THUNDER BAY – Prior to Friday night's Superior International Junior Hockey League contest, Ryan Doucette, Jeremy Dunmore and Holden Woodcroft went to their coach and pleaded for a chance to play together on the same line.
Matt Valley, bench boss for the first-place Kam River Fighting Walleye (8-1-1), thought about it for a minute, and agreed.
It might be the best decision he makes all season.
Doucette on Saturday scored twice and added a pair of helpers, Woodcroft had a highlight-reel goal and contributed a pair of assists and Dunmore equaled that output, the line combining for four goals and six assists in the Fighting Walleye’s 5-0 shutout win over the expansion Sioux Lookout Bombers at the Norwest Arena.
“Me, Woody and Jer, we all love playing with each other and we got the chance yesterday and we thought we played pretty well, but it got cut short because of penalties,” said Doucette, a Thunder Bay Kings graduate who spent last season in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League.
“We talked to (Matt) and said we like playing with each other, so we’re together now and it’s working out good for us.”
The chemistry is natural, said Doucette, acquired over the summer from the Blind River Beavers in return for cash considerations.
“I think it’s that we all see each other. We’re all heads up players. We all play the same type of game. We all like to slow the puck down and look for each other. There’s not one guy trying to be a hero on our line. We all do it together,” the 19-year-old said.
Woodcroft, a mid-season acquisition last year out of the Central Canadian Hockey League, said he and Doucette go way back and Dunmore can play with anyone.
“We got a shot in Ryan’s first night back and it meshed well,” Woodcroft said. “We felt it was there and we know we’re dangerous, so we went and talked to coach to ask him to keep us together and it paid off tonight.
He’s hopeful they’ll stick together beyond Saturday’s triumph.
“We just have to keep doing what we’re doing and it’ll stay.”
Woodcroft’s goal, the fifth goal of the night, was by far the prettiest.
The lanky forward raced down the right side of the ice, deep in Sioux Lookout territory, but instead of circling behind the net, Woodcroft cut across in front of Bombers goalie Odin Church and using his reach, swept it into the net.
“I’ve tried it a couple of times this year so far and I haven’t been able to bury it, but it was nice to get it tonight. It was a big night for the team,” Woodcroft said.
Jack Orchard made 21 saves to earn the shutout, the first of his three-game SIJHL career.
“He bounced back big tonight,” Valley said. “I’m very proud of him. He made some good saves, and yeah, we played good in front of him, but it’s because we had confidence because we knew he was a brick wall.”
Logan Gallaher had the only goal of the opening period, with Doucette potting his pair 11 minutes apart in the second. Dunmore and Woodcroft rounded out the scoring in the third.
Church stopped 29 of 34 Fighting Walleye shots for the sixth-place Bombers, who slipped to 3-3-0 on the season.
Thunder Bay 2, Red Lake 1 (SO): Edison Weeks and Nolan Desjardins scored in the shootout to salvage the win over the Miners, who sent the game to overtime when Aidan Ballance scored with two seconds left in regulation.
Dryden 4, Wisconsin 3: Bryce Benfield scored a pair of first-period goals to lead the Ice Dogs past the Lumberjacks on home ice. Wisconsin’s Ryder McMillen, the SIJHL’s leading point-getter, had a goal and an assist to crack the 20-point mark.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Kam River, Gallaher 2 (Oviedo) 4:54. Penalties: Nielsen KFW (misconduct) 0:00, Egner KFW (boarding) 7:15, Neuman SLB (hooking) 12:48, Lone SLB (boarding) 19:08, Patrick SLB (cross checking double minor) 20:00.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 2. Kam River, Doucette 2 (Dunmore, McLeod) 3:43. 3. Kam River, Doucette 3 (Woodcroft) 14:33. Penalties: Bienvenue KFW (interference) 9:09, DeCoff SLB (cross checking), Egner KFW (roughing) 9:45, Leduc KFW (unsportsmanlike conduct) 12:22,Tykolis-Casey SLB (tripping) 17:16.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 4. Kam River, Dunmore 3 (Woodcroft, Doucette) 8:42. 5. Kam River, Woodcroft (Doucette, Dunmore) 15:43. Penalties: Trimarchi SLB, Oviedo KFW (misconduct) 8:42, Gallaher KFW (clipping) 9:02, Egner KFW (cross checking) 12:09, Egner KFW (high sticking) 18:32.
GAME DATA – SOG – Sioux Lookout 5-6-9-20, Kam River 12-12-9-33; Power plays (goals-chances) – Sioux Lookout (0-6), Kam River (0-4), Goaltenders: Sioux Lookout: Odin Church, Kam River: Jack Orchard; A: 485.
