THJNDER BAY – Joel Willan is somewhat of an unsung hero of the Thunder Bay North Stars top line.
Overshadowed by teammates like Keighan Gerrie, Ryan Mignault and defenceman Kyle Auger, the Nipigon-born forward, in his first full season in the Superior International Junior Hockey League, has stood his own as a 19-year-old rookie.
Willan, who scored twice on Saturday night to lead the Stars to a 4-1 win over the visiting Thief River Falls Norskies to complete the weekend sweep, is sixth in the league in scoring, putting up 16 goals and 47 points in just 29 appearances.
He’s tied for third in goals on the North Stars (25-2-2) and second in assists with 31, seven behind Auger for the team lead.
But of late it’s been slow going for Willan on the goal front.
Prior to Saturday night’s game he’d gone seven straight without lighting the lamp, prompting coach Rob DeGagne to have a chat with him before the game, an attempt to right his goal-scoring ship.
“He’s been my coach for the last four years and he told me to get back to the old Willy, the workhorse, and win battles and play the body. So I went into the game with that attitude and it worked out well,” Willan said.
DeGagne said Willan, who played for him with the Thunder Bay Kings, said he told him he’d have more success if he got the lunch bucket out, put on the hard hat and put the work boots on.
“I said he’ll have more success. He did that tonight. He goes to the net, he goes hard,” said DeGagne, adding that Willan plays a lot bigger than his 160-pound size might suggest.
“He plays like he’s 200 pounds. He still not a very big guy, but he plays hard and he’s a big asset for us.’
It was his willingness to go to the net that led to the North Stars third goal.
Gerrie, as good a playmaker as there is in the league, raced toward Norskies goaltender Fletcher Bolda, was stymied, yet managed to hold onto the puck, circle the net and fire a pin-point pass to a hard-charging Willan, who slammed it home at 8:52 of the third, the North Stars taking a 3-1 lead.
“I’ve been playing with (Keighan) all year and he never surprises me,” Willan said. “He gets me the puck whenever I want and it’s just great playing with him.”
Gerrie was equally praiseful of his line-mate.
“Joel is really fast, he’s shifty with the puck. He’s good hockey sense and he makes nice plays,” Gerrie said. “We’ve been working well together. We both have that speed and when that happens we just wheel around their guys and put the puck in the net.”
The two teams played a scoreless first, Gerrie opening the scoring 1:17 into the first, making a great move as he moved in alone on Bolda, Thunder Bay taking the 1-0 lead. Willan added his first of the night two minutes later on the power play, but the third-place Norskies (18-11-4) cut their deficit in half at the 8:25 mark of the middle frame, Blake Nelson burying the puck behind Stars goaltender Brock Aiken for his 18th goal of 2018-19.
Willan restored the two-goal lead before the midway point of the third, then had a pair of chances to complete the hat trick, stuffed on Bolda’s doorstep on the first opportunity, hitting the post on the second.
Michael Stubbs added an empty netter in the final minute of the third, his second goal in as many nights. The North Stars out-shot their opponent 50-35.
Next up for Thunder Bay is a one-game stop next Friday in Dryden. Thief River Falls hosts Red Lake on Thursday.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: None. Penalties: Brassard TB (slashing) 2:35, Harder TRF (interference) 15:44.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Thunder Bay, Gerrie 26 (Brown, Auger) 1:17. 2. Thunder Bay, Willan 15 (unassisted) 3:25 pp. 3. Thief River Falls, Nelson 18 (Eischen, Severso) 8:25. Penalties: Daman TRF (boarding) 2:27, Bryant TB (cross checking) 4:45, Daman TRF, Brown TB (unsportsmanlike conduct) 7:45, Brown TRF (interference) 11:53, Nicholas TB (interference) 15:15.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 4. Thunder Bay, Willan 16 (Gerrie, Halushak) 8:52. 5. Thunder Bay, Stubbs 5 (unassisted) 19:26 en. Penalties: Siau TB (slashing, misconduct) 9:30, Gillis TB (cross checking), Bjorge TRF (cross checking) 12:05, Bowey TRF (holding, game misconduct) 12:22, Bryant TB (holding) 17:01, Mignault TB (slashing) 18:38, Stubbs TB (unsportsmanlike conduct) 19:26.
GAME DATA – SOG – Thief River Falls: 11-13-11-35, Thunder Bay: 16-14-20-50; Power plays (goals-chances) – Thief River Falls (0-6), Thunder Bay (1-4); Goaltenders – Thief River Falls: Fletcher Bolda, Thunder Bay: Brock Aiken; A: 312.
