There wasn’t a dry eye in the room as the Ice Dogs’ top players were recognized for their achievements at the awards banquet on April 10 at the Best Western.
After an uncertain start to the season, the Ice Dogs pulled through to finish second in the SIJHL.
Many players were recognized for their outstanding performances, their sportsmanship and their dedication to the team and to the community.
Award winners are as follows:
• Top goal scorer: Kevin Burton
•Season MVP: Kyle Heck
•Playoff MVP: Ben McClellan
•Top local player: Brenden Church
•Defenceman of the year: Jon Mitchell
•Top defensive forward: Kyle Heck and Brenden Church
•Most sportsmanlike: Justin Lightfoot
•Most improved player: Andrew Hansen
•Rookie of the year: Ben McClellan
•The Murray Adis Memorial Award (formerly the Coaches Award): Spencer Gyori
•Community Service Award: Kyle Heck
Newcomer Kevin Raine was also acknowledged by his teammates for coming up during the semi-finals and being a huge asset on the defensive line.
The team also said goodbye to nine retiring Ice Dogs, some of whom have been with the club for three years.
l-r: Justin Lightfoot, Josh Baker, Mark McDonald, Mike Lennon, Kevin Burton, Spencer Gyori, Chad Liley, BJ McClellan and Kyle Heck all said goodbye to the Dryden Ice Dogs.

For photos, see this week’s print edition of the Dryden Observer

There was a quiet crowd at the Dryden Memorial Arena on Sunday, March 7 after the Eagles lost their second straight game to the Fort Frances Muskies for the NorWOSSA gold medal.
The Eagles gave the Muskies a run for their money at home in Fort Frances on Friday, March 5; a game that needed overtime for the Muskies to win the game 5-4.
The Eagles found themselves trailing the Muskies on three separate occassions and managed to come back to tie the game and send it to the extra period.
Ryan Lobreau added two goals while Jared Stratford and Blair Dingwall added a goal apiece for the Eagles.
Coach Jamie Oltsher says the boys kept their “never say die” attitude and an unlucky break in overtime cost them the game.
“We had several golden opportunities late in the third to break the tie but sometimes the puck just doesn’t bounce your way and putting the finish on the game is tough.”
The Muskies managed to score the overtime winner on a partial breakaway to take round one of the series.
“Our message to the boys before OT was to keep up the hard forecheck and to minimize their mistakes. It was unfortunate that Fort Frances captalized on such a small error…but hey, that’s hockey.”
Round two was a different story as the Eagles couldn’t solve the Muskies’ goaltending, failing to score in the 60 minutes.
The Muskies were up 1-0 after the first period and the Eagles just couldn’t capitilize on their chance and eventually lost round two with a 3-0 decision.
The Muskies scored twice on the powerplay and sealed the deal with an empty-netter in the last minute of the game to earn their trip to OFSAA.
Oltsher says the drive from Friday just wasn’t there on Sunday but they didn’t give up.
“Their goalie played well but we didn’t test him often enough. Our forecheck wasn’t as good as it was on Friday and Fort Frances seemed to play a better defensive game this afternoon.
Despite this, our guyes didn’t give up and they left it all on the ice. The coaching staff is very proud of our team and would like to congratulate them on a very successful season despite finishing in second place.

By Sarah Madussi
The Eagles girls’ hockey team has done it again. The team earned their fifth NorWOSSA gold medal in the last six years and is off to the OFSAA Championships in Wingham, ON March 22-25.
The girls needed a third game to beat out the Thomas Aquinas Saints in the semi-final after taking game one at home with a 5-1 decision and losing to th Saints 3-1 on their home ice.
The Eagles managed a 5-2 decision in game three at the Dryden Memorial Arena on March 2 to earn their spot in the NorWOSSA finals.
The girls beat out the Beaver Brae Broncos in two straight games in the best-of-three series, earning a 3-2 win at home on Thursday, March 4 and a 2-1 win in Keewatin on Sunday, March 7.
In round one of the two-game final, Dryden took the Broncos in a thrilling 3-2 victory, which saw all but one goal scored on the powerplay.
Lauren Shoguchi opened the scoring for the Eagles in the first five minutes of the game to take an early lead. The Broncos retaliated, however, with a goal of their own on a 5-on-3 powerplay.
Claire Paquette would regain the Eagles lead with a late powerplay goal, bring the Eagles up 2-1 before the end of the first period.
The Broncos would score once more on the powerplay to tie the game at two before Alex Wesley netted the winning goal for the Eagles, also on a powerplay.
Coach Brad Bartlett says 5-on-5 hockey between these two teams is pretty equal and that both games could have gone either way.
“One goal in the entire series was scored with 5-on-5 so I think that’s a testament to both teams’ ability to play defence for sure and both goaltenders in the series I thought played fantastic, both Bree Brown and Ferguson for Kenora.”
Game two between these two teams saw similar action with all three goals in the game being scored on the powerplay.
Kristen Bartlett tapped in the first powerplay goal eight minutes into the first period and the Eagles carried that lead through to almost the end of the second period when Morgan Church slammed in the one-timer off a pass from Lauren Shoguchi, also on the powerplay.
The Broncos would get on the board two minutes later with a hard one-timer past goaltender Breanna Brown during a Broncos powerplay. The Eagles fended off the Broncos for the rest of the second period.
The third period proved to be a nail-biter as the Eagles and Broncos played end-to-end ice for a solid 20 minutes. Brown made some crucial saves late in the third to keep the girls in the lead after a few scrambles in front of the net had the Dryden crowd holding their breath.
The Eagles managed to hang on to the one-goal lead for the win and the NorWOSSA gold medal. The team’s next step is the all-Ontario championships at the end of the month and they’re looking for more than just round robin action.
“To guarantee us a spot in the championship bracket, we’re probably going to have to come out of the round robin 3-0, which we did last year. The expectation this year is to make it out of the round robin play at least. It’s a long ways to go to play three games and then get shipped back home really quick.”
The team has a couple of weeks to get some practice in before heading down to Wingham, ON for the OFSAA tournament.

If Dryden was just a small community along the Trans Canada Highway before, that clearly isn’t the case anymore.
Dryden was very well represented at the Olympics in the form of Chris Pronger of the men’s Olympic gold medal hockey team, in the presence of the police force and local O.P.P. officers and even a mention at the opening ceremonies for having the whole community out to celebrate the Olympic Torch Relay.
Most Drydenites cheered, watching their big screen T.V.s at home, wishing they could be part of the melee that was downtown Vancouver.
Dryden fans were, however, also represented at the Olympics in the form of the Lang family.
Emma and Kaden along with their parents, Erik and Adi bought tickets last July and got into some of the top events at the Games, including the ladies halfpipe, ski-cross and of course hockey and curling.
And not just any hockey. They got to see up close and personal Team Canada beat out Sweden 13-1 in the round robin.
Adi says the atmosphere in the UBC Thunder Place was too contagious to ignore.
“The vibe in the whole arena was awesome. We did the wave and everyone was cheering. You couldn’t help but stand up and cheer.”
The team also enjoyed the bronze medal game in women’s hockey between Sweden and Findland and added that even though Canada wasn’t playing, the arena was a sea of red except for the occasional yellow or blue.
Emma and Kaden were also lucky enough to be spectators in the women’s curling gold medal game between Canada and Sweden.
The family also took part in the events downtown for spectators, including the sponsor’s pavilions that were set up and even toured exhibits set up by the Hockey Hall of Fame.
When asked what their favourite part about being at the Olympics was, little Kaden had an amusing story to tell.
“I liked the Canada versus Sweden hockey game. Number 23 shot the puck [during warmup] and hit the goalie in the face.”
Adi adds that the goalie was okay and they still won the game.
The family said it was a once in a lifetime experience to be able to go to the Winter Olympics in Canada.
Transportation was amazing to and from the events and volunteers were everywhere if anyone needed any help.
The weather was gorgeous and the only snow in sight was on the mountains for the skiing.
Adi says that there were people everywhere and every once in awhile, someone wouldn start singing O Canada.
“Even if you were there and didn’t go to any of the events, it was awesome. Everywhere was red. Everyone had their Canada stuff on all the time.”
Emma adds that it was great to be able to see Canada participate in the Winter Olympics at home because they’re not going to go all the way to Russia to see them in 2014.

For photos, see this week’s edition of the Dryden Observer

The DHS Eagles girls’ hockey team are going into game #3 of their three-game semifinal against the Thomas Aquinas Saints.

The Eagles put away the Saints in round one with a convincing 5-1 win. The Saints came back with a vengeance, earning a 3-1 win over the Eagles, giving them their third loss of the season.

Action starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Dryden Memorial Arena.

On the boys side, the Eagles ousted the Broncos in two straight games to earn their spot in the NorWOSSA final against the Fort Frances Muskies.

The boys down the Broncos 6-2 in Kenora on Friday, Feb. 26 in a come from behind win. The boys held off on Sunday, Feb. 28 to beat the Broncos 2-1.

The team is in Fort Frances on Friday, March 5 for round one against the Muskies. They’re back in Dryden Sunday, March 7 for game two.