The Fort Frances Lakers will compete for the Bill Salonen Cup in the 2026 SIJHL final!
The Lakers, who finished first in the regualr season, and had a first round bye, dispatched the defending champions Kam River Fighting Walleye in six games. Fort Frances closed out the series with their first road win of the playoffs on Sunday in a 5-2 victory
Nikolas Fagnilli, who helped the Fighting Walleye win a championship a year ago, scored twice for the Lakers. He opened the scoring just over 5 minutes into the first period. He found the back of the net about 15 minutes into the game, to put the Lakers up by a pair. Judd Pesch then added an insurance marker with under 2 to go in the first.
Kam River’s Kaden Goodwin scored in the final minute of the second period,
Fort Frances’ Ronny Bender scored jut over 4 minutes into the third period to make the score 4-1
Sam Sargent scored for the Fighting Walleye with four minutes remaining in regulation to cut the Lakers lead to 4-2, but Tie Schumacher put the game out of reach with another Fort Frances Goal with under a minute to play in the third.
The Fighting Walleye were seeking a fifth straight spot in the SIJHL championship round.
The Lakers will now take on the Thunder Bay North Stars in the final.
