Joey Payeur
The Fort Frances Lakers are on such a roll, they didn’t even have to play last week to gain even more national prominence.
The squad’s 10-day break from SIJHL play didn’t prevent them from moving up one spot for the fourth-consecutive week to reach No. 2 in the Canadian Junior ‘A’ Hockey League top 20 rankings released Monday.
It marked the fifth-straight week that the Lakers (16-1-0-1), riding a 15-game winning streak, have set an all-time franchise highwater mark in the rankings.
Top spot is held by the Fort McMurray Oil Barons of the Alberta Junior Hockey League.
The Oil Barons (21-2-2), who held on to No. 1 from last week’s rankings, currently are in first place in the AJHL North Division but only one point ahead of the Spruce Grove Saints (21-5-1), who jumped to No. 3 in the rankings.
In other news, Lakers’ forward Lucas DeBenedet was recognized for his accomplishments over the first six weeks of the SIJHL season by being named the inaugural Gongshow Gear performer-of-the-month.
“It’s always nice to get an award for playing good hockey,” said the International Falls product, who had 12 goals and 12 assists in 14 games through October.
“I knew I was going to get off to a good start this season playing alongside guys like Mason [Meyer] and Kevin [Kurm],” he noted.
“But even I’m surprised at how good of a start I’ve had.”
DeBenedet currently leads the SIJHL in goals (15) and points (31), and his 16 assists are one behind Jason Reynolds of the Minnesota Iron Rangers for the best in the league.
Attention to detail at both ends of the ice, and a strong supporting cast, have been the main ingredients in DeBenedet’s recipe for success so far.
“I’ve got a lot of good players on this team with me and it’s nice to play with such a well-rounded group,” said DeBenedet, who is on guard against the ever-present threat of overconfidence that’s usually linked to a team playing outstanding for a long period of time.
“I’m a little nervous about it,” he admitted. “The last couple of games have been closer than we’d like.
“But at the same time, the guys are also really excited about being ranked [second] out of 128 teams in the country,” DeBenedet added.
The award marked the beginning of a new sponsorship deal signed between Gongshow Gear Inc. and the SIJHL.
Gongshow Gear, created by three CJAHL teammates back in 2002, will be the official supplier of lifestyle hockey
apparel to the league, and also will sponsor its MVP award at season’s end.
The Lakers, meanwhile, got back to work on the road last night against the Thunder Bay North Stars (11-2-0-3).
Thunder Bay currently sits at No. 16 in the national rankings, but went into last night’s game having dropped to third in the SIJHL—one point behind Minnesota (12-5-0-2).
The Stars hold two games in hand on the Lakers and three on the Iron Rangers.
Fort Frances then travels to Hoyt Lakes Arena to take on Minnesota tonight.
The Lakers’ next home action is slated for this Friday when the Wisconsin Wilderness visit the Ice For Kids Arena at 7:30 p.m.
In other SIJHL news, Zachary Kercz of the Dryden Ice Dogs was named the Pizza Hut player-of-the-week on Monday.
Kercz garnered five points to help Dryden earn three of four points during a pair of road games.
