The 200-game 2024-25 SIJHL regular season is in the books. The second season begins Friday and continues apace with the first four games in all three quarterfinal series scheduled as follows: Friday, Saturday, Tuesday and Wednesday March 21-26. Games five through seven, if necessary, are slated for Friday, March 28, Sunday, March 30 and Tuesday, April 1. The higher seeded team will host games one, two, five and seven.
All quarterfinal game times are in the 7:00-7:30 p.m. CDT or EDT range with the exception of a SLB/RLM Sunday tilt at 2:05 p.m. CDT in Red Lake.
Dryden will be watching the proceedings intently, having punched their first round bye with a 7-2 win over Red Lake on March 11.
Ironwood Lumberjacks vs. Kam River Walleye
Season series: Kam River 6-1-0. Ironwood 1-6-0.
Most recent: Mar 14-15. KRW 9 ILJ 4. ILJ 4 KRW 3, both at ILJ.
Other five games: Oct 25th KRW 6 ILJ 3 at KRW. Oct 26th KRW 6 ILJ 3 at KRW. Nov 12th KRW 6 at ILJ 2 at KRW. Feb 7th KRW 4 ILJ 2 at ILJ. Feb 8th KRW 8 ILJ 0 at ILJ.
KRW goals for/goals against: 42-18. ILJ goals for/goals against 18-42.
Kam River snapshot: 2nd place. 36-13-1 73 points. W/L Pct. .730
GF 236 GA 118 Differential +118. PIM 842. Streak 0-1-0. Past 10 8-2-0.
PP% 25.4. PK% 85.1. SHGA 2. SHGF 8.
Top six offense:
Daxton Lang, F, GP 46, 35 G, 51 A, 86 Pts, 52 PIM. Jett Mintenko, F, GP 47, 30 G, 53 A, 83 Pts, 8 PIM. Kaden Goodwin, F, GP 48, 25 G 41 A, 66 Pts, 20 PIM. Carter Poddubny, F, GP 47, 17 G, 25 A, 42 Pts, 22 PIM. Edwin Liang, D, GP 48, 5 G, 32 A, 37 Pts, 59 PIM. Callum Halls, F, GP 38, 15 G, 12 A, 27 Pts, 56 PIM.
40 games plus:
Sam Sargent, 44. Amar Powar, 45.
Goaltending:
Ashton Sadauskas, G, GP 35, 25-9-0, GAA 2.39, SV% .925, 2,060 Min.
Sam Keene, G, GP 16, 7-5-1, GAA 3.31, SV% .906, 743 Min.
Ironwood snapshot: 7th place. 11-35-4 26 points. W/L Pct. .260.
GF 131 GA 238 Differential -107. PIM 599. Streak 1-0-0. Past 10 4-5-1.
PP% 20.2. PK% 65.4. SHGA 8. SHGF 4.
Top six offense:
Marshall Thomas, F, GP 46, 21 G, 25 A, 46 Pts, 48 PIM. Matteo Salvatore, F, GP 42, 11 G, 22 A, 33 Pts, 16 PIM. *Aidan Charron, F, GP 45, 14 G, 13 A, 27 Pts, 34 PIM. Josh Gulden, D, GP 46, 5 G, 22 A, 27 Pts, 49 PIM. Collin Baker, F, GP 32, 13 G, 12 A, 25 Pts, 17 PIM. *Chase Krtanjek, F, GP 44, 8 G, 15 A, 23 Pts, 24 PIM.
40 games plus:
*Jack Hanna, 45. Cooper Malkowski, 43. *Jack Croghan, 41. *Marshall Braunscheidel, 45. Hayden Patterson, 40.
Goaltending:
Kole Kronstedt, G, GP 27, 2-19-2, GAA 5.64, SV% .872, 1,458 Min.
Trent Boryszczuk, G, GP 23, 7-13-1, GAA 3.98, SV% .917, 1,281 Min.
Quick Look
Look for the Lang/Mintenko/Goodwin line to be tough to contain. Sadauskas is A-1 in net. Walleye have the statistical edge in almost all departments. Kronstedt and Boryszczuk will need to bring their A+ games, Ironwood took the last meeting in their home rink to end the regular season on a high note.
Fort Frances Lakers vs. Thunder Bay North Stars
Season series: Thunder Bay 5-1-1. Fort Frances 1-5-1.
Most recent: Mar 14 TBN 4 at FFL 4 (OT).
Other six games: Nov 15th FFL 3 TBN 2 (OT) at FFL. Nov 22nd TBN 4 FFL 2 at TBN. Nov 23rd TBN 6 FFL 3 at TBN. Jan 10th TBN 7 FFL 1 at TBN. Jan 11th TBN 5 FFL 2 at TBN. Jan 25th TBN 4 FFL 2 at FFL.
TBN goals for/goals against: 33-17. FFL goals for/goals against 17-33.
Thunder Bay snapshot: 3rd place. 32-12-6 70 points. W/L Pct. .700
GF 235 GA 140 Differential +95. PIM 777. Streak 4-0-2. Past 10 6-2-2.
PP% 27.5. PK% 88.4. SHGA 4. SHGF 4.
Top six offense:
Tyler Jordan, F, GP 48, 32 G, 34 A, 66 Pts, 50 PIM. *Evan Simeoni, F, GP 47, 22 G, 34 A, 56 Pts, 19 PIM. Tag Bryson, D, GP 48, 1 G, 55 A, 56 Pts, 67 PIM. Marcellus Francis, F, GP 38, 23 G, 32 A, 55 Pts, 18 PIM. Beau Helmeczi, F, GP 37, 19 G, 31 A, 50 Pts, 69 PIM. Alex Remenda, F, GP 48, 23 G, 23 A, 46 Pts, 18 PIM.
40 games plus:
*Peter Forester, 45. *Matthew Lysak, 41. Easton Glousher, 41. Connor Larrett, 45. Maxwell Buffone, 41.
Goaltending:
Keenan Marks, G, GP 29, 15-8-3, GAA 2.83, SV% .924, 1,696 Min.
Liam Letters, G, GP 7, 4-1-1, GAA 2.96, SV% .919, 385 Min.
Fort Frances snapshot: 6th place. 20-21-9 49 points. W/L Pct. .490.
GF 146 GA 175 Differential -29. PIM 782. Streak 1-0-1. Past 10 2-5-3.
PP% 25.9. PK% 78.0. SHGA 3. SHGF 5.
Top six offense:
Brady Krentz, F, GP 47, 21 G, 29 A, 50 Pts, 30 PIM. Jack Wood, F, GP 47, 16 G, 21 A, 37 Pts, 20 PIM. Pierce Gouin, F, GP 41, 15 G, 19 A, 34 Pts, 20 PIM. Tie Schumacher, F, GP 40, 14 G, 18 A, 32 Pts, 55 PIM. Evan Kabel, D, GP 44, 7 G, 25 A, 32 Pts, 32 PIM. Carter Deschamps, F, GP 46, 15 G, 12 A, 27 Pts, 48 PIM.
40 games plus:
Gavin Smith, 46. Landon Lowes, 44. Emerson Evans, 43. *Gunner Simon, 42. Ian Snooks, 47. *Carter Thiessen, 42. *Ben Exell, 43.
Goaltending:
*Nolan Koethler, G, GP 26, 7-13-1, GAA 3.81, SV% .897, 1,528 Min.
Gunner Paradis, G, GP 24, 10-8-1, GAA 3.28, SV% .916, 1,336 Min.
Quick Look
North Stars led the league in power play and penalty kill percentages. The Stars had six players in the top-20 which doesn’t include Jarred Feist’s 23 points in 17 games. Fort Frances’ goaltending will have to be superb.
Red Lake Miners vs. Sioux Lookout Bombers
Season series: Sioux Lookout 5-2-0. Red Lake 2-4-1.
Most recent: Mar 14-15 SLB 4 RLM 1. RLM 4 SLB 2, both at RLM.
Other five games: Oct 11th RLM 4 SLB 1 at SLB. Oct 12th SLB 2 RLM 1 at SLB. Nov 22nd SLB 3 RLM 2 (OT) at RLM. Nov 23rd SLB 6 RLM 4 at SLB. Dec 20th SLB 4 RLM 1 at RLM.
SLB goals for/goals against: 22-17. RLM goals for/goals against 17-22.
Sioux Lookout snapshot: 4th place. 31-14-5 67 points. W/L Pct. .670
200 GF 133 GA Differential +67. PIM 735. Streak 0-1-0. Past 10 5-5-0.
PP% 18.0. PK% 80.0. SHGA 3. SHGF 5.
Top six offense:
Alex Lucas, F, GP 48, 26 G, 36 A, 62 Pts, 54 PIM. Jonah Smith, F, GP 50, 18 G, 35 A, 53 Pts, 38 PIM. Owen Cotter, F, GP 49, 16 G, 28 A, 44 Pts, 14 PIM. Tait Howell, D, GP 44, 15 G, 19 A, 34 Pts, 22 PIM. *Brodie Wood, F, GP 41, 13 G, 21 A, 34 Pts, 24 PIM. Owen Riffel, F, GP 39, 17 G, 16 A, 33 Pts, 70 PIM.
40 games plus:
Kaden Veller, 42. Ty Kirk, 49. Gursimar Mann, 40. Cedrik Robidoux, 41. Ashton Cuvelier, 40. Peter Zilkalns, 43.
Goaltending:
Matthew Ofukany, G, GP 25, 18-6-0, GAA 2.39, SV% .917, 1,478 Min.
Matthew Spencer-Dahl, G, 25, 13-8-2, GAA 2.78, SV% .917, 1,469 Min.
Red Lake snapshot: 5th place. 22-21-7 51 points. W/L Pct. .510.
GF 159 GA 171 Differential -12. PIM 811. Streak 1-0-0. Past 10 5-3-2.
PP% 19.1. PK% 74.4. SHGA 3. SHGF 1.
Top six offense:
Nathan Dann, F, GP 44, 29 G, 21 A, 50 Pts, 20 PIM. *Quinn Szpak, F, GP 47, 12 G, 31 A, 43 Pts, 20 PIM. Bryson Carlyle, D, GP 47, 10 G, 24 A, 34 Pts, 49 PIM. Euan Morrison, F, GP 38, 9 G, 23 A, 32 Pts, 38 PIM. Noah Tenney, F, GP 37, 11 G, 18 A, 29 Pts, 16 PIM. *Kayne Pawlick, F, GP 45, 10 G, 16 A, 26 Pts, 33 PIM.
40 games plus:
*Ryan Heuser, 44. *Corbyn Demchuk, 40. Justin Gelderland, 45. Sullivan Menard, 44.
Goaltending:
*Koen Webber, G, GP 21, 10-8-2, GAA 3.52, SV% .896, 1,227 Min.
Nick Peters, G, GP 13, 5-5-2, GAA 3.58, SV% .885, 804 Min.
Quick Look
On paper, the most even of all the quarterfinal series. The reigning champion Bombers have Ofukany and Spencer-Dahl in net, and they’re tough to beat. The Bombers’ power play has sprung to life. Nathan Dann can be lethal for Red Lake. The Miners played well of late to overtake Lakers in the standings. The Bombers have eight players with 30 points or more, led by Lucas with 62 points and Smith with 53.