Action for the final week of regular season play began this week on Tuesday. Nearly all teams were looking to solidify their playoff position or get into post-season mode.
The North Winnipeg Satelites played host to the Selkirk Fishermen to kick off play. Selkirk opened scoring just under 5 minutes in, with two goals 12 seconds apart. They scored one more before the first period was over and held a 3-0 lead. Neither team could find the mark in the 2nd period and the score remained 3-0 Fish. Selkirk added a power play marker to ensure the win, and cruised to a 4-0 shutout victory.
Milan Horanski & Connor Sprat both scored a goal and added an assist. Griffin Steeves chipped in with 2 assists. Riley Bannerman stopped all 31 shots thrown his way to earn the win & the shutout.
No North Winnipeg player got on the score sheet, however Marc Hildebrand faced 36 shots in the game, stopping 32 of them.
Wednesday evening, the Fisher River Hawks played host to the Lundar Falcons, who were in a fight with Arborg for 3rd place in the South. Fisher River scored first & then added power play goal just passed the midway point to put the Falcons in a hole. Lundar drew to within one, but Fisher River scored another to go to 3-1. The Falcons cut the lead to 3-2, and then scored on the power play in the dying seconds of the period to tie at 3-3. The 2nd period saw the Falcons score shorthanded and even strength, to take a 5-3 lead, only to see Fisher River score late in the period to make it 5-4. The Hawks tied the game again in the 3rd, with their own power play goal. Just 42 seconds after the game was tied up, Lundar scored their own power play goal, that proved to be the winner to take a 6-5 lead.
Lundar Falcons leading scorer Bryce Horning led the team with 5 assists. Cody Paul & Breyden Turner each scored 2 goals & added an assist. Both Jason Nikkel & Craig Caine added 2 points. Jarrod Smith stopped 43 of the 48 shots he saw, earning the win.
Fisher River's Rayne Nykyforuk scored once and added 3 assists. Jared Thickfoot & Brent Sutherland both scored a goal & dished out 2 helpers. Josh Bealieu scored once and added an assist. Jarret Hogue turned aside 38 of the 44 of shots he faced.
Thursday night pitted the Norway House North Stars against the Cross Lake Islanders. Cross Lake scored 3 times off the start to grab a 3-0 lead. Norway House got one back before the period was over, but trailed 3-1. The 2nd period saw more of the same, as the Islanders poured in 4 more goals, including a power play marker, while the North Stars added 1, but now had a 7-2 deficit. The Islanders climbed to a 10-2 before the midway point of the 3rd. Norway House got two goals back, just 22 seconds apart, but 10-4 was as close as they could get.
Cross Lake's Braeden Boschman scored 4 times & added 3 assists. Dennis Scatch added a single goal and 3 assists. Kenley Monias, Brandon McKay, Kirk Robinson & Keith Monias all finished with 2 points. Brendan McLeod earned the win, stopping 31 of the 35 shots he saw.
Norway House was led by Antoni Grieves, who scored once and added 2 assists. Marshall Mowatt, Conley Spence & Hunter York all added 2 points. Jarred Gore stopped an incredible 71 shots of the 81 he faced.
Friday evening saw the Arborg Ice Dawgs head to Peguis to play the Juniors, who were looking to clinch the North Division title. Peguis hit the scoreboard first, with a shorthanded goal at the 10 minute mark of the first. Arborg tied the game with a power play goal & then scored another power play goal to take a 2-1 lead. The second period saw the Juniors tie the game at 2-2, then take a 3-2 lead at the midway point. Arborg responded with 2 goals of their own, just 10 seconds apart, to re-grab the lead by the end of the period at 4-3. The 3rd period saw the Juniors tie the game again, and then with just 51 ticks to go, score the winning goal to win 5-4 and clinch the North Division title.
Waylon Neault scored two goals for the Juniors & Shaquille Houle scored a goal and an assist. Keifer Tacan stopped 37 of the 41 shots he faced to earn the victory.
Arborg was led by Clint Torfason & Travis Kilbrei, who each scored a goal & recorded an assist. Jon Narverud faced 45 shots, stopping 40 of them.
In other action Friday night, The St. Malo Warriors played host to the South Division Champion Selkirk Fishermen. St. Malo scored the only goal of the first period, just 1:36 into the game, and on the power play. The second period saw the Warriors grab a 2-0 lead. Not long after, the Fishermen got on the board and the cut the lead to 2-1. St. Malo extended their lead to two, scoring on the power play to go up 3-1. Over the final 7 minutes of the period, the Fishermen found the mark 3 times, including a power play goal to grab a 4-3 lead after 2 periods. The 3rd period saw the Fishermen extend their lead to 5-3, with another power play goal. St. Malo got one back to draw to within one, but that was as close as they could get and the final score ended 5-4 Fishermen.
Kale Ilchena led the Fishermen with 2 goals, while Karl Fey and Drayton Mendrun both scored a goal and recorded an assist for 2 points. Both Scott Thomas & Tyndall Fontaine dished out two helpers a piece. Jordan Liske backstopped the Fishermen to the win by stopping 26 of the 30 shots he faced.
St. Malo's Dustin Wiebe scored a goal and added an assist. Jordan Taylor turned aside 32 of the 37 shots he faced.
Saturday evening's schedule had two games on the go. In the first, the Cross Lake Islanders hosted the OCN Storm. The Islanders' scored the only goal of the first period, to hold a 1-0 lead. OCN tied the game up early in the 2nd, and then a few minutes later took a 2-1 lead. Cross Lake tied the game at 2-2. OCN scored two goals, just 9 seconds apart to hold a 4-2 lead. The Islanders kept coming and drew to within one at 4-3. With less than 30 seconds to go, the Storm scored again to take a 2 goal lead into the 3rd period. The final frame started, and just 2 minutes in, the Islanders had cut the lead to within one again. OCN replied with a goal of their own to go up 6-4. Cross Lake made the score 6-5 with a goal of their own. Over the final 40 seconds though, OCN scored two more times, including an empty net goal to ice the win.
Mitchell Tilley led the Storm with 2 goals and 4 assists. Drake Lathlin scored a hat trick and added an assist. Nathan Gardner recorded 3 assists, while Drew Morin scored twice. Luke Penner stopped 70 of the 75 shots he faced to earn the win.
Cross Lake was led by Austin Ross who scored two goals and added an assist. Both Dennis Scatch and Cody Spence recorded 3 assists. Kenley Monias scored two goals & Brandon McKay scored a goal and added an assist. Tory Monias stopped 54 shots of the 61 he faced in the game.
In other action Saturday, the Lundar Falcons, looking to earn at least a point to avoid the Survivor playoff series, played host to the Peguis Juniors. The first period saw the Falcons score the only goal of the period and take a 1-0 lead to room. Peguis tied the score just 33 seconds into the 2nd period. Lundar answered back just 47 seconds later. Not to be outdone, the Juniors tied the scored with a power play goal just 38 seconds later. Over the final 12 minutes of the period, Lundar scored two more goals, including a power play goal, while Peguis added one of their own, and the Falcons owned a 4-3 lead after 2 periods. Just under two minutes into the 3rd period, the Juniors tied the game up. Nothing changed over the rest of the 3rd period and the game headed to overtime. With the Juniors killing a penalty in overtime, they scored just 48 seconds into the extra frame to earn the extra point. For the Falcons, it was not a total loss, as they got a single point to prevent a tie in the standings with Arborg.
Peguis was led by Matthew Cameron and Keeven Daniels-Webb, who both scored two goals. Christian Cochrane added 2 assists, while Montana Tanner scored once and added an assist. Keifer Tacan turned aside 20 of the 24 shots he faced to earn the win.
Jason Nikkel led the Falcons with a goal and 2 assists. Landen Gray & Mason Medeiros each scored a goal and added an assist. Jarrod Smith stopped 49 shots to earn a single point for the Falcons.
The final game of the week (and the season) was Sunday, as the OCN Storm took on the Norway House North Stars. OCN scored 4 times in the first period, while Norway House replied with one of their own. The second period saw the Storm tack on 10 goals to their total, as they held a 14-1 lead. The 3rd period had the Storm add 6 more goals to their tally, while the North Stars got 2 back, as the Storm cruised to a 20-3 win.
Mitchell Tilley led the OCN Storm with 7 goals and 10 assists, as he won the KJHL scoring title with the incredible effort. Drew Morin added 6 goals and 5 assists for 11 points. Nathan Gardner recorded 9 points, Brody Personius added 6 points & Devon Tobacco finished with 5 points. Both Drake Lathlin & Darian Young finished with 2 points. Anthony Fontaine stopped 24 of the 27 shots he faced in the game to earn the victory.
Norway House was led by Marshall Mowatt, who scored two goals. Kelton Queskekapow added 2 assists. Jarred Gore face 90 shots in the game, stopping 70 of them.
With the conclusion of the regular season, the playoffs are quickly approaching. Both divisions will have a best of 3 Survivor Series play-in, where the 5th place team will play the 4th. In the North Division, the Norway House North Stars will play the Fisher River Hawks in a best of 3 series, while in the South Division, the Arborg Ice Dawgs will play the North Winnipeg Satelites.
Once the survivor series are complete, the best of 5 divisional semi-finals will begin. The North Division will see the Peguis Juniors play the winner of the Norway House vs Fisher River series, while Cross Lake and OCN will renew acquaintances in the 2 vs 3 series. The South Division playoffs will see the Lundar Falcons play the St. Malo Warriors, while the Selkirk Fishermen await the winner of the Arborg vs North Winnipeg series.