The La Ronge Ice Wolves celebrated their fifth win in a row Thursday night. (Facebook/LaRonge Ice Wolves)

By Teena Monteleone

Ice Wolves Win Streak

Ice Wolves look to continue win streak

Nov 15, 2019 | 4:25 PM

The regular season got off to a slow start for the La Ronge Ice Wolves. The team lost the first five games of the season. They started to find their stride early in October and are currently on a five game win streak bringing them to a record of 12-11-2 heading into Friday night’s game against the Humboldt Broncos. Head Coach and General Manager Kevin Kaminski said adversity at the start of the season pushed the team to play better.

“We lost one goal games instead of winning one goal games and that’s been the difference now. I feel we’re playing together much better and sticking to the foundation that we’re building,” Kaminski said. “You know, we’re getting good goal tending and solid defence and our forwards have started scoring a little bit more.”

Leading the team in points is 20-year-old left-winger Daylon Mannon. The Fresno, Calif. product has 16 goals and 21 assists on the season. Kaminski used to coach Mannon in California a few years ago and said he’s a player who does whatever it takes for his team to get better while also making players around him better.

“He loves the game and loves to score and always has a smile on his face all the time,” said Kaminski. “We’ll see what happens when the -55 C windchill comes around.”

Centreman, Kyle Ford has also been playing well for the Ice Wolves. He has 12 goals and 14 assists in 25 games for the team. Kaminski said the whole team is moving in the right direction. His other three lines each chipped in a goal in a 4 -2 win over the Notre Dame Hounds Thursday night.

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“I like our defensive core. We are big and mobile and moving the puck. We made a trade for James Philpott from Melville and I think he has seven points in five games. The other guy we got traded is Booker Chacalias who had three goals in his first game against his old team, Melville, and then had a couple goals last night.”

Kaminski, who is originally from the Yorkton area, spent 27 years in the United States before coming back to coach in La Ronge. He said the community support has been awesome.

“They’ve struggled here the last few years and it’s the first time they’ve been over .500 in the last seven years…so everyone likes a winner and the fans have been coming out. On Thursday night, I think there was 700 plus and I think Friday and Saturday should be better. So, I was excited to come back and turn things around and its been going good.”

The Ice Wolves currently sit in sixth place overall in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. They host the Humboldt Broncos at the Mel Hegland Uniplex Friday night at 7:30 p.m. and again Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.

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teena.monteleone@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @TeenaMonteleone