# 2008–09 SIJHL season

The 2008–09 SIJHL season is the 8th season of the Superior International Junior Hockey League (SIJHL). The six teams of the SIJHL will play 50-game schedules.
Come February, the top teams of the league will play down for the Bill Salonen Cup, the SIJHL championship. The winner of the Bill Salonen Cup will compete in the Central Canadian Junior "A" championship, the Dudley Hewitt Cup. If successful against the winners of the Ontario Junior Hockey League and Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League, the champion would then move on to play in the Canadian Junior Hockey League championship, the 2009 Royal Bank Cup.

## Changes

* Sioux Lookout Flyers join league.
* Thunder Bay Bulldogs merge into Thunder Bay Bearcats.

## Final standings

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime losses; SL = Shootout losses; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; PTS = Points; x = clinched playoff berth; y = clinched division title; z = clinched conference title
| Team | Centre | W–L–T-OTL | GF | GA | Points |
| Fort William North Stars | Thunder Bay | 39-7-0-4 | 307 | 129 | 82 |
| Thunder Bay Bearcats | Thunder Bay | 33-11-0-6 | 221 | 142 | 72 |
| Fort Frances Jr. Sabres | Fort Frances | 30-17-0-3 | 199 | 139 | 63 |
| Schreiber Diesels | Schreiber | 26-21-0-3 | 213 | 220 | 55 |
| Dryden Ice Dogs | Dryden | 20-25-0-5 | 170 | 210 | 45 |
| Sioux Lookout Flyers | Sioux Lookout | 2-46-0-2 | 97 | 367 | 6 |
Teams listed on the official league website.
Standings listed on official league website.

## 2008-09 Bill Salonen Cup Playoffs

| Quarter-final | Quarter-final | Quarter-final | Semi-final | Semi-final | Semi-final | Salonen Cup | Salonen Cup | Salonen Cup |
| | | | 1 | Fort William | 4 | | | |
| | | | 4 | Schreiber | 3 | | | |
| 4 | Schreiber | 3 | 4 | Schreiber | 3 | | | |
| 5 | Dryden | 0 | | | | | | |
| 5 | Dryden | 0 | | | | 1 | Fort William | 4 |
| | | | | | | 2 | Thunder Bay | 1 |
| | | | 2 | Thunder Bay | 4 | | | |
| | | | 3 | Fort Frances | 1 | | | |
| 3 | Fort Frances | 3 | 3 | Fort Frances | 1 | | | |
| 6 | Sioux Lookout | 0 | | | | | | |
Playoff results are listed on the official league website.

## Dudley Hewitt Cup Championship

Hosted by the Schreiber Diesels in Schreiber, Ontario. Fort William finished in second place and Schreiber finished in third.
Round Robin
    Fort William North Stars 2 - Soo Thunderbirds (NOJHL) 0
    Kingston Voyageurs (OJHL) 9 - Schreiber Diesels 0
    Fort William North Stars 1 - Kingston Voyageurs (OJHL) 0
    Schreiber Diesels 2 - Soo Thunderbirds (NOJHL) 0
    Schreiber Diesels 5 - Fort William North Stars 2
Semi-final
    Fort William North Stars 4 - Schreiber Diesels 3
Final
    Kingston Voyageurs (OJHL) 4 - Fort William North Stars 1

## Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Trevor Gamache | Fort William North Stars | 49 | 41 | 62 | 103 | 155 |
| Joel Langevin | Fort William North Stars | 49 | 31 | 44 | 75 | 28 |
| Chris Sinclair | Fort Frances Jr. Sabres | 49 | 18 | 54 | 72 | 75 |
| Brendan Baumgartner | Fort Frances Jr. Sabres | 49 | 35 | 35 | 70 | 84 |
| Ryan Magill | Fort William North Stars | 46 | 26 | 41 | 67 | 51 |
| Cayle Brown | Fort William North Stars | 48 | 27 | 37 | 64 | 89 |
| Jared Saunders | Schreiber Diesels | 48 | 31 | 31 | 62 | 91 |
| Jeff Manryk | Thunder Bay Bearcats | 44 | 28 | 34 | 62 | 117 |
| Mitch Cain | Fort Frances Jr. Sabres | 48 | 26 | 36 | 62 | 62 |
| Tyler Miller | Thunder Bay Bearcats | 27 | 24 | 37 | 61 | 57 |

## Leading goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; Mins = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses: OTL = Overtime losses; SL = Shootout losses; GA = Goals Allowed; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average
| Player | Team | GP | Mins | W | L | OTL | SOL | GA | SO | Sv% | GAA |
| Ryan Faragher | Fort Frances Jr. Sabres | 40 | 2265:41 | 24 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 92 | 5 | 0.921 | 2.44 |
| Drew Strandberg | Thunder Bay Bearcats | 34 | 1912:48 | 20 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 83 | 2 | 0.918 | 2.60 |
| Jay Pelletier | Fort William North Stars | 25 | 1122:10 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 36 | 2 | 0.917 | 1.92 |
| Patrick Sullivan | Fort William North Stars | 32 | 1729:01 | 23 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 76 | 3 | 0.901 | 2.64 |
| Josh Baker | Schreiber Diesels | 41 | 2309:01 | 19 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 155 | 1 | 0.893 | 4.03 |

## Awards

* Most Valuable Player - Trevor Gamache (Fort William North Stars)
* Most Improved Player - Kevin Burton (Dryden Ice Dogs)
* Rookie of the Year - Jay Pelletier (Fort William North Stars)
* Top Defenceman - Brad Pawlowski (Thunder Bay Bearcats)
* Top Defensive Forward - Cayle Brown (Fort William North Stars)
       and Mitch Cain (Fort Frances Jr. Sabres)
* Most Gentlemanly Player - Joel Langevin (Fort William North Stars)
* Top Goaltender - Ryan Faragher (Fort Frances Jr. Sabres)
* Coach of the Year - Todd Howarth (Fort William North Stars)
* Top Scorer Award - Trevor Gamache (Fort William North Stars)
* Top Executive - Doug Lawrance (Sioux Lookout Flyers)