The Fort Frances Lakers have enjoyed a much better first half of the season this year over last and they hope to keep up the pace after the break.
The Lakers will play their final two games of the first half of the year this weekend in Ironwood, Michigan. They currently sit around the middle of the standings, fifth of eight teams with 13 wins, nine losses, one overtime win and five ties. The SIJHL removed the shootout this year in favour of a longer four-on-four overtime, and ties.
Head coach Tyler Miller says the coaching staff is pleased with the performance of the team so far this year, knowing the best is yet to come.
“Me and Luke (Assistant coach and GM Luke Judson) talk every day, we were on the phone this morning and he said ‘if things went well Saturday night we would have already been past how many points we had last year and it’s halfway through the year,’” Miller said.
The Lakers game against the Kenora Islanders was cancelled on Saturday with no explanation. Kenora’s game in Dryden was also cancelled on Friday night.
Miller points to a few improvements leading the way for the Lakers.
“The score difference, the games won and the ties, you’d like to get you two points out of it, but getting one point is always good for sure,” Miller said.
The coaching staff–which includes Cody Mosbeck and Brandon Bodnar in addition to Miller and Judson–is in their second full season as a group and feel that they’re moving forward well.
“Last year was our first full year as a staff,” Miller said. “We learned a lot, how the junior world works, we also learned that sticking to the basics with the players goes a long way. I just watched a clip about Kobe Bryant. His training wasn’t these amazing drills or amazing systems. It’s sticking to the basics and that’s kind of what we’ve done with this group of guys.”
Miller says that no player on the team in particular has stood out but that everyone is playing as a team.
“We know that the talent is there, the hard work is there with them,” Miller said. “It’s just sticking to the basics of the system that we run. Some guys have definitely changed attitudes and things like that, being hard working teammates, supporting teammates. No one’s down on the bench, we nipped that in the bud early in the year. Or penalties too from last year to this year, that’s one of the biggest changes. Our powerplay goes to work, our special teams have been great.”
On offense the team has been led by captain Brady Krentz who has 15 goals and 24 assists for 39 goals and is averaging 1.39 points per game.
On the back end, defenseman Evan Kabel has four goals and 19 assists to sit second in SIJHL scoring among defensemen with 23.
In net the tandem of Nolan Koethler and Gunner Paradis has backstopped the team to an improved record. Paradis is second in the league with a 2.42 goals against average and second with a 0.935 save percentage, and both tenders are in the top 10 for wins in the league.
“When you’re trying to win in any league it starts at the back end and moves forward and we’re very happy with our two goalies,” Miller said. “I think Paradis has one of the best save percentages in the league. Then you’ve got a young 18 year old in Koethler that has come in and done amazing things for us. Those guys want to win and stop pucks…”
“When we took over, we thought it’d be a three year plan, or three to five year plan,” Miller said. “This is year two, and we’re happy with where we’re at. We’re close to where we want to get to. In the second half, we’re just going to keep pushing in the same direction, back to the basics again. Effort is key for us, working hard, having a good forecheck. And the room, the leadership, this is some of the guys’ second years here with us, some third when we are assistant coaches, helping out things like that.”
When the Lakers game against Kenora was cancelled on Saturday Miller credited the board and volunteers with pulling together a skills competition on short notice, inviting minor hockey players from area associations to compete along with the Lakers.
“Obviously [the players] want to play hockey but they responded well,” Miller said. “With the young kids, we’re very thankful for the turnout that happened on short notice. I think our social media team has done great work to get things out there, we had a great response and tons of smiles. I bet this becomes an annual thing, around Christmas time we’ll try and find ice time or whatever we need to do it.”
The event featured a great response from the community with the OPP even able to bring out a RADAR to measure the hardest shot competition, Brady Krentz won the Lakers hardest shot competition clocking in at 142 Km per hour and Noah McPherson was the fastest skating Laker completing a lap in 12.66 seconds, Paradis and Koethler were almost in a dead heat in the goalie race.
The Lakers resume their season in Thunder Bay on Jan. 10 with a weekend series against the North Stars. They play again at Ice For Kids on the back half of a home and home against the Dryden Ice Dogs on Saturday Jan. 18.
