The Thief River Falls Norskies were the story early in northwestern Ontario, winning their first 18 games and spending time atop the CJHL national top 20 rankings, but in the end the Dryden Ice Dogs repeated as SIJHL regular-season champions, reeling in the Norskies with wins in 11 of their last 13 games. Dryden – which will host the Dudley Hewitt Cup in late April – also owned the head-to-head with Thief River Falls, claiming the last six meetings to help finish with a narrow two-point edge. The Ice Dogs were paced by a league-leading offence – they scored 272 times, with Jacen Bracko winning the scoring title of the strength of an SIJHL-best 48 goals. Between the pipes, Jacob Gnidziejko led the league with a 2.38 goals-against average, just ahead of Landon Pavlisin, who was third at 2.47; the two netminders also tied for third with three shutouts apiece.

PLAYOFF MATCH-UPS
3) Thunder Bay North Stars vs. 6) Minnesota Iron Rangers
4) English River Miners vs. 5) Fort Frances Lakers

BYES:
1) Dryden Ice Dogs
2) Thief River Falls Norskies

FINAL STANDINGS (W-L-OTL)
Dryden – 88 points (40-8-8)
Thief River Falls – 86 points (41-11-4)
Thunder Bay – 81 points (38-13-5)
English River – 61 points (28-23-5)
Fort Frances – 39 points (15-32-9)
Minnesota – 6 points (6-47-3)

LEADING SCORERS
Jacen Bracko (Dryden) – 48G 33A 81P
Parker Simonson (Thief River Falls) – 37G 31A 68P
Eric Stout (Dryden) – 30G 37A 67P
Alex Maticic (Thunder Bay) – 22G 43A 65P
Michael Johnson (Thief River Falls) – 12G 52A 64P

LEADING GOALTENDERS
Jacob Gnidziejko (Dryden) – 15-5-3, 2.38 GAA, .918 SV%, 3 SO
Bailey Schmitz (Thief River Falls) – 20-8-3, 2.44 GAA, .927 SV%, 6 SO
Landon Pavlisin (Dryden) – 14-2-2, 2.47 GAA, 2.47 GAA, .916 SV%, 3 SO
Brandon Bodnar (Thunder Bay) – 23-7-3, 2.64 GAA, .918 SV%, 8 SO
Dougie Newhouse (Thunder Bay) – 15-6-2, 3.01 GAA, .892 SV%, 1 SO

LAST NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP APPEARANCE
2013 (Minnesota Wilderness – fourth place)

TOTAL NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP APPEARANCES
2 (2013, 2006)

LAST NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
none (best finish: fourth place – Minnesota Wilderness, 2013; Fort William North Stars, 2006)

TOTAL NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
none