Lucas Punkari
Although the race for second place in the SIJHL remains very volatile at this point in the 2012/13 regular season, the Fort Frances Lakers certainly didn’t need the showing they had this past week.
Coming off a 5-1 win over the Thunder Bay North Stars here back on Nov. 8, the Lakers dropped a pair of decisions to the Minnesota Iron Rangers and Minnesota Wilderness over the weekend, and now sit in fifth in the standings after the Iron Rangers took a 5-2 win over the Dryden Ice Dogs on Monday night.
It also left Lakers’ head coach and general manager Wayne Strachan disappointed in his team’s play of late.
“September was a learning month for us and October was a turn-the-corner month where we worked hard, played as a team, and played Laker hockey,” he remarked.
“November has been a month where we have had a lot of individualism, our work ethic has dropped, and we have not had the will to compete,” Strachan added.
“I think our success as a team have went to some of our players’ heads, and they have forgotten that it is a team that wins in this sport and what matters is the name on the front of the jersey and not the back,” he stressed.
Their most recent setback was a lopsided 7-1 loss Saturday night in Cloquet against the Wilderness, who lead the SIJHL yet again and sit fourth in the latest CJHL top 20 ranking.
“I guess when you get beat 7-1, not a lot of good can come from it,” Strachan said.
“But in my opinion, and maybe I am becoming a bit of a softy, but I don’t think we were outplayed as the score seems as we had our chances,” he added.
“However, our power play let us down with some panic and bad decisions, and the defensive breakdowns that we had cannot happen at this level, especially against a good hockey team like the Wilderness.”
Jordan Shockley paced the hosts with three goals and an assist while Patrick Sofer netted the Lakers’ lone goal.
On Friday night, the Lakers saw a 5-4 lead disappear in the third period against the visiting Iron Rangers, who skated away with a dramatic 6-5 victory.
Having fallen behind 4-2 after 20 minutes, the hosts roared to life with three goals in the second period to grab a 5-4 lead. But they were unable to hold on for the win during the final frame.
“We can’t play for 20 minutes and think we can beat a team like the one that played against us,” Strachan stressed.
“The bottom line is that we got beat by a hungrier team and they came to play tonight, which you could see in their game.
“They deserved to win the game,” he reasoned.
Down the hall from Strachan’s office, the Iron Rangers were in a enthusiastic mood in their locker-room as they celebrated their first-ever road win in Fort Frances as a franchise.
“We’ve turned the corner here,” enthused head coach Chris Walby.
“About two weeks ago, we got handed a pretty hard loss by the Wilderness in Cloquet [but] we came back the next night against them and lost a tough game in overtime,” he noted.
“Since then, everyone has been working their tails off and this team is heading in the right direction.”
Forward Luke Karakas was the difference-maker for the Iron Rangers, scoring a pair of goals and assisting on another Friday night.
His power-play marker late in the third period proved to be the game-winner.
“We were just passing the puck around a little bit and trying to get things moving out there,” noted Karakas, a 19-year-old from Green Bay, Wis.
“When I got the puck, I saw there was a little lane between one of their guy’s skates and I just shot the puck and it went through the five-hole,” he added.
Lakers’ defenceman Jon Carlson was the Lakers’ top point-getter in the loss, notching two goals and an assist.
Merritt Rysavy, Miles Nolan, and Patrick Sofer also scored.
Friday also was a rough night for the Lakers’ goaltending duo. Starter Tanner Hamilton was pulled at the 6:24 mark of the first period while back-up Jameson Shortreed was unable to help his team to the win in relief.
“After that second goal on about four or five shots, we felt like we needed to shake things up,” Strachan said.
“[But] I’m not going to blame this loss on our goaltending as it’s a team effort and we weren’t the Lakers’ team that we know we can be,” he added.
Strachan and the rest of the Lakers’ coaching staff will be looking for a much stronger effort during the team’s upcoming three-game homestand, which begins Friday at 7:30 p.m. when the Thunder Bay North Stars visit the Ice For Kids Arena.
The Duluth Clydesdales then will play here on Saturday and again next Wednesday (Nov. 28).
“Leading up to our games this week, we need to get back to the basics, work hard, and get ready for three must-win games at home,” Strachan said.
“We badly need a leader or leaders who are going to step up and take the bull by the horn to turn this month around, and we need a goaltender to step up and say, ‘I am the man’ and that wants to be in the net every game.
“We also need our first-year players to realize what it takes to be consistent in junior hockey and come prepared every time you step on the ice, and not just be happy to be here and find excuses when the coaches try and correct their game,” he added.
And if any players feel their roster spot might be safe before the SIJHL’s roster cut-down date Dec. 1, Strachan had a strong message heading into the next few games.
“I wasn’t thinking about making any big changes before Dec. 1 but we will be looking to upgrade at certain positions before the cut-down date, if possible,” he warned.
