Busy Night In SIJHL

There were three games in the SIJHL all of which significant. The Thunder Bay North Stars beat Minnesota 5-4 in overtime and now sit in second place after the tie-break, both teams are tied in points with forty. The Fort Frances Lakers destroyed Dryden 14-0 at home. All but two players had points for the Lakers who recently received fifth spot amongst national Junior A teams in the latest CJHL Top 20 Rankings. English River is now three points behind Dryden after their 5-2 win over Wisconsin, English River has four games in hand over the Ice Dogs.

North Stars Lose To Lakers

Daniel Delpaggio fired the hat trick, but it wasn't enough as the Thunder Bay North Stars fell 5-3 to the first place Lakers in Fort Frances Monday night.  Delpaggio has 19 goals in 23 games this season.  Nathaniel Dupuis stopped 43 of 48 shots in taking the loss in goal.  The Lakers improved their league leading record to 24-3-2.  The third place North Stars, with two games in hand,  are 12 points back at 17-6-4.  The North Stars play host to the second place Minnesota Iron Rangers this Friday night at 7:30 at the Fort William Gardens.
 

North Stars Fall In OT

The Thunder Bay North Stars picked up one point on the road, losing 5-4 in overtime to the Minnesota Iron Rangers Wednesday night in Hoyt Lakes, MN.  Nathaniel Dupuis took the loss in goal, stopping 36 shots. Zach Grzelewski and Kris Kellaway both scored twice for the North Stars who saw their second place record drop to 16-4-4.  Thunder Bay leads Minnesota by one point in the standings.  The North Stars and Iron Rangers meet again this Friday night.  The game will be played at Port Arthur Arena at 7:30.  The Stars are also at home Saturday night against the English River Miners at the Fort William Gardens at 7:30.

North Stars-Ice Dogs Game Postponed

The Thunder Bay North Stars game against the Ice Dogs in Dryden on Wednesday night was postponed due to inclement weather and poor road conditions.  The game will be made up at a later date.  The North Stars, currently the 15th ranked Junior "A" team in the country, play host to
the English River Miners this Friday and Saturday.  Game time at the Fort William Gardens is 7:30 both nights.

Thunderwolves Remain Tied For Tops In The West

The Lakehead Thunderwolves remain tied atop the OUA West Division after last nights 1-0 win over the York Lions. The lone goal was scored by Kelin Ainsworth and the win marked goalie Jeff Bosch's first shutout with Lakehead. Game two from Toronto is tonight at 7:00.

Westgate Loses Heartbreaker

The Westgate Tigers had a good showing at the Northern Bowl in Toronto on Thursday, but lost 20-13 to the St. Mary's Monarchs from Pickering.  The Monarchs scored the winning touchdown on a 27-yard pass play with four seconds remaining in the game.  Westgate had a 13-7 lead heading into the fourth quarter.  Josh Whitehurst and Tucker Arnold scored touchdowns for the Tigers.  The game was played at Centennial Park Stadium in Etobicoke.

Cats To Open At Home

For just the second time in their 12 year history, the Thunder Bay Border Cats will open the Northwoods League season at home.  The Cats 2014 season opener will take place at Subway Field on Tuesday, May 27th, at 7:05pm against the St. Cloud Rox.  The opener will be part of a four-game homestand as new manager Johnny Hernandez and the Cats will host St. Cloud for two games May (27-28), and the Duluth Huskies for a pair of games (May 29-30).  Thunder Bay plays its first road game at Alexandria against the Blue Anchors on Saturday, May 31st.  
 
The Northwoods League will move to a 72-game regular season in 2014 with nine teams in each division.  The Cats will again play in the North Division and welcome a new addition with the Eau Claire Express moving from the South Division to go along with existing clubs in Alexandria, Duluth, Mankato, Rochester, St. Cloud, Waterloo and Willmar.  The South Division will welcome two expansion clubs with the Kalamazoo (MI), Growlers and Kenosha (WI), Kingfish bringing the league to 18 teams.  The league will also feature season long intra-divisional play with Thunder Bay playing two game series at home and on the road against both the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters and Wisconsin Woodchucks from the South Division.    
 
The Cats will play four game day games at home during the 2014 season on May 28th at 11:05am versus St. Cloud, June 3rd at 11:05am versus Rochester, July 29th at 1:35pm versus Waterloo and July 30th at 12:05pm versus Duluth.  The July 30th date against the Huskies will include a split home and home doubleheader with the two teams also playing that night in Duluth following their day game in Thunder Bay.  The Cats will also play a split doubleheader against the Huskies with both games at Duluth on June 24th.
 
The Cats longest homestand consists of seven games from July 26th to August 1st and Thunder Bay closes out the regular season at Subway Field on August 9th and 10th against the Wisconsin Woodchucks.
 
Border Cats 2014 season tickets are now on sale at the team's office located in the Canada Games Complex or by calling (807) 766.CATS.