Staff
The Fort Frances Lakers ended December with a bang. Now they have reloaded and are ready to blaze their way through a hectic January.
The Lakers vault into a stretch of 13 games in 25 days with a pair of games at the Ice for Kids Arena—against the Duluth Clydesdales tonight and then the Dryden Ice Dogs tomorrow night.
Both games start at 7:30 p.m.
Fort Frances (20-13-3), which sits in fourth place with 43 points, could come out of weekend as high as second.
The Lakers are just three points behind the second-place Ice Dogs (23-13) and have the same number of points as Thunder Bay (21-16-1), with the North Stars holding third place at the moment due to having one more win than Fort Frances.
The local squad also has two games in hand on Dryden and four on Thunder Bay.
Tonight’s clash with Duluth will be a rematch of the Lakers’ last outing, which saw Fort Frances lay a 7-2 pounding on the Minnesota squad on New Year’s Eve in Duluth to snap a five-game winless streak.
The Clydesdales (9-23-2) sit in fifth spot in the SIJHL with 20 points—the same total as the Sioux Lookout Flyers (8-22-4), who occupy the league’s basement because of having one less win than Duluth.
Julius Tamasy, the reigning SIJHL Pizza Hut Player of the Week, leads the Duluth charge with a seven-game point-scoring streak that has included three goals and 10 assists for 13 points.
Other Clydesdales who could give the Lakers fits include co-captains Tom Paine, whose 36 points leaves him tied for seventh in league scoring, and defenceman Joe Nelson (13 goals, eight assists), along with forward Casey Eckman (eight goals, 13 assists).
For Duluth to have any chance tonight, the goaltending will have to be better than in the New Year’s Eve rout.
Starter Jeff Dunaisky didn’t make it out of the second period that night after surrendering three goals on just six shots.
Cody Stocker, who gave up four goals on 23 shots in relief against the Lakers, may get the call for tonight’s game.
The Lakers have owned the Clydesdales so far this season, outscoring Duluth 34-18 and posting six wins in seven meetings, with the lone loss coming in overtime here back on Dec. 13.
The Ice Dogs have been another matter altogether, besting the Lakers four times in six tries this season, including a 5-4 overtime victory in their last meeting Dec. 15 in Dryden.
