North Stars goalie credited with goal in victory

Marc Nother is not only good at stopping pucks. Apparently he knows how to put them in the opposition net.

At least indirectly, that is.

The Thunder Bay North Stars netminder on Friday was credited with the opening goal of the game between the Stars and host Dryden Ice Dogs, the goal coming on a delayed penalty called against teammate Marshall Fox and one man already in the box.
The Ice Dogs pulled their goalie for an extra attacker, and Nother was the last Thunder Bay player to touch the puck before it was sent flying into the open net by a Dryden player.

Travis Tilley scored a pair for the Stars, who took a 2-1 lead after one, then scored three times in the middle stanza to go up 5-1, but were forced to hang on in the third when Dryden scored three straight to close the gap to one.

Sam Dubinsky, Isaac Howarth and Devin Fullum were the other Thunder Bay goal scorers.

Bryce Maggrah, Tyler Newsome, Tyson Holder and Tom Kuhn, one of three blue-liners up for the Superior International Junior Hockey League's defenceman of the year award, scored for Dryden.

The two teams, fighting for third place in the standings, will battle again on Saturday. The North Stars (24-18-5) currently lead the Ice Dogs (23-21-5) by two points with a pair of games in hand.

Elsewhere in the SIJHL, Andrew Anderson had a goal and an assist to lead Wisconsin to a 6-2 win over Duluth.

At Fort Frances, Colton Spicer had a first-period hat trick and Fort Frances routed the Iron Range Ironheads 13-4 on Friday. Christoper Andrew had three goals for the Ironheads.

Also on Friday the league announced the three finalists for its end-of-season awards. Up for player of the year are Byron Katapaytuk (Fort Frances), Chris Hoffman (Sioux Lookout) and Wisconsin goalie Tanner Milliron.

Competing for coach of the year are Duluth's Chris Locker, Fort Frances's Wayne Strachan and Wisconsin's Rod Aldoff.
In addition to Kuhn, Tory Olson (Duluth) and Anthony Calabrese (Wisconsin) are up for defenceman of the year.

Rookie-of-the-year candidates include Hunter Scott (Duluth), Jordan Larson (Fort Frances) and Jeremy Johnson (Wisconsin).
Nother is nominated in the top goaltender category, alongside Milliron and Tyler Ampe of Fort Frances.

Matt Morsette (Duluth), Ryan Wildman (Fort Frances) and Jayme Brattengeier (Sioux Lookout) are competing for the most improved player award, while a quintet of players have been nominated as the league's most sportsmanlike.

On the list are Miles Beason (Duluth), Blake Boaz (Fort Frances), Dane Morin (Sioux Lookout), Quinn Rempel (Thunder Bay) and Johnson.