Fort Frances Lakers

Fort Frances Lakers

City	Fort Frances, Ontario, Canada
League	Superior International Junior Hockey League
Founded	2007
Home arena	Fort Frances Memorial Sports Center
Colours	Black, Red, and White
General manager	Wayne Strachan
Head coach	Wayne Strachan
Franchise history
2007-2009	Fort Frances Jr. Sabres
2009-Present	Fort Frances Lakers

The Fort Frances Lakers are a Canadian Junior ice hockey team based in Fort Frances, Ontario, Canada. They play in the Superior International Junior Hockey League.

History

Jr. Sabres

The Fort Frances Jr. Sabres are the first Junior "A" team to play in Fort Frances since the Fort Frances Borderland Thunder left the league in 2005. The Borderland Thunder wanted to play in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League, but chose to go into hiatus when they did not receive clearance for the transfer. The Sabres have a new ownership group and are the seventh member of the Superior International Junior Hockey League.

Sabres celebrate an overtime victory (2007)

On September 14, 2007, the Fort Frances Jr. Sabres played their first ever game at home in Fort Frances. Playing the Thunder Bay Bulldogs, the Sabres played the shocker and defeated the Bulldogs solidly, 5-1, to receive their first ever team win. The Sabres first ever goal came 3:14 into the first period by Alessio Tomassetti. Goaltender Ryan Faragher (himself a Fort Frances native) picked up the win with 29 saves.

In the summer of 2009, the Fort Frances team went through a crisis of sorts. With the Thunder Bay Bearcats and Schreiber Diesels leaving the SIJHL, the ownership of the Sabres decided to pull their team out of the 2009-10 season despite initially telling the press and the league that the team was operating with a "business as usual" attitude and would not be sitting out during the coming season.^[1]^[2] It soon came out that the team would play in 2009-10, but under new ownership. Yet again, as the season drew nearer, it became apparent that the franchise was in distress. The team could not find a buyer, so in an effort to keep the team alive, the community came together to take over the franchise and turn it into a non-for-profit organization. On September 10, 2009, the team decided to change their name to the Lakers.

Lakers

Lakers action in 2011

The reborn community-owned Lakers played their first game as a non-for-profit organization on September 17, 2009 in Fort Frances. Although the team's third season almost did not happen, the Lakers brought hockey in Fort Frances back with style by playing the defending league champion Fort William North Stars in their home opener. The Lakers lost 5-2 with an empty net goal, but were in it the entire game.^[3] A night later, the Lakers won their first game of their new era by defeating the expansion Thunder Bay Wolverines in Thunder Bay 3-2.

Season-by-season standings

Season	GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	P	Results	Playoffs
2007-08	50	22	21	4	3	173	183	51	5th SIJHL	Lost Quarter-final, 0-3 (Diesels)
2008-09	50	30	17	-	3	199	139	63	3rd SIJHL	Won Quarter-final,3-0 (Flyers) Lost Semi-final, 1-4 (Bearcats)
2009-10	52	14	33	-	5	153	251	33	5th SIJHL	Won Quarter-final,4-3 (Wolverines) Lost Semi-final, 2-4 (Ice Dogs)
2010-11	56	34	19	-	3	208	174	71	2nd SIJHL	Lost Playoff Seeding 1-2* (Wilderness) Lost Semi-final, 2-4 (Ice Dogs)
2011-12	56	37	12	-	7	255	166	81	2nd SIJHL	Won Playoff Seeding 2-1* (Wilderness) Won Semi-final, 4-0 (Ice Dogs) Lost League Finals, 3-4 (Wilderness)
2012-13	56	35	18	-	3	208	165	73	2nd SIJHL	Won Semi-final, 4-3 (Ice Dogs) Lost League Finals, 3-4 (Wilderness)
2013-14	56	46	6	-	4	295	150	96	1st SIJHL	Won Playoff Seeding 6-4* (North Stars) Won Semi-final, 4-0 (Miners) Won League Finals, 4-3 (Iron Rangers) SIJHL Champions See Dudley Hewitt Cup below
2014-15	56	43	11	-	2	254	197	88	1st SIJHL	Won Semi-final, 4-1 (North Stars) Won League Finals, 4-2 (Iron Rangers) SIJHL Champions See Dudley Hewitt Cup below
2015-16	56	46	8	-	4	249	140	96	1st SIJHL	Won Semifinals, 4-0 (Miners) Won League Finals, 4-2 (Ice Dogs) SIJHL Champions See Dudley Hewitt Cup below
2016-17	56	24	25	3	4	188	201	55	5th of 6 SIJHL	Won Play-in Series 3-1 (Norskies) Lost Semifinals 0-4 (Ice Dogs)

Dudley Hewitt Cup

Central Canada Championships
NOJHL - OJHL - SIJHL - Host
Round robin play with 2nd vs 3rd in semi-final to advance against 1st in the finals.

Year	Round Robin	Record	Standing	SemiFinal	Gold Medal Game
2014	L, Toronto Lakeshore Patriots1-4 L, Wellington Dukes 0-3 W, Kirkland Lake Gold Miners 6-3	1-2-0	3rd of 4	L, Toronto Lakeshore Patriots 0-6	n/a
2015 HOST	W, Toronto Lakeshore Patriots 2-1 OT L, Soo Thunderbirds 3-6 W, Dryden Ice Dogs 5-3	2-1-0	3rd of 4	W, Toronto Lakeshore Patriots 6-4	L, Soo Thunderbirds 2-3
2016	L, Kirkland Lake Gold Miners 5-8 L, Soo Thunderbirds 5-6 L, Trenton Golden Hawks 0-3	0-3-0	4th of 4	Did not qualify

Notable alumni

Ryan Faragher

External links

References

Superior International Junior Hockey League
Current Teams	Dryden Ice Dogs English River Miners Fort Frances Lakers Minnesota Iron Rangers Thief River Falls Norskies Thunder Bay North Stars
Former Teams	Duluth Clydesdales Fort Frances Borderland Thunder Marathon Renegades Minnesota Wilderness Schreiber Diesels Sioux Lookout Flyers Thunder Bay Bearcats Thunder Bay Bulldogs Thunder Bay Wolverines Wisconsin Wilderness
History	Iron Range Yellow Jackets MSU-Bottineau Lumberjacks Thunder Bay Junior A Hockey League Thunder Bay Flyers Thunder Bay Hornets Northwestern Ontario Junior Hockey League Thunder Bay Junior B Hockey League
Seasons	2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16
CJHL: Dudley Hewitt Cup Royal Bank Cup

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