When the Fort Frances Lakers hit the ice Friday night against the Thunder Bay North Stars they’ll be up against a team that took out the second overall Dryden Ice Dogs in five games.
The Lakers won all four home games against the North Stars but lost three of four away games and had one overtime win at the Fort William Gardens in regular season play.
Thus far the Lakers have been led by SIJHL Rookie of the year and Goalie of the Year, Brady Cates who has been thrust into a full-time starting role with the unexpected injury to his tandem partner Nolan Koethler during the bye between the end of the season and the start of the second round.
Over the course of the second round Cates amassed a 4-2 record allowing 18 goals with a 2.93 Goals Against Average and a .917 save percentage.
On offense, Tie Schumacher has led the way with three goals and three assists. Tied with Schumacher with three goals are Nick Fagnilli, and local standout Teagan Wrolstad.
Lakers Head Coach and GM Luke Judson says Thunder Bay is a different team from the one the Lakers played and beat handily early in the season and they pose a different kind of challenge from the Walleye.
“I think the second half, they’ve really taken a step in the right direction,” Judson said.
“They’ve added a lot of firepower, with that said, we’ve played them a few times in the second half and done really well, both at home and on the road. They’ve got some guys who can put the puck in the net.
“It’ll be a different kind of game, I think, than we’ve had against Kam River, a team that maybe plays a really defensive, physical game, whereas I think the North Stars, they’ll look to open things up a little more.”
Judson believes if the Lakers can stick to the system that helped them be the top team in the regular season they can do well.
“I think we’ve had success just sticking with what we do well, and teams have a hard time playing against us as well,” he said.
“We’ve got to remember the things that made us successful.”
The away games may also not be as challenging either, as the North Stars play in the much larger Fort William Gardens in the heart of Thunder Bay, as opposed to the smaller Norwest Arena in Oliver Paipoonge on the city’s periphery.
“It seemed to be something we struggled with at times this season, the smaller rinks. And it’s definitely a different game when you’re used to the IFK playing there, but you know, going to the Gardens, it’s a very similar rink. It shouldn’t be an issue that way,” Judson said.
“Like I said, we’ve done well there. We played them hard all year. It’s been close at times. And I think both teams have shown, if you let off the gas, both teams are more than capable of capitalizing and blowing a game wide open. So we’re going to have to be careful, but at the same time, it should be some fun hockey.”
Judson says they won’t be overhauling any systems to take on the North Stars, but will be looking to perfect some of the aspects they’ve struggled with.
“I don’t think we need to reinvent the wheel right now, with the success that we’ve had. So we’ll keep fine tuning the things that we need to work on, and things that we do well,” Judson said. “We’ll lean into doing those things the best we’ve done all year in the final and we’ll have to. We’ll have to be our best. We’re not changing anything. We’re not changing our mindset. And we’ll hopefully get the rest we need throughout a long series to to be ready to go overnight.”
The Lakers are looking to “bring Bill home” for the first time since 2016, and that quest continues Friday night at Ice For Kids Arena at 7:45 p.m. and continues Saturday night at 7:15 p.m.
To shorten lines at the entrance, the Lakers are selling tickets in advance both in person at Northwoods Gallery and Gifts and online at fortfranceslakers.simpletix.ca.
