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

It wasn’t exactly the playoff ending the Dryden Ice Dogs were hoping for as they dropped game five to the Fort William North Stars in the best-of-seven Bill Salonen Cup final.
Clint Mylymok, head coach of the Ice Dogs, says after a very successful first round in the playoffs, a second place finish in five games was not at all what the team expected but some key factors were missing in those final games.
“Usually you look at three things. You look at goaltending, special teams and your top scorers. You usually need two out of three of those to have success, especially in a championship-type setting and we didn’t have all three.”
The team came into the final playoff round after going undefeated in the first round robin playoff round against the Sioux Lookout Flyers and the North Stars and beating out the Fort Frances Lakers in the semi-finals in six tough games.
Looking to repeat round one, the Ice Dogs missed the mark, falling 5-1 in Thunder Bay before tying the series in game two with a 2-1 decision.
The series came to the Dryden Memorial Arena April 3 and 4, where the Ice Dogs couldn’t hold on, losing 5-1 and 4-1 respectively.
The series returned to Thunder Bay where the North Stars finished the series and took home the Bill Salonen Cup with an 8-1 win over the Ice Dogs.
Mylymok says a big part of their loss was taking not taking shooting opportunities when they came up and always looking for that extra pass.
“You got to put pucks on net in the playoffs, get sticks on it on rebounds, deflections. You take a beating to score a goal and you got to make those types of sacrifices.
In our last two games against Fort Frances, all we did was put pucks to the net. We flooded players to the net, won faceoffs, got pucks to the net, battled for pucks. I didn’t see that same type of game from our forwards.”
On the positive side, talk in the stands kept coming back to local player Kevin Raine, who stepped in during the semi-finals to help out the defensive line.
At 16 years old, Raine delivered some huge hits for the team, making the trip towards the Ice Dogs net a huge challenge.
“He was a huge presence, especially in the series against Fort Frances. Players like Katapaytuk and Jourdain who are 6’ 2”, 220-230 lbs and they were getting through our guys to easy. The more [Raine] played, the more he got his timing down. He was a huge presence and I thought, to be honest, he was the turning point in that series.”
Mylymok says that Raine will have options in the hockey world in the next few years and he’ll have some big decisions to make in the future.
The playoffs may not have been as successful as the team expected but the season was far from a disappointment.
With only nine losses in the regular season, the team enjoyed a comfortable lead over most teams straight through to playoffs, something the boys should be proud of.

The Ice Dogs couldn’t pull a comeback in Thunder Bay last night in game 5, falling 8-1 to the North Stars.

The North Stars took the Ice Dogs four games to one in the best-of-seven series for the Bill Salonen Cup.

More info to follow in next week’s edition of the Dryden Observer

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 Ice Dogs are looking to re-gain their playoff lead tonight at home against the Fort William North Stars.

The team is 2-0 in the round robin playoff round and is looking to capitalize in their next two games.

Puck drops at the Dryden Memorial Arena tonight at 7:30 p.m.

The Ice Dogs split their final two home games in the season against the Fort William North Stars over the weekend.

The Ice Dogs took a beating on Friday night, taking a huge 8-0 loss. They rebounded quickly in the second game on Saturday to beat out the first place team 3-2 in overtime.

The boys are back on the ice for the first game of the post season with a home game against the Sioux Lookout Flyers.

Puck drops at 7:30 p.m. at the Dryden Memorial Arena