OLIVER PAIPOONGE – The Kam River Fighting Walleye have been the best team in the Superior International Junior Hockey League since the 10-game mark of the regular season.
That’s when veteran coach Larry Wintoneak stepped behind the bench, taking over from Dwight Lee, the team struggling to a 5-5-0 start.
Under the Wintoneak’s guidance, the Fighting Walleye went 31-8-1, a .787 winning percentage, just slightly ahead of the Dryden Ice Dogs, whose 36-9-5 record earned them top spot and the No. 1 seed entering the SIJHL postseason.
Kam River then swept the Ironwood Lumberjacks out of the playoffs in four games in the opening round, a series that ended on March 26.
They’ll take on their cross-town rival Thunder Bay North Stars in the best-of-seven semifinal, a series that gets under way Friday night at 7 p.m. at the Norwest Arena.
Here's a breakdown of some of the key factors in the series, starting in goal.
Goaltending
Kam River: Ashton Sadauskas was probably the top goaltender in the SIJHL this season, posting a 2.39 goals against average and a .926 save percentage in 35 starts, going 25-9-0. Keenan Marks can be spectacular at times, but isn’t quite as consistent as his Kam River counterpart. His goals against average crept over 3.00 in the first round against Fort Frances, giving up four or more goals in four of the seven games before finishing off the Lakers with a Game 7 shutout.
Advantage: Kam River.
Defence
The Fighting Walleye don’t get a lot of offence from the blueline, but that’s because they’re too busy keeping pucks away from their net. Kam River allowed a team-lowest 118 goals in 50 games this season. Evan Lachimea led all Kam River defencemen with eight goals. Tag Bryson led all defenders with 56 points, but scored just once in 48 appearances for the North Stars, whose defensive corps is a little less experienced than Kam River’s. Jamieson Franz isn’t afraid to join the play. Thunder Bay’s defencemen can get a little careless with the puck in their own zone, at times.
Advantage: Kam River.
Forwards
Daxton Lang and Jett Mintenko were 1-2 in the SIJHL scoring race, combining for 168 points. But if they’re not scoring, the Fighting Walleye aren’t as deep as they were last season, when they boasted six 20-goal scorers. The North Stars may have more depth up front than their opponent, with five players collecting 50 or more points and 11 players with double-digit goals. Captain Tyler Jordan was second in the league with 32 goals (and scored 12 points in the opening round). Rookie-of-the-year Evan Simeoni had 56 points in 47 games, adding seven more against Fort Frances as a 16-year-old.
Advantage: Thunder Bay.
Special Teams
The North Stars had the best power play percentage in the league, scoring at a 27.5 per cent clip, but the Fighting Walleye weren’t far behind, connecting on 25.4 per cent of their man advantage situations. The Stars were successful on 88.4 per cent of their penalty kills, compared to 85.1 per cent for Kam River.
Advantage: Thunder Bay. It’s close, but the North Stars were just a tad better in the regular season.
Prediction: Kam River in six. The two teams split their eight games in the regular season each team winning four. Sadauskas will be the difference maker in this one. The Fighting Walleye have beaten the North Stars in both previous playoff meetings, sweeping them in the semifinal in 2022 and edging them in seven to win the Bill Salonen Cup in 2023.
Games 1 and 2 will be played Friday at Saturday night at Norwest Arena. The series switches to Fort William Gardens for Games 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Wednesday. Puck drop is 7 p.m. for all games.
