THUNDER BAY, Ont. – The two greatest words in hockey … Game 7.
That’s what’s in store tonight as the Superior International Junior Hockey League will crown a new Bill Salonen Cup champion this evening at Ice for Kids Arena in Fort Frances as the hometown Lakers host the Minnesota Iron Rangers in a seventh and deciding game of this hard-fought series. The opening face-off is set for 7:30 p.m.
Fort Frances has battled back from a 3-1 series deficit to force game 7 and will look to complete the comeback this evening while Minnesota looks to capture their first-ever SIJHL title.
THE SERIES: The series has been tightly contested from the on-set with four of the games having been decided by just one goal, including one in overtime and two others in double OT.
Minnesota holds a slight edge in total goals scored, 14-13, through the opening six games.
The top six point producers in the playoffs are comprised of skaters from these two teams.
Miles Nolan, Brent Aiken and Kevin Kurm lead the Lakers offensively with 15, 14 and 12 points respectively.
Pacing the Iron Rangers has been Evan Erickson, Trevor Hoth and Jason Reynolds with Erickson having 13 points and the other pair 12 apiece.
Alex Recihle has played every game in net in the series for Minnesota and sits third overall in playoff goals-against average at 2.39 and is second in save percentage at .930.
Jordan Cartney has started the last two contests for Fort Frances and is 3-0 overall in the postseason.
His 2.00 average tops all goaltenders and he sports a .917 save mark.
WHAT’S NEXT: The Bill Salonen Cup champion will advance to represent the SIJHL at the Dudley-Hewitt Cup Central Canada Jr. A championship April 29 through May 3 in Wellington, Ont.
They will join the host Wellington Dukes of the Ontario Junior Hockey League along with the OJHL Buckland Cup champion Toronto Lakeshore Patriots and the recently crowned Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League title holders, the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners, at the five-day event.
Kirkland Lake claimed the NOJHL crown Tuesday with a narrow 2-1 triumph over the top seeded Soo Thunderbirds in game 6 of that series to win it 4-2 overall.
An ex-SIJHLer in Dan Morin is the captain of the Gold Miners.
Former Thunder Bay North Stars head coach Jordan Smith was in his first year at the helm of the Thunderbirds where he guided them to a first place finish in the regular season standings and also the No. 1 ranking in the Canadian Junior Hockey League. Smith was also named NOJHL coach of the year.
THIRD TIME: Tonight’s game 7 marks the third time in league history the Bill Salonen Cup final has gone the distance.
The Schrieber Diesels defeated the Fort William North Stars, on the road in Thunder Bay, in the 2007 BSC deciding game while the Wisconsin Wilderness got past Fort Frances in game 7 of the 2012 final in Spooner, Wis.
SIJHL CONNECTION: An SIJHL alumnus helped his new team sweep their way to a British Columbia Hockey League crown.
Goaltender Gordie Defiel, who backstopped the Wilderness to SIJHL and Dudley-Hewitt Cup titles last season, has won another championship as he helped lead the Coquitlam Express to the Fred Page Cup, emblematic of BCHL champions.
The Express swept the RBC Cup host Vernon Vipers in four games while Defiel making 35 stops in the finale.
Defiel, who was named the SIJHL’s goaltender of the year in 2012-13 and was last year’s Dudley-Hewitt Cup MVP, will now help lead his Coquitlam side to the Cresent Point Energy Western Canada Cup, April 25-May 3 in Dauphin, Man.
The winner and finalist at that five-team event will both advance to the RBC Cup in Vernon, May 10-18.
Series F
SIJHL finals for the Bill Salonen Cup
No. 1 Fort Frances Lakers vs. No. 3 Minnesota Iron Rangers
Best-of-seven series tied 3-3
Game 1: Fort Frances 1 Minnesota 0 (2 OT)
Game 2: Minnesota 3 Fort Frances 2
Game 3: Minnesota 5 Fort Frances 4 (2 OT)
Game 4: Minnesota 3 Fort Frances Lakers 0
Game 5: Fort Frances 2 Minnesota 0
Game 6: Fort Frances 4 Minnesota 3 (OT)
Game 7: TONIGHT @ Fort Frances 7:30 p.m. (Ice for Kids Arena)
