With the season’s midpoint approaching and points at a premium, the Arborg Ice Dawgs face a pivotal back-to-back this weekend as they try to shake off a recent shutout loss and re-establish some traction in the Capital Region Junior Hockey League race.
Arborg enters the weekend sitting sixth in the standings at 2-11-0-2 for 10 points, tied with North Winnipeg and ahead of only Lundar. The Ice Dawgs are coming off a 3–0 defeat to the La Broquerie Habs on Dec. 5, a night where they generated 29 shots but couldn’t solve goaltender Jaxon Loewen, who stopped every attempt for a 29-save shutout. La Broquerie built its lead early with goals from Mason Hooper and Colton Pakoo before Pakoo added an empty-netter late in the third. Arborg netminder Paxton Moore kept things close with 27 saves on 29 shots.
The Ice Dawgs now turn their attention to two difficult matchups:
Friday, Dec. 12, they host the St. Malo Warriors at 8 p.m. at the Arborg & District Arena, welcoming a third-place Warriors squad carrying a .750 win percentage into town.
On Saturday, Dec. 13, Arborg travels south for a 7:30 p.m. meeting with the La Broquerie Habs at the HyLife Centre, a quick rematch with a club that has taken both head-to-head games this season.
With back-to-back contests against two of the league’s top four teams, the Ice Dawgs will look to tighten special teams, build on Moore’s consistent goaltending and finally generate the offensive spark that has eluded them in recent weeks. A strong showing could begin to chip away at the standings gap as Arborg searches for a momentum swing heading into the holiday stretch.
