The Ice Dogs are now set to face off against the Fort William North?Stars in the final best-of-seven series for the Bill Salonen Cup starting this week.
The team earned their spot in the final with their game six win over the Fort Frances Lakers, 3-1 in Fort Frances on Friday, March 26.
Many were expecting a four game sweep of the Lakers but the team battled hard to stay in the race.
The Ice Dogs took the opening game in the semifinals at home with a thrilling 4-3 OT victory.
The team lost some momentum in game two as the Lakers came back to tie the series with a 4-2 win at the Dryden Memorial Arena.
The series headed to Fort Frances for games three and four March 20 and 22.
The Ice Dogs took game three in a double overtime victory, 4-3.
The Lakers came back again in game four to tie the series at two games each with a 4-2 win.
That brought the series back to Dryden March 24 for game five.
It was a close one but the Ice Dogs manged to hang on and take the series lead with a 2-1 win.
It was all over on March 26 as the Ice Dogs took game six to finish off the Lakers and earn their spot in the finals against the Fort William North?Stars.
The Ice Dogs out lasted the Lakers on their home ice in a 3-1 decision.
It’s now down to the top two teams in the SIJHL with the Ice Dogs taking on the North Stars in the best-of-seven Bill Salonen Cup.
Games one and two will take place in Thunder Bay on Wednesday, March 31 and Thursday, April 1.
The teams will return to Dryden Saturday, April 3 and Sunday, April 4 for games three and four.
The Ice Dogs have beaten the North Stars in all three of their last meetings, going undefeated in the round robin playoff.
Games five, six and seven are scheduled for April 6 in Thunder Bay, April 7 in Dryden and April 10 in Thunder Bay if necessary

The idled Ear Falls sawmill as well as the rest of Domtar’s solid timber products division changed hands, Monday, as the company announced the sale of sawmill assets to Eacom, a new entrant to the forest industry.

Operations have been suspended at the Ear Falls facility since August 2009.

Other mills included in the transaction include Timmins, Nairn Centre and Gogama in Ontario, as well as Val-d’Or, Ste-Marie and Matagami in Quebec. Eacom has also purchased an equity interest in an eighth Domtar sawmill, in Elk Lake, Ontario.

The assets will include the transfer or grant of tenures to enable production at the mills. The sawmills transferred as part of the transaction represent approximately 3.5 million cubic metres of annual logging rights and a production capacity of close to 900 million board feet.

The $80 million transaction plus working-capital elements estimated at $30 million to $40 million is expected to be finalized over the summer.

Eacom, now based in Vancouver, will establish its headquarters in Montreal, QC and will become one of the largest publicly-traded lumber producers in Eastern Canada. Domtar forest products employees and its management team will be transitioning to EACOM.

“With this acquisition we pursue our vision of becoming a major softwood lumber producer and we look forward to integrating Domtar’s leading wood products management team to ensure a smooth transition. We recognize that customers have choices in wood products suppliers, and we will work hard to secure their business, notably through our continued commitment to the FSC-certification,” said Rick Doman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Eacom Timber Corporation in a statement.

The Eagles are heading to the quarter finals after Corpis Christi failed to win by four goals in their third round robin. This gives the girls a wildcard spot in the quarter finals.

The girls will place first seeded St. Theresa at 3:30pm local time.

Check back for updates

The Eagles girls took a hard loss this morning to Ridley 5-0 and are now waiting on a wildcard position.

The team will have to wait for the Corpis Christi and Bill Crothers. The girls are sitting at +3. Right now, the game is 2-1 for Corpis Christi and they need to win by four goals to put the games out.

The Eagles girls’ hockey team is showing southern Ontario how the Northwest plays hockey.

The girls are 2-0 after their first two round robin games.

Game one was a walk in the park for the team as they faced off against Smooth Rock Falls. Alexis Reid and Alex Wesley earned two goals apiece while Morgan Church, Halle Lobreau, Kylie Engstrom and Kristen Bartlett added their names to the score sheet with one each in the 8-0 win.

Game two was much closer as the girls faced off against Carleton Place. The girls earned a 4-1 win with goals from Bartlett, Engstrom and Wesley.

Goaltender Breanna Brown faced nine shots in total for both games.

The girls need a tie or a win against Ridley in the morning to move on to the quarter finals. Check back Wednesday afternoon for a full update.