Lucas Punkari
A couple of years ago, it might have been seen as wishful thinking if you believed the Fort Frances Lakers would be a contender for the SIJHL title.
But after building the team brick-by-brick, the Lakers find themselves on the verge of winning their first in franchise history after advancing to the Bill Salonen Cup final against the Wisconsin Wilderness following a four-game semi-final sweep of the Dryden Ice Dogs.
“When we started up the Lakers, we had a three-year plan in how we wanted to build the team,” recalled head coach and general manager Wayne Strachan.
“The first year was kind of ugly, but we were able to find some players that we could build around,” he noted. “And having a whole summer to recruit in the second year helped us to build our team from there.
“For us to achieve this [a berth to the final] says a lot for our organization and what the board and the volunteers do to help the team get on the ice.
“And it also says a lot for the players that have stuck with us.
“And now that we’re here, we’ll see what happens now and hopefully our run is not done,” Strachan added.
Having jumped out to a 2-0 series lead thanks to weekend wins at the Ice For Kids Arena here, the Lakers completed the sweep of the Ice Dogs with a pair of victories last Tuesday and Wednesday in Dryden by scores of 4-3 and 3-2.
“They were a lot tighter games, score-wise, than the ones here, and there were times that Dryden outplayed us as they had a lot of intensity at home,” said Strachan.
“But we were able to find a way to win both games.”
“I think the big thing was that we just held our composure up there,” reasoned forward Adam Wensley.
“We never panicked when we got into trouble, and we just stuck to the game plan that allowed us to get the job done,” he added.
In last Tuesday’s 4-3 win, the Lakers jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead, which led Ice Dogs’ coach Joe West to yank starting goalie Dean Shepherdson after just 66 seconds of action.
“That allowed us to build some momentum,” Strachan recalled.
“We had a little bit of a lull midway through the first period to allow Dryden to get back in it, and we ended up trading goals during the second period when they were able to tie it up.
“As soon as that happened, I think the situation at hand set in for the guys and we got back to the way that we were playing at the start of the game, which allowed us to create some pressure and score the game-winning goal on the power play,” he noted.
Wensley led the way offensively for the Lakers as his power-play marker with just under four minutes left in the second period proved to be the difference.
“In that win, it was great to get a lead like we did early on,” said Wensley, who also assisted on a Jon Carlson goal in the second.
“Despite taking that lead, Dryden seemed to be all over us for the rest of the game but we were still able to close it out in the end,” he reasoned.
Jaret Leclair and Byron Katapaytuk also scored in Tuesday’s win.
The series-clincher last Wednesday night saw a dramatic overtime finish as Jordan Christianson’s shot found the back of the net nearly four minutes into the extra frame to give the Lakers a 3-2 win and the series sweep.
“[Lakers’ goalie Tyler] Ampe made a huge save on a 2-on-1 to keep the overtime going, and somehow [Ryan] Wildman was able to get the puck,” Christianson recalled.
“He made a nice pass over to me, which allowed me to go in on a 1-on-1 and I was trying to get puck on net, so I didn’t realize that the puck had gone past their goalie,” he admitted.
“It all happened pretty fast, but it was a pretty good feeling and it ranks pretty high up there in my hockey career.”
After both sides played a back-and-forth third period, Strachan challenged his team to play much stronger in the overtime, with the Lakers responding.
“I was kind of nervous, though, as often times in overtime you can see a team dominate the play in overtime, and then the other team will come down with one chance and score a goal,” Strachan reasoned.
“They had the 2-on-1 situation, but Tyler came up big for us and Jordan capped it off with a nice little chip shot that went blocker side.
“And to be able to finish off the series gave us a great feeling that we should all be proud of,” he added.
Katapaytuk and Jordan Larson also scored in that game.
Awaiting Fort Frances in the SIJHL final, which will begin this Sunday at 7:30 p.m. in Spooner, Wis., will be the defending SIJHL champion Wilderness, who punched their ticket into the final last Thursday night in Thunder Bay after completing a four-game sweep of the North Stars.
“We played pretty consistently and we didn’t have too many letdowns during the four games,” noted Wilderness head coach and general manager Rod Aldoff.
“We had some solid goaltending and defensive play, and our special teams were pretty sharp for the most part, so as a whole everything went pretty good and I’m happy with it,” he added.
With more than a week off between the semi-finals and final, both teams have a lot of time to work on different things prior to Game 1 on Sunday.
But both Aldoff and Strachan stressed they will keep things simple.
“We’re not going to change a lot from how we’ve played throughout the playoffs,” Strachan said.
“This series is going to come down to whether or not the guys are going to be willing to work hard to get all four victories, as we’ll need to play our game and style to take away their speed and skill,” he warned.
“At this time of year, you just want the players to stay consistent and to be ready to play,” echoed Aldoff.
“Obviously when you are in a final for any hockey league, the focus is on making sure everyone is prepared, and that’s what we are going to do every night.”
Both teams also will be entering the best-of-seven showdown fully healthy, with the Lakers set to welcome Brandon Fehd back to the lineup after the defenceman had missed the last three games due to a leg injury sustained in the series opener against the Ice Dogs.
“Brandon was actually cleared to play before the two games up in Dryden,” Strachan noted. “But we elected to wait and see how games three and four went before we rushed him back into the lineup.
“And with us sweeping Dryden, he’s been able to have a quite a bit of rest before getting back on the ice.”
Game 2 of the SIJHL final is set for Monday (April 2) at the Northwest Sports Complex in Spooner, but with the start time moving up to 7 p.m.
Games 3 and 4 will take place next Wednesday and Thursday (April 4-5) at 7:30 p.m. at the Ice For Kids Arena here.
Game 5, if necessary, will take place in Spooner on Saturday, April 7, with a Game 6 occurring here Monday, April 9.
If a seventh-and-deciding game is needed, it will be played Wednesday, April 11 back at the Northwest Sports Complex.
The winner of the Bill Salonen Cup goes on to represent the SIJHL at the Dudley Hewitt Cup in Thunder Bay from April 17-21, where they will take on the host Thunder Bay North Stars and the yet-to-be determined champions from the NOJHL and OJHL.
