The Minnesota Iron Rangers came close this season to making a run for the Canadian Junior A title before losing to the #2 ranked Canadian Junior A team 3-2 last night in Fort Frances in game seven. Congratulations to the Fort Frances Lakers.  At YHH, it would be great to see the Lakers move on win the RBC Cup given to the top junior A team in Canada.

The Minnesota Iron Rangers deserve to be congratulated also.  This season, they brought junior A hockey to the Iron Range and at YHH that is a great thing for Northeastern Minnesota hockey.  The team provides opportunties for high school players to make the next step up in the sport after graduation and it offers a different type of competition than other junior hockey leagues in Minnesota-playing Canadian Hockey

Game Seven

An early penalty on the Rangers in the opening period resulted in a flurry of Laker shots on goal.  Fort Frances put 12 shots on net in the first 12 minutes of the period but could not beat Ranger goalie, Alex Reichle/Wildwood MO.  The Rangers managed only one shot, but came back as the period ended to mount their own pressure on Laker goalie Jordan Cartney.  The first period ended in a 0-0 tie, the Lakers outshot the Rangers 15-7 in the opening period.

The second period opened with a Laker goal.  Fort Frances’ Bryce Lipinski scored to the Lakers up 1-0.  Patrick Sofer got the assist.  A Laker holding penalty two minutes later resulted in a Ranger power play goal by Evan Erickson/Woodbury MN to tie the game 1-1.  T. J. Samec/St. Paul MN and Matt O’Dea/Chicago IL got the assists.  Again the Lakers came back to pressure the Ranger defense getting multiple shots on the net over the next five minutes of play until Minnesota’s Jay Routheau/Green Bay WI beat the Lakers defense to score putting the Iron Rangers up 2-1 with less than four minutes left in the second period.  Matt O’Dea/Chicago IL got the assist.  The second period ended with the Iron Rangers up 2-1.  Shots on goal were even 9-9.

After eight months of preparation, practices, and 70 regular season and playoff games, the championship came down to one final 20 minute period.  And it did not take Fort Frances long to tie the game.  Less than two minutes into the third period, Lyndon Lipinski scored.  Game seven was now 2-2 with 15 minutes left in the period.  Lucas Debenedect and Mason Meyer got the assists.

Thirteen minutes into the final period, the Lakers' Mason Meyers scored the game winner.  Lucas Debenedect got the assist.  In games six and seven, Debendect was the offensive difference scoring or assisting on six of the seven Laker goals scored.

The Iron Rangers' goalie Alex Reichle had a great playoff, but the run for the Canadian Cups is still a dream for the Iron Range team.  There is next year.  Congratulations to the Superior International Junior A Hockey League champs for the 2013-2014 season, the Fort Frances Lakers. 

Game Six

Fort Frances’ Lucas Debenedet scored a power play goal eight minutes into overtime to lead the Lakers to a 4-3 win over the Minnesota Iron Rangers in game 6 of the SIJHL championship series.  The series plays the seventh and final game game of the championship series Wednesday night at Fort Frances Kids Arena.  Debenedet was involved in all four goals scored by Fort Frances (two goals/two assists).

Both teams took the conservative route in the opening period focusing on defense first.  The Lakers were dumping the puck low on the attack and sending nobody low to challenge the Rangers’s defense.  Instead, they waited for the Rangers to attack and a single forward would pinch from the center ice in the Rangers’ slot on a breakout.  The other four forwards would play around the center line, waiting for the Rangers breakout, try to turn the breakout into a Fort Frances rush or drive the Ranger forwards to the outside as they crossed the Laker blue line.

The tactic worked until late in the opening period a Ranger forward beat the defense on the left side.  His shot on the goalie resulted in a rebound to Max Seiter/Stevens Point WI in the slot.  Seiter one-timed the puck beating Laker goalie Jordan Cartney to put Minnesota up 1-0 as the first period ended.  Rangers outshot the Lakers 12-9 in the period.

The second period started slow and halfway through heated up with both teams starting to play more aggressive on the defense.  The Rangers dodged a bullet with 11 minutes left in the period when a low Laker shot from the crease managed to trickle through Ranger goalie Alex Reichle and end up stopped behind him in the crease.  The Ranger defense fired it out before a Laker could tap the puck into the net.

At the 5 minute mark, both teams started to play loose with the puck.  Players were hanging on to the puck trying to skate through the defense.  It resulted in the loss of puck and position.  As the second period ended, Fort Frances was beneficiary, picking up two loose pucks in the Iron Ranger zone to score twice in the last two minutes of play.  Both came off of melees in front of the Rangers’ net.

The Lakers’ Mason Meyer scored off a melee with two minutes left in the period to tie the game 1-1 after shaking the puck loose from the Iron Ranger defense.  Debenedet got the only assist.  An Iron Ranger slashing penalty a minute later resulted in a Laker power play goal ten seconds later.  This time the Ranger defense lost control of the puck along the end boards behind the net.  Fort Frances’ Lyndon Lipinski scored the power play goal to put the Lakers up 2-1 at the end of the second period.  Debernedet got the only assist.

Eight minutes into the third period, Fort Frances scored to take a 3-1 lead.  The goal came off a faceoff in the Iron Ranger zone.  The puck ended up on the Lakers’ Cameron Jackson’s stick in the slot.  Jackson beat the Reichle high left to put the Lakers up by two goals.  The Lakers fell back into their defensive play and succeeded in shutting down the Rangers until the 5 minute mark.  At that point the Ranger defense started to pinch hard at the Laker blue line drawing the Laker defense into the middle of their zone and opening the play along the corners.  The Rangers’ second goal came off moving the puck in the right corner and drawing the Laker defense to over shift to the right side.  It opened a nice passing lane to the weak side and to Ranger Jonathan Losurdo.  Losurdo one-timed the puck into the net to cut the Laker lead to 3-2.  Rangers Austin Frank and Trevor Hoth got the assists.

Thirty seconds after Minnesota scoring, Fort Frances drew a tripping penalty.  It took the Rangers another thirty seconds to post a power play goal and tie the game.  This time Minnesota tied the Lakers up on the end boards and worked the puck to Hoth in the right faceoff circle.  Hoth shot through a screen beat Cartney though his pads to tie the game 3-3.  Reynolds and Frank got the assists.

Six minutes into the overtime, Minnesota drew a tripping penalty in center ice.  It was a weak call considering what was at stake.  The trip lead to the winning score.  Again the Ranger defense coughed up the puck low left with the penalty about to expire.  The puck ended up in a melee left and in the net.  Debenedet scored the game winner, 4-3.

What makes the Iron Ranger team unique is that the players are mostly from the upper Midwest and they are playing Canadian teams that are mostly Canadian.  The Iron Rangers play the majority of their road games in Canada.  Some would consider that a tough road, but the team has managed to be competitive and to make it a "family affair".  That is just a good thing for Minnesota Hockey.