Mitch Calvert
The Fort Frances Jr. Sabres already are in playoff mode with two weeks left in the SIJHL regular season.
The Sabres (26-15-3) tested their mettle with a pair of road wins this past week over the second-place Thunder Bay Bearcats and cellar-dwelling Sioux Lookout Flyers, and now return home for six-in-a-row to close out the regular season starting with a tilt against the Dryden Ice Dogs last night (the outcome was unavailable as of press time).
The Sabres opened their mini two-game road trip with a slim 4-3 win over the Bearcats last Thursday.
Dan Usiski, Graham Dyck, Colton Kennedy, and Kyle Turgeon scored for the Sabres while Mitch Cain added two assists. Cain’s line, with Usiski and Turgeon, continued their hot play of late in the victory.
“The Cain line was the line Thursday that got the breaks,” Sabres’ head coach Wayne Strachan noted. “Others had chances to score, but [Cain’s line] capitalized on the breaks they were given and had a successful outing on the point sheet.”
Sabres’ goalie Ryan Faragher stopped 42 shots, but none bigger than a point-blank chance by Fort Frances native Tyler Miller in the final minute to preserve the win.
After Usiski beat Bearcats’ goalie Josh Mrakic for the opening goal in the first, Brooks Mejia knotted the score at 1-1 before intermission.
Chris Kitt then gave the Bearcats their first lead on a breakaway midway through the second, but Dyck and Kennedy netted unanswered goals to lead 3-2 after 40 minutes.
Turgeon scored what turned out to be a pivotal insurance marker midway through the third as Kitt scored his second of the game just four minutes later to round out the scoring.
The Sabres then carried that momentum into Saturday’s match-up with the Flyers, scoring early and often in a 9-3 drubbing.
Dyck tallied a hat trick to go with an assist while linemate Colin Moberly registered two goals and a pair of assists.
“The Dyck line was the line on Saturday that had success, and it was because in the second and third periods they played big, used their size and speed, and attacked the net hard,” Strachan stressed.
“This line could be our sleeper these last few games as they get used to playing with one another and gaining confidence,” he added.
Kennedy, Brendan Baumgartner, Kenny Carpenter, and Jon Sinclair added singles for the Sabres. Former Sabre Adam Wensley had a goal for Sioux Lookout while Jeff and Brad Bienvenue added the others.
The Flyers fell to 2-41-2 with the loss.
Despite racking up three-straight wins, the Sabres still can see the Schreiber Diesels in their rear-view mirror, with just a slim four-point gap between the teams for third place in the SIJHL standings.
The Diesels beat up on the fifth-place Dryden Ice Dogs in a two-game set over the weekend,
winning 8-4 and 8-1, and they come here for two games to close out the regular season on March 5-6, which very well could decide who will face the Flyers in the first round of the playoffs.
Under the SIJHL’s playoff format, the third-place team meets the sixth-place finisher while fourth- and fifth-place square off in the other series.
The top two teams—the Fort William North Stars and Bearcats—have a first-round bye.
The Sabres have combined to score 16 goals in two-straight wins over the Flyers since losing 7-4 to them here back on Jan. 27, and that familiarity bred contempt as the two teams combined for more than 100 minutes in penalties in Saturday’s game.
“They work hard, skate, slash, and finish checks, [but] by the third it pays its toll on our guys and frustrates the heck out of us,” Strachan said of the parade to the penalty box in the third period.
“Our big guys can only watch our skilled players get slashed and hit so many times without taking some action.”
Since that home-ice loss to the Flyers last month, the Sabres have turned around their season at just the right time.
“Last month we were a team with players wondering what direction we were going in,” Strachan admitted. “Some players were getting over the trade deadline lull, and let’s face it, a team with only 13-15 skaters on any given night was feeling the pains, the tiredness, and maybe feeling a little sorry for ourselves.”
The Sabres have since filled out their line-up with some quality depth guys who have contributed, including Moberly (a former Bearcat).
“Colin is a player that is just getting back into playing shape,” Strachan said. “He was injured against our team some three months ago, and then when he was healthy, wasn’t given the opportunity to get back in the Bearcats’ line-up.
“He is a player that has skill and is a good fit with Dyck and Thunderchief as they are all big, can skate, and use their size against our opponents.
“To be off close to three months, a player comes back rusty and needs to almost regroup and start over to get in game shape,” Strachan explained. “He is close, and with more practice time and game play, he will be an effective player for us down the stretch and into our first-round playoff series.”
Strachan said their success on the ice of late comes from a simple formula.
“The game just isn’t about wins and losses. It has to be fun no matter what level,” he stressed. “It takes work in practice, dedication to making yourself better, and having players that play for each other and not their own prerogatives.
“They believe in one another right now and are happy we have 20 guys dressed that can help us win.”
Hosting six games to close out the regular season should be taken as a positive, but Strachan said they have to stay focused and continue to play the game hard night in and night out. After all, the Sabres opened the season with four-straight home games and lost all of them.
“We can’t get comfortable in these last six games. We need to remain in the mind-set that we are at right now,” Strachan stressed. “We just want to stay on a roll in our remaining games, gain momentum leading into the playoffs, and let teams know that when you come to the IFK Arena, it isn’t going to be easy to win.”
After hosting the Ice Dogs last night, the Sabres welcome the North Stars to town for a pair of games this Friday and Saturday (Feb. 27-28).
“We will have to have the same mentality and work ethic we had two weeks ago at home against them [Fort William],” Strachan noted. “If we want to have a shot at any success in this league, the road goes through some good hockey teams and this is one of them.
“We have to be focused on playing for 60 minutes, outworking them, being disciplined, and getting our power play going,” he remarked.
