Decent debut for Norskies –2016-17 Season Reviews — SIJHL

The two Minnesota-based teams from the Superior International Junior Hockey League (SIJHL) faced a tough season both hope to build off for the upcoming season.

The Thief River Falls Norskies enjoyed a successful season as an expansion team, ranking fourth overall in the six-team league, with a regular season record of 30-21-2-3.

The Norskies qualified for the post season, but fell in a Best of Five Preliminary Round Series to the defending Bill Salonen Cup Champions, the Fort Frances Lakers who finished fifth, 10 points behind the Norskies in final regular season standings.

The Minnesota Iron Rangers meanwhile finished with a 7-46-3 record, sixth and last in the loop and was the lone team to miss the post season.

The regular season and playoffs were dominated by the Dryden Ice Dogs and the Dryden team also had the league’s top three overall scorers.

Leaders

Top Minnesota-based shooter on the season was Keaton Huot, 20, from Thief River Falls was the first home town hero of the newly formed Norskies, collecting 67 points (22g, 45a) and ranked seventh overall in league scoring.

Iron Rangers’ top shooter was Jack Stensgard, 19, from Moorhead, MN with 52 points (17g, 35a) and Michael Johnson,19, playing for his home town squad in Thief River Falls collected 50 points (21g, 29a).

Mitchell Soderberg, 19 from Grand Forks, ND (20g, 19a) and Parker Simonson, 19, from Bismarck, ND (16g, 23a) both had 39 points for the Norskies while rookie Connor Smith, 19, from Pinckney, MI picked up 38 points (14g, 24a) for the young Norskies team.

In goal, Ryan Buttazoni. 20, from Alberta, played in 40 games for the Norskies, winning 20 with a Goals Against Average of 2.80 and a .908 Save Percentage.

Jackson Nelson, 20, from Rogers, MN played in 29 games for the Iron Rangers, posting a 6.10 GAA and a SP of .851 while Sam Angle, 20, from Luxemburg, WI split the work, playing in 25 games and posting a 6.25 GAA and a .845 SP.

Award Winners

Management earned the top honors for the team in season ending awards. The two Minnesota teams were both shutout of major individual honors, but Kevin McCallum of the Norskies was named to the CCM Hockey First All-Star Team General Manager’s position while Cole Workman was named Head Coach of the Second Team and Kurtis McCallum was named to the Second Team Trainer/Equipment Manager spot.

Huot, Kross Braaten, a 19-year-old goaltender from Minot, ND and Buttazoni of the Norskies each earned a Play It Again Sports SIJHL Player of the Week honor along with Stensgard of the Iron Rangers.

Huot was the league’s CCM Hockey Performer of the Month for November 2016.

As of press time, it appears the same six teams will be back for the 2017-18 SIJHL season.