Lumberjacks looking to build on last season’s finish

By Jim den Hollander  

Editor/Publisher 

MIdwesthockey.info 

The Wisconsin Lumberjacks are the latest in a string of American squads that have represented the American Midwest in Canada’s Superior International Junior Hockey League.

The seven-team one division league includes six clubs from Northwestern Ontario along with the Lumberjacks, out of Spooner. 

Formed in 2001, the league has almost always had an American presence with previous teams including the Duluth (MN) Clydesdales, Minnesota Iron Rangers (Hoyt Lake, MN); Minnesota Wilderness (Cloquet, MN) and Thief River Falls (MN) Norskies along with the Wilderness, also located in Spooner. 

The Bill Salonen Trophy is annually presented to the playoff champion. The trophy has gone south of the Canadian border three times, all three won in succession from 2011-2013 by the Wisconsin Wilderness. The Wilderness defeated the Dryden Ice Dogs to claim their first title and the Fort Frances Lakers were the finalist for the other two.  

Chris Walby, now Head Coach/Owner of the USPHL’s Minnesota Mullets was coaching the Iron Rangers who made a run to the Championship in 2014 but came up just short against the Lakers who captured their first of three straight titles in the final three seasons of five straight trips to the finals. 

This past season, the Spooner club finished sixth of seven teams with a record of 18-28-3-3, getting the season off to a solid start with three straight wins and going into the post season riding a similar three game streak. 

Lumberjacks carried that momentum into the post season capturing a 4-3 upset against Sioux Lookout Biombers with Salvatore Poggiali (‘02/New Albany, OH) notching the game seven overtime game winner, his second goal of the game.  

The game seven win by the Lumberjacks was the first win for a road team in the series and the season ending rally was started with a 3-2 win on home ice March 11, ending a string of eight straight wins for the Bombers who held a 51-21 edge on the scoresheet through the regular season.  

In the semis, the Kam River Fighting Walleye, on the way to its first Salonen Cup Championship brushed the Lumberjacks aside, finishing the job with a 5-4 win to capture the title in game seven of the championship series. 

All seven teams – the Lumberjacks, Kam River Fighting Walleye, Dryden GM IceDogs, Sioux Lookout Bombers, Thunder Bay North Stars, Red Lake Miners and Fort Frances Lakers will return for the 2023-24 regualr season along with a new entry, the Kenora (ON) Islanders.

Ryder McMillen (‘02/Silver Bay, MN) led the Lumberjacks in regular season scoring with 29 goals and 71 points followed by Zach Carson (‘02/Hermantown, MN) with 26 goals and 58 points. 

In goal, Kyler Lowden (‘02/Grand Rapids, MI) went to the crease 38 times for the Lumberjacks and finished with a record of 15-17-3-2, an .894 Save Percentage and a Goals Against Average of 3.87. 

The 20234-24 SIJHL Schedule has yet to be released but most Tier 2 teams are using this coming weekend as a final tryout weekend and the season generally starts in late September.