For the second year in a row, the Murillo Mudhens of Kakabeka Falls captured the Dryden ladies’ fastball tournament over the weekend.
They took on Dryden’s  Thompson’s Paintshop Angels in the A side final, earning a 7-0 shutout for the $1,000 first place prize.
In the B side final, Kakabeka Falls took the $700 prize with a 6-1 win over the Time-Out Sports Panthers.
In the C side final, the A&W Devils earned $200 and the 8-1 win over the DMTS Swingers.
Twelve teams took to the field  in the three day tournament, traveling from Thunder Bay, Kakabeka Falls and Winnipeg to take on the seven Dryden teams.
Runners-up in all three finals took home $800, $500 and $100 respectively.
Dryden also hosted a skills competition with Dryden’s Megan Pinette winning first place in both the furthest hit competition and was named the fastest base runner in the tournament.
Sam Sitar of the Murillo Mudhens took home the prize for the furthest throw competition.
The tournament boasted a great tournament with lots of local support from fans.

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 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 trailed behind the Fort Frances Lakers for most of the game but managed to net the winning goal in OT and take round #1 in the best-of-seven semifinal match-up in a 4-3 decision.

The Lakers opened the scoring seven minutes in but Chad Liley would tie the game in the last minute of the first period.

The Lakers would again take the lead halfway through the second but the Ice Dogs would respond less than a minute later with a goal from Justin Lightfoot.

The Lakers scored their third of the night three minutes into the third but the Ice Dogs would again tie the game less than a minute later with a beautiful goal from Ben McClellan.

The game headed to overtime and with just 1 min 25 seconds left on the clock, Ben McClellan netted his second of the night.

The Ice Dogs and the Lakers will face off again in round #2 on Friday, March 19.

In other SIJHL news, the Fort William North Stars beat out the Sioux Lookout Flyers 5-2 in their second game of the best-of-seven semifinal. The North Stars lead that series 2-0.

The Dryden Ice Dogs kick off the semifinals at home against the Fort Frances Lakers tonight at the Dryden Memorial Arena.

The Ice Dogs went undefeated in the playoff round robin, earning their choice of opponent in the semifinal. The Lakers beat the K&A Wolverines in OT in Thunder Bay on Sunday.

Puck drops at 7:30 p.m. Game #2 will also take place at the Dryden Memorial Arena on Friday, March 19 at 7:30 p.m.

Game #3 and #4 will take place in Fort Frances on Sunday, March 20 and Tuesday, March 22.

Game #5 will be back in Dryden if needed.

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.