FORT FRANCES, Ont. SPORTS – The Dudley-Hewitt Cup Central Canada Jr. A Championship in Fort Frances is getting underway.
Game action begins Tuesday afternoon at Ice for Kids Arena at 2 p.m. CT as the Dryden GM Ice Dogs of the Superior International Junior Hockey League take on the champions of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League, the Soo Thunderbirds, in the opener.
They’ll be joined by the host and two-time SIJHL Bill Salonen Cup title-winning Fort Frances Lakers and the defending Dudley-Hewitt Cup and back-to-back Ontario Junior Hockey League champion Toronto Patriots.
The following is the first of the four-team previews for the five-day event.
TEAM: DRYDEN GM ICE DOGS
LEAGUE: SIJHL
GENERAL MANAGER: Brian Bates
HEAD COACH: Kurt Walsten
THE GM ICE DOGS: An original member of the SIJHL, this marks Dryden’s fourth appearance in the Dudley-Hewitt Cup in their 14-year history.
They have two Bill Salonen Cup titles to their credit while this will be their second DHC nod as a SIJHL representative.
They finished third in the 2006 event held in Thunder Bay behind the eventual champion Fort William North Stars and runner-up Sudbury Jr. Wolves.
The GM Ice Dogs earned an automatic berth to the Dudley-Hewitt Cup after they advanced to the SIJHL final as Fort Frances was already in as the host team.
Dryden finished in third spot in the SIJHL standings with a 30-21-5 record.
That marked an 18-point improvement from a year ago under new head coach Kurt Walsten, who was a finalist for league coach of the year honours.
In league semifinal action they met the second place Minnesota Iron Rangers, who finished one point ahead of them in the standings.
The GM Ice Dogs went on to defeat the Iron Rangers in six games taking that best-of-seven set 4-2.
Moving on to their seventh Bill Salonen Cup final, Dryden took on the rival Lakers from Fort Frances.
The GM Ice Dogs had a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven affair at one point only to see the Lakers rally and take the final three contests and take the series 4-2.
THE PLAYERS: Leading Dryden offensively is SIJHL most valuable player Cole Golka.
He led all league skaters in offensive production in both the regular season and playoffs.
In postseason play he recorded 18 points on seven goals and 11 assists.
That followed the 89 points he piled up in the regular season, which included a SIJHL-best 47 goals.
His efforts also saw him set a new team record for goals and points in a single season.
Golka was also named a first team SIJHL CCM all-star at forward.
Next on the squad and the league in scoring was second team CCM all-star Jonathon Philley, who picked up 73 points in 2014-15 on 31 tallies and 42 helpers.
Philley added 14 more points in the playoffs, which included six goals.
Third in team scoring and finishing tied for sixth overall was forward Matt Houston.
He finished with 64 points while Blake Berg was third in club playoff numbers with 11 points on three markers and eight helpers.
Defensively CCM second all-stars in rookie defenceman Troy Williams and goaltender Tate Sproxton helped solidify Dryden’s back end along with D-man Kyle Pouncy.
Williams topped all Dryden defencemen in goals with 11 and was second in points with 34. His offensive totals paced all first-year blueliners in the league. He added six more points in the playoffs.
As for Pouncy, he led Ice Dogs rearguards in scoring in the playoffs with eight points. That added to the team-leading 42 he amassed in the regular season to lead all defencemen on the squad.
Meanwhile Sproxton led all SIJHL goaltenders in wins during the regular season with 23 and was the league-leader in minutes played at just over 2,319 while his 1,212 saves were the second-most overall.
He played all 12 playoff games for Dryden finishing with a 6-6 record along with a 2.98 average and .911 save percentage.
Special teams saw the GM Ice Dogs click at 13.3% on the power play and 89.6% on the penalty kill in the postseason.
They were at 27.3% with the man advantage in the regular season and 78.1% on the P.K.
FASTHOCKEY: Each Dudley-Hewitt Cup contest will be available online via pay-per-view at fasthockey.com.
DUDLEY-HEWITT CUP WEBSITE: More information on the 2015 Dudley-Hewitt Cup, including ticket packages, can be found on the official event website at www.centralcanadianchampionship.com.
Additional news, statistics, schedules and other relevant material is also posted on the website with other relevant information being added leading up to the event.
RBC CUP: The Dudley-Hewitt Cup winner will advance to represent the central region at the 2015 RBC Cup Canadian Jr. A Championship, May 9-17, in Portage la Prairie, Man.
Serving as host will be the Portage Terriers of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.
Joining the Terriers and Dudley-Hewitt title holders will be the champion and finalist of Crescent Energy Western Canadian Championship as well as the winner of the Fred Page Cup Eastern Canadian Championship.
More information on the RBC Cup can be found at www.hockeycanada.ca/rbccup.
Dudley-Hewitt Cup
April 28 – May 2
Ice for Kids Arena
Fort Frances, Ont.
Competing teams
HOST: Fort Frances Lakers (Bill Salonen Cup champion)
SIJHL: Dryden GM Ice Dogs (Bill Salonen Cup finalist)
NOJHL: Soo Thunderbirds (Copeland Cup – McNamara Trophy champion)
OJHL: Toronto Patriots (Buckland Cup champion)
Schedule (All start times Central Standard Time)
Tuesday, April 28
Soo vs. Dryden 2 p.m.
Toronto vs. Fort Frances 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, April 29
Toronto vs. Dryden 2 p.m.
Fort Frances vs. Soo 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, April 30
Soo vs. Toronto 2 p.m.
Dryden vs. Fort Frances 7:30 p.m.
Friday, May 1
Semifinal: 2nd Round Robin vs. 3rd Round Robin 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 2
Final: 1st Round Robin vs. Semifinal Winner 7:30 p.m.
DHC champion advances to RBC Cup May 9-17 in Portage la Prairie, Man.
