusting.
“However, we have to learn to control our emotions better and be smart, and not fall for the other team’s tactics or let the ref get to us.”
The Lakers essentially put the game out of reach a few minutes later as third-year forward Davis Smith put the finishing touches on his first career SIJHL hat trick to give his team a three-goal cushion that held up despite a late comeback bid by the Clydesdales.
“When ‘Smitty’ keeps the game simple and uses his strength and power, he can be an effective two-way player,” Strachan noted.
“He’s been steady in getting the cycle game going for us and he’s being relied on in more of a defensive role, but he had the hot hand Saturday and it was good to see the three-year veteran get his hat trick,” he added.
Forward Jordan Christianson netted a pair of goals, with Brendan Cawston, Owen Stauber, Patrick Sofer, and Jacob Nolan all collecting two assists each.
Lakers’ captain Merritt Rysavy also scored while Colton Dow had two goals and an assist for the Clydesdales.
Saturday’s win came on the heels of a 2-1 loss last Tuesday night in Dryden, where the Lakers outshot the Ice Dogs 38-31 but were unable to solve goalie Robert Kopytek-Mackenzie.
“I thought it was a fairly even game, and I was pleased with the effort for the most part,” Strachan said.
“The first period was back and forth, with both teams playing with a lot of speed. And in the second period, I thought we jumped on them early and got the lead.
“After that, we allowed them to tie it on a defensive breakdown and then gave up a goal on a 5-on-3 to take the lead,” he added.
“[Then] we put a lot of pressure on them in the third but we just couldn’t get one by their goalie.
“I hate losing, but I would rather lose in a hard-fought game than one where we didn’t show up,” Strachan reasoned.
Jacob Nolan netted the Lakers’ lone goal while Dryden was led offensively by two-point nights from forwards Chris Belhumer and Austin Lewis.
Heading into this week’s slate of games, the Lakers could welcome Colton Spicer back to the lineup after he missed the last two weeks of games due to an upper body injury.
However, they will be without the services of forward Mason Meyer for the next three-four weeks due to a hand injury.
The Lakers also made a couple of moves on the blueline last week, releasing first-year defencemen Ethan Brekke and Hunter Bowlin and officially welcoming John Dora to their lineup after acquiring him from the MJHL’s Portage Terriers.
“We ran into import issues and we had to make a decision to get down to eight players,” Strachan explained.
“Unfortunately, Ethan broke his leg outside of Tim Hortons [last week] so he will be out for a bit and Hunter is looking at possibilities of playing closer to his home in the Minneapolis area,” he noted.
“We’ve only had John in our lineup for a couple of games now, but he’s a big body guy that adds some aggressiveness to our team,” added Strachan.
“And we hope that he can add some depth as a defensive defenceman,” he added.
