Lucas Punkari
When the Fort Frances Lakers take to the ice here tonight for Game 6 of the SIJHL final against the Minnesota Wilderness, they’ll find themselves in somewhat unfamiliar surroundings.
The Lakers, who stayed alive in the best-of-seven series with a 3-1 victory Saturday night in Cloquet, will host the Wilderness in the ’52 Canadians Arena at 7:30 p.m.
The Ice for Kids Arena currently is being prepared for the Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce’s annual Business & Community Expo later this week.
“It’s kind of an unfortunate situation for us as I think we play well in the IFK rink,” noted Lakers’ head coach and general manager Wayne Strachan.
“But nonetheless, we’ll have to make adjustments and we’ve skated already in there this weekend,” he said.
“It’s going to be interesting,” Strachan added. “[Since] we are a more physical team than they are, there are some things that could play to our advantage in a smaller rink.
“Hopefully, we will have a little magic and help from some of the teams that have won in there before.”
If the Lakers can stave off elimination again tonight, a seventh-and-deciding game for the Bill Salonen Cup will be played Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. back in Cloquet.
The winner advances to the Dudley Hewitt Cup, which runs April 30-May 4 in North Bay.
With their backs against the wall, the Lakers came away with a huge 3-1 road win over the Wilderness in Game 5 on Saturday night, which cut the series deficit to a 3-2 heading into tonight’s game.
“We were ready to play and we knew what he had to do,” Strachan remarked.
“We kind of boxed them out from in front of our net and we slowed them down in our neutral zone with kind of a trap forecheck,” he explained.
“The guys did a great job at it, and the focus was just there throughout.”
Lakers’ goalie Talor Joseph withstood a barrage of pressure from the Wilderness all night, making 54 saves to earn the win.
“He was stellar again in net and he was making key saves when he had to,” Strachan lauded.
“He made a couple of big saves off of rebounds in tight with his feet, and that gave us the opportunity to win the hockey game.”
Kevin Kurm and Jordan Christianson each had a goal and an assist for the Lakers, with teammate Cody Wickstrom chipping in with two helpers.
Owen Stauber also scored for the visitors while Dan Divis had the lone goal for the Wilderness.
The win came just 24 hours after the Lakers had dropped a 5-3 decision to the Wilderness in Game 4 here Friday night.
That game saw Wilderness captain Mike Dietrich turn in the performance of his career, netting all five of his team’s goals.
“That’s not something that happens every night,” the SIJHL’s Most Valuable Player recipient admitted.
“I couldn’t have done that, though, without the guys behind me as they push me to do what I can do out there,” Dietrich stressed.
Davis Smith scored twice for the Lakers in that one, with Kurm notching the other goal.
