With first place already sewn up, the Borderland Thunder will use the final three games of the regular season to work on getting the most out of their home ice advantage.
Coming off a 6-3 victory here Tuesday night against the Dryden Ice Dogs that clinched top spot in the SIJHL, the Thunder (31-11-5-2) will host the Fort William First Nation Wolves (22-17-5-5) tonight and tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. at the Ice for Kids Arena.
With 68 points, the Thunder hold a six-point lead over the second-place Thunder Bay KC Bulldogs (28-15-3-3), with each team having three games left.
But even if the Bulldogs win out and the Thunder lose all three, Borderland owns the tie-breaker by winning the season series between the two with a 6-5-1 record.
The Wolves, meanwhile, have a chance to nail down third place—and avoid a semi-final confrontation with the Thunder—if they can earn two points during this weekend’s series here.
Fort William enters action with 54 points—four ahead of the fourth-place Ice Dogs—with both squads having three games left. The Wolves’ won the season series with Dryden (6-5-1) to hold the tie-breaker advantage.
The Thunder beat Fort William 2-1 in overtime last Friday in Thunder Bay before the Wolves rebounded with a 6-4 victory the following night.
Borderland leads the Wolves 4-2-3-1 in head-to-head action this season, but the teams are dead even in goals scored at 31-31—and the Thunder only have one win in four match-ups against Fort William here.
Spencer Bodnar, the SIJHL’s top marksman with 37 goals and third in points with 79, leads a dangerous trio of forwards that includes Steve Atkins (second in SIJHL with 35 goals) and Wes Thom (ninth in points with 66).
Matt Johnson continues to be the catalyst for the Thunder as his 24 goals and 43 assists leads all Borderland players and has him eighth in the SIJHL scoring race.
The Thunder will be without forwards A.J. Tucker (ankle) and Ryan Sinclair (suspension) tonight, while forward Ian Lockman (knee) will try to return to the line-up after missing the last four games.
Other line-up changes will be game-time decisions as Thunder head coach Dave Allison has seen his roster swell with International Falls Broncos players Derek and Drew Fisher, Tyler Krzoska, and Ryan Kramer rejoining the club last week after the Broncos were eliminated from the playoffs.
The Thunder will close out the regular season Tuesday night here against the Ice Dogs in what likely will be a semi-final preview.
The start date for the SIJHL playoffs could not be confirmed as of press time today.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
