Red Lake Miners visit Ironwood
With both teams struggling to find their stride, the visiting Red Lake Miners arrived in Ironwood for a two game weekend series against the Ironwood Lumberjacks. Coming off a strong, but losing effort against Kam River, in his Friday pre-game comments, Head Coach Doug Lein reinforced the recent strides the Jacks have made. The Jacks roster, bolstered by a few players returning to healthy status and a few recent acquisitions, took the home ice with high expectations.
Friday, Oct 10: ILJ – 4 RLM – 2:
Slow starts have plagued the Lumberjack squad throughout the 25-26 season. And Friday night was no different. A defensive zone face-off with only 29 seconds gone in the opening period led to a quick goal by the Miners. Shortly after the goal, a controversial on ice incident led to a five-minute major and a game misconduct for Lumberjack (#25) Jack Carruthers. A strong penalty kill seemed to inspire the Jacks and the on-ice work ethic ticked upward. Even with better play, the Miners held a 1-0 lead at the end of one. During the first period intermission, Coach Lein, in no uncertain terms, told the team, “We’ve got to be better off draws. We are acting like observers, spectators. We need to be better. Get to your guy. Move your feet and engage someone. We are struggling to win draws so be better.’
The second period started with even play and good game flow. The Jacks pushed the balance of play to the Miners end of the ice until Red Lake added a quick goal at the 8:31 mark of the second. But that was the end of the scoring for the Miners. The next four tallies all came from the sticks of the Lumberjacks. At the 13:48 mark of the second, (#13) Jack Hanna scored his second of the year with an assist from (#18) Matys Lefebvre. The period ended 2-1 Miners. At the end of the second period, Assistant Coach CJ Sorenson commented, “Draws are killing us. Our centers need to do better on the draw and defensemen need to do better supporting the face off. We are getting more pucks on net and those will fall, but our draws have to be better.”
The third period was all Lumberjacks. (#13) Jack Hanna got his second of the night at the 3:25 mark to tie the game at two. Hanna credited the hard work of (#9) Chase Krtanjek and (#27) Thomas Parini for the goal which was reflected by assists on the scoresheet. The Lumberjacks continued to push and at the 11:59 mark, (#24) Timy Hanulik scored his second of the season with assists from (#16) Colin Dorsey-Burdick and (#11) Gavin Lafferty. (#18) Matys LeFebvre added an empty net goal at 17:43 with an assist from Jack Hanna giving Hanna a three-point night. The Ironwood Lumberjacks finished the 60 minute game with a 4-2 victory over the Miners.
Wrapping up the night, Coach Lein commented, “In the third, we finally started picking up on the draws and the guys were engaging people. That’s how we won the third. Guys started actively engaging on draws and that was the difference. Teams that figure out how to be consistent for 60 minutes are the teams that are good at the end of the year…. Tomorrow is a brand new game and a brand new 60 minutes. We better come prepared.”
Sat, Oct 11: ILJ – 4 RLM – 5
Pre-game warmups and pre-game discussion are designed to set the tone for the opening faceoff. Preaching preparedness, preaching readiness, preaching systems, Head Coach Doug Lein sent the Lumberjacks out for game two of the weekend series against the Red Lake Miners on Saturday night. But unfortunately, the Jacks roster failed to heed his words.
The first five minutes of the opening period seems to be a nemesis for the Lumberjacks. On Friday, the Jacks allowed a goal only 29 seconds into the first. On Saturday, keeping with the 25-26 season trend, the Red Lake Miners tallied the first goal only 25 seconds into the first. The early goal seemed to take a mental toll on the Jacks and the rest of the 60 minute contest became a challenge. After playing the Miners even for the next 19 minutes, (#22) Ryland Elsenpeter backhanded a puck into the Red Lake net with only eight seconds left in the opening period. Elsenpeter was assisted on the goal by (#24) Timy Hanulik and (#11) Gavin Lafferty. The period ended in a 1-1 tie.
The second period was not stellar for the Lumberjacks. The Jacks allowed three goals including one in the last minute of the period in addition to taking four penalties. The lone bright spot in the period was (#5) Bennet Arro’s first Junior A goal at the 7:57 mark of period two. Arro’s goal included assists from (#9) Chase Krtanjek and (#12) Hayden Patterson. The period ended with the Miners up 4-2 over the home Lumberjacks.
With the game still in reach, the Lumberjacks entered the third period determined to correct their ways and turn the tide in the Jacks favor. By pushing the play, the Jacks found a few cracks in the defense and put pressure on the Miners netminder. Unfortunately, at the 5:46 mark of the third, a bouncing puck fell right to a Miners forward who skated in on the Jacks goal making the score 5-2. It took about three minutes for the Lumberjack team to collect their composure and decide to turn up the heat. The final 10 minutes of the game were played with desperation and tenacity. The Jacks tallied two more goals, one from (#27) Tom Parini and one from (#25) Jack Carruthers. Third period assists were credited to (#19) Brendan Klotz, (#13) Jack Hanna and (#22) Ryland Elsenpeter.
The Lumberjacks finished the weekend with a series split and two of four points. In addition, another chapter in the book of valuable hockey lessons had been written. Whether or not the lesson has been learned will be determined at a later date. The Lumberjacks head back to Sioux Lookout for a weekend series against the Bombers on October 17 and 18. Catch all the action on SIJHL.TV. The next home weekend series in Oct 24 and 25 against the Dryden Ice Dogs. Puck drops at 7 pm both nights at the Pat O’Donnell Civic Center.