Joey Payeur
It was back-to-back litmus tests for the Fort Frances Lakers over the weekend.
The first one netted them an ‘F’ and a fast-paced post-game jaunt around the ’52 Canadians Arena.
The second yielded better effort but no better final result.
There remains a notable gap between the fifth-place Lakers (111-13-2-3) and the top two teams in the SIJHL as witnessed in Friday night’s 5-2 setback to the visiting Thunder Bay North Stars and subsequent 4-1 road loss to the Dryden GM Ice Dogs on Saturday.
First-place Dryden (25-4-3) and second-place Thunder Bay (23-8-2) are no pushovers.
But an unimpressive home showing against the North Stars pushed the wrong button on Lakers’ head coach and general manager Wayne Strachan, who decided to send his team into the next-door arena for a short but intense session of running after the game.
“We spoke with the team after [last] Wednesday’s skate and talked about putting forth 60-minute efforts,” fumed Strachan.
“This is something that has not sank in and even after a no-puck practice that day,” he noted.
“We expressed that if they are not willing to put that effort in, then we would send messages to them about our work ethic until it mattered to them,” Strachan added.
“I was not happy with their effort [Friday],” he stressed. “I was just coming to sit in the office and let them mull it over in the locker-room.
“Then a decision was made to get them to run,” Strachan said. “They didn’t go long and then they had an assistant coach/team meeting and talked about some issues.
“We have to get to them somehow in hopes of them responding.”
The Lakers did respond positively to Jett Leishman’s opening goal at 4:50 of the first when Dylan Kooner stick-handled around North Stars’ goalie Nathaniel Dupuis at the side of the net and tucked the puck home at 9:37.
Kooner scored again just over three minutes later by shovelling a loose puck in—or did he?
Not according to the North Stars, especially Dupuis, who went nose-to-nose with referee Tim Vaillant to voice his displeasure with the call before having an extended talk through the glass with goal judge Wayne Riches.
“I am not sure how much bearing that had on the outcome,” said Strachan.
“They may have made their goalie a little upset but we didn’t compete hard enough in the last 40 to win a hockey game,” he added.
A fired-up Thunder Bay squad took matters into their own hands after a several-minute delay led to the goal being confirmed.
Brad Thrower made a spectacular play to get between both Lakers’ defencemen before zipping the puck past Dakota Delbridge at 18:25 to knot the score.
The second period belonged to the visitors. Troy Sherman’s blast from the right circle at 4:24 was followed by a power-play goal bouncing in off Thunder Bay captain Brett Wolframe at 12:36.
Tyler Minoletti then banked a shot off of Lakers’ defenceman Matt Bruinsma and in at 15:58.
That goal sent Delbridge to the bench in favour of Brandon Bodnar.
“I actually think we outshot them in the second period, but we didn’t have a lot of second or third opportunities off those shots,” noted Strachan, whose team still has not beaten Thunder Bay this season (0-4-0-2).
“Dupuis made a few good glove saves in the second,” he added. “[But] we just didn’t compete hard enough on getting to the net to create the opportunities we needed to help our cause.”
Strachan then took Delbridge to task.
“We felt the first three goals were weak goals for this level,” he remarked. “Even with the defensive flaws, you need these pucks stopped to have success at this level.
“The last two goals were bad bounces.”
Strachan admitted the Lakers looked “like a different team altogether” Saturday in Dryden, with Ryan Gazich opening the scoring at 6:42 of the first against Patrick Zubick.
Jared Virtanen, named the SIJHL’s CCM performer-of-the-month for December after notching 20 points in seven games, extended his point-scoring streak to 14 games with an assist on Gazich’s tally.
“It means everything, really,” Strachan said about Virtanen’s consistent effort in a season where consistency has not been an overriding theme for the three-time defending SIJHL champs.
“His line has saved us more than once in hockey games and risen to the task to help our cause on many nights,” he stressed.
SIJHL scoring leader Braeden Allkins tied it up at 17:53 of the second.
Then in the third, Derek McPhail beat Bodnar at 10:27 to give Dryden its first lead.
Garrett Graham’s empty-netter, followed by Kristopher Hamlin’s marker with five seconds to go, rounded out the scoring as the Ice Dogs won their sixth-straight game.
“We worked for the better part of 60 minutes and had our opportunities to win the hockey game,” said Strachan.
“We just couldn’t gut it out.
“For only 15 skaters dressed, I was impressed with the level of intensity they played at,” he added.
“It was nice to see.”
The Lakers were without forwards Julian Uhryniuk (lower-body injury), Tanner Garnham (upper-body), Dawson Waddell, and Matt Cheetham (both ill).
Uhryniuk began skating yesterday and is possible to return this weekend after being out since Nov. 10.
Garnham, meanwhile, is one-two weeks away while Waddell and Cheetham are likely to return.
Defenceman Brandon Zajicek experienced problems with the incision from his surgery on an ankle cyst and missed the Dryden game while currently being listed as day-to-day.
The Lakers head to Hoyt Lakes tonight to take on the last-place Minnesota Iron Rangers (6-23-2).
Then the squad returns home to face the third-place Thief River Falls Norskies (16-12-2-3) on Friday night before the Iron Rangers come to town Saturday.
Both games get underway at 7:30 p.m. at the Ice For Kids Arena.
What the Lakers’ lineup will look like by then was undetermined as of yesterday’s CJHL trade deadline.
As of press time, the squad had not made any deals but Strachan planned to continue his search throughout the day.