Staff
Brett Hahkala is proving to be an integral part of the playoff march of the Powassan Voodoos in the NOJHL.
The Fort Frances forward had a goal and an assist Saturday to help lift Powassan to a 3-2 win over the Blind River Beavers to give them a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven final.
Hahkala has seven points in eight post-season games for the Voodoos, who are 10-0 in the playoffs so far.
He garnered 37 points in 45 regular-season games.
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It was close but no cigar for Tyler VanUden of Fort Frances in a bid to win the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League championship.
The speedy forward and his Victoria Cougars’ squad held a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven VIJHL final against the Campbell River Storm.
But the Storm doubled the Cougars 4-2 in Game 6 to tie the series, then eked out a 4-3 overtime victory in Game 7 back on April 2 in Victoria to earn the crown.
VanUden was tied for third on the Cougars in playoff scoring with 20 points in 14 games after finishing second on the team in the regular season with 51 points in 46 contests.
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Dylan Ossachuk almost won himself a major championship two seasons in a row.
The Fort Frances goalie who helped the Muskie boys’ hockey team win last year’s OFSAA championship backstopped the Junior ‘B’ Arborg Ice Dawgs of the Keystone Junior Hockey League to a 3-0 sweep of their best-of-five quarter-final series against the North Winnipeg Satellites and then a 4-1 decision in their best-of-seven semi-final against the OCN Storm.
But the Peguis Juniors upset the Ice Dawgs 4-2 in the best-of-seven final to claim the KJHL championship.
Ossachuk was second in regular-season wins in the league with a 12-5 record and was third on the circuit in GAA (3.08), to go along with a league-best .925 save percentage.
Meanwhile, Ossachuk and his crew saw their season extended thanks to their automatic berth into the 2017 Keystone Cup Western Canadian Championship this past weekend as host team.
The Ice Dawgs wound up in fourth place at the tournament with a 2-4 overall record, losing 6-2 to the Extreme Hockey Regina Capitals in the bronze-medal game on Sunday.
Ossachuk had a difficult afternoon–giving up five goals on 36 shots before coming out of the game with 12 minutes gone in the second period and the Ice Dawgs trailing 5-0.
For the tournament, the netminder had a 2-2 record, allowing 21 goals on 185 shots to post a .886 save percentage.
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Fort Frances native Joe Basaraba and the Idaho Steelheads firmly are on the playoff trail.
The Steelheads are tied 1-1 in their Mountain Division semi-final series against the Colorado Eagles in the ECHL Kelly Cup playoffs.
Colorado finished six points ahead of Idaho for second place in the division, but Idaho got the jump on them with a 4-2 win in Game 1 before falling 2-1 in overtime in Game 2.
Basaraba was held off the scoresheet in the first two games after finishing fifth on the team during the regular season with 46 points in 72 games.
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Ryan Faragher was the best netminder around three weeks ago.
His reward? A seat on a bench that he can’t seem to escape from now thanks to the arrival of a hot prospect.
The Fort Frances native captured CCM ECHL Goaltender of the Week honours March 28 for the Utah Grizzlies, finishing off the week with a 41-save performance to beat the Colorado Eagles 4-1.
But the same day Faragher received the award, the Anaheim Ducks reassigned goalie Kevin Boyle from the AHL’s San Diego Gulls to the Grizzlies.
Boyle started the next night against the Rapid City Rush, winning 4-2–starting a streak of starting assignments that is now eight games and counting.
That included the final six regular-season games for Utah, where Boyle posted a 5-1 record, and its first two playoff games against the Allen Americans in their Mountain Division semi-final that currently is tied 1-1.
Faragher had a 17-15-2 record during the regular season, with a 3.09 GAA and an .899 save percentage.
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A tough year is over for the Fort combination of Hunter Leishman and David Pryde and the rest of the Campbellton (N.B.) Tigers in the Maritime Hockey League.
Leishman, in his second year with the Tigers, and fellow forward Pryde (in his debut season) were part of a Campbellton squad that struggled to a last-place finish in the EastLink North Division with a record of 14-33-1-2 to miss the playoffs.
With 27 points in 49 games, Leishman was fourth on the team in scoring and also had a team-high 172 penalty minutes.
Pryde had six points in 44 games and was fourth on the Tigers with 79 penalty minutes.
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It was a surprisingly short post-season run for Fort resident Jared Bethune and his Prince George Cougars in the WHL.
The Cougars had their best regular season ever this year to finish first in the B.C. Division, setting a franchise record for wins in going 45-21-3-3.
But Prince George ran into an upset-minded Portland Winterhawks club, which brought the Cougars’ title hopes crashing down by beating Prince George 4-2 in their best-of-seven first-round Western Conference series.
Bethune had three points in the series after putting up the highest numbers of his junior career in the regular season, finishing seventh on the team in scoring with 49 points in 72 games, along with 50 penalty minutes.
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Jordan Larson’s first season with the University of Alabama-Hunstville Chargers is in the books.
The Fort-based forward and his teammates ended their Western Collegiate Hockey Association season with a 2-0 loss to the Bowling Green Falcons.
That left UAH with a conference record of 9-16-3 and an overall record of 9-22-3.
Larson had 11 points in 34 games this year to end up ninth on the team in scoring after ending his junior career last season with the CCHL’s Carleton Place Canadians.
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The Thunder Bay Minor Midget ‘AAA’ Kings season ended less than enjoyably for the squad, including its three Fort Frances imports.
Forwards Cooper Witherspoon, Nick Hahkala, and Ethan Jourdain suffered, along with the rest of the Kings, through a 12-game losing streak to end the year.
Included in that was an 0-4 record in the North American Prospects Hockey League playoffs and another 0-4 showing at the OHL Cup tournament.
Witherspoon had 14 points in 20 NAPHL regular-season games while Hahkala had 10 points in 22 contests and Jourdain five points in 22 outings.
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Defenceman Jon Carlson is now through two years with the State University of New York (SUNY)-Fredonia Blue Devils.
The sophomore who hails from here put up five points in 19 games this year for the Blue Devils, who finished 13-11-2 overall and 7-8-1 in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC).
Fredonia then played the SUNY-Buffalo State Bengals in the conference quarter-finals, losing 2-1 to conclude its season.
