Joey Payeur
Ho-hum, another SIJHL season, another Fort Frances Lakers’ winning streak.
It’s only two games into the new campaign but the defending Bill Salonen Cup champions appear intent on keeping a stranglehold on their elite status after a pair of weekend wins.
The Lakers beat the Thunder Bay North Stars 5-3 here Friday night, then motored down to Hoyt Lakes on Sunday and pulled out a nail-biting 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Iron Rangers.
Lakers’ forward Mason Meyer played Ranger-killer once again after scoring the title-winning goal against them in Game 7 of the SIJHL final this past spring.
This time, his shot beat Minnesota goalie Chase Gorman for the decisive tally with 58 seconds left in the third period.
“The goal was almost in the same spot [as in Game 7]—a rifle wrist shot over the glove—except it came off a face-off on the left side of the net,” Lakers’ head coach and general manager Wayne Strachan said of Meyer’s third goal of the young season.
“[Alex] Rezansoff won the draw back, and ‘Mase’ beat one of their defenders and ripped it home.
“In the last few days, Mason has been working extremely hard and moving his feet like he is capable,” Strachan added.
“He has a knack for finding the net and when he shoots and gets pucks to the net, he is a dangerous scorer.”
Miles Nolan, Jake Holland, and Carter Chorney all scored second-period power-play goals, with Chorney’s coming with just two seconds left in the frame to make it 3-2.
The Lakers have been dynamite with the man-advantage so far, going 3-for-5 on Sunday and 7-for-12 (58 percent) over the first two contests.
Rezansoff, Holland, and Colton Spicer all had two-point afternoons, with Spicer sitting atop the SIJHL scoring race after the first weekend with five points.
“I worked hard all off-season and it’s paid off,” said the Fort Frances native who battled injuries last season, including one to his shoulder that kept him sidelined for the last quarter of the campaign and throughout the playoffs.
Drew Millis, Hunter Routheau (power play), and A.J. Rupert replied for Minnesota.
Lakers’ goalie Devin Tappenden made it two solid starts in a row with a 39-save effort to get the win.
“Devin played a strong game,” lauded Strachan. “He made saves we needed from him and a few big ones in the second off some good scoring chances by the Rangers.
“We want him to get comfortable with himself every time he steps in the net, where he is confident and battling to help the team have success,” added Strachan.
“If he is working hard and playing big, we know he can lead us between the pipes.”
On Friday night, the Lakers unveiled their SIJHL and Hockey Northwestern Ontario branch champion banners to the 604 spectators on hand to celebrate the team’s first such achievement.
But as is the case more often than not, an extended pre-game ceremony did nothing to help the team’s on-ice performance as the Stars led 1-0 after the first period on a goal by Matthias Gardiman.
With the jitters out of the way, however, the Lakers scored four times in the second (three by way of the man advantage) as Nolan, Spicer, Meyer, and newcomer Dylan Kooner all beat the SIJHL’s reigning top goalie award-winner in Eric Mann.
“It’s always hard to get the first one but now the pressure’s off,” grinned Kooner, who scooped up a loose puck in front of the North Stars’ net after a strong rush up ice by Spicer and popped it past Mann.
“I saw Spicer going hard to the net and I yelled at him to give me the puck,” he added.
“Then the rebound came right out to me. It was a gift.”
Brandon Wolframe scored his second of the game 2:56 into the third on a power play to slice the Lakers’ lead to 4-3.
But Meyer tacked on some insurance in emphatic style—cranking a short-range blast under the crossbar during a two-man advantage at 14:02.
Tappenden and Mann each made 29 saves as the Lakers had a 34-32 lead on the shot clock against the North Stars, who played no pre-season games compared to five for the Lakers.
“It’s definitely something we have spoken about,” Strachan said about the team’s slow starts.
“Whether it’s nerves or we needing to prepare much better, we have to get out of the gate much quicker and get into our game in the first frame,” he stressed.
“Not that we have played terrible but we haven’t played with that intensity we are capable of and the compete level necessary at this level,” Strachan noted.
“It’s something we will continue to work on and grow as a team.”
Meanwhile, Sunday’s game featured the debut of one of the two newest Lakers—defenceman Gordon Campbell-Follows, who signed with the team after two-plus years with the Grandview Steelers (Pacific Junior Hockey League).
“We were very impressed with Gordon’s game,” Strachan said of the 19-year-old from Vancouver, who had 16 points in 79 games with the Steelers, along with 271 penalty minutes.
“He probably played in the upper 20 minutes of ice time,” he noted.
“He skates well, makes good decisions with the puck, knows his positioning, and brings a physical presence which is much-needed on our back end,” Strachan added.
The other new addition, forward Wyatt Cota, was picked up from the Kingston Voyageurs (OJHL) in exchange for a player development fee.
Cota’s paperwork hadn’t been officially approved by the league by the weekend, however, leaving the 19-year-old Kingston native on the sideline until the situation is remedied.
“We feel Wyatt can bring another scoring presence to the hockey team,” Strachan said about Cota, who had 16 points in 51 games with Kingston last season.
“Two years ago, he had 100 points in the Eastern Ontario Junior Hockey League and we hope with more opportunity here, he can round back into that form,” added Strachan.
“He skates well, has skill, and has experience at the Junior ‘A’ level.”
In other news, Lakers’ defenceman Ryan Reeves suffered a leg injury against Minnesota, with no date yet for his return.
The Lakers will look for a third-straight win tonight in a first-place showdown against the host Dryden GM Ice Dogs (2-0).
Then they’ll host the North Stars again on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the Ice For Kids Arena.
