Tahoe Success In January

January is finished and the battle for the top spots in the Northwest Division continues to tighten. The fight for second place is the one to watch in the Northwest, and the Lake Tahoe Icemen made a strong case for why they should earn that spot. With just six games to work with in January, Tahoe made the most of them with a 5-1-0 record to end the month tied with the West Sound Warriors for second place with two games in hand.

Tahoe’s success in January came mostly thanks in part to their offense. The Icemen erupted for 37 goals over six games, scoring at least five goals in each of their five victories. Paul Frys, the leading scorer for Tahoe as well as the entire Northwest Division, led the way with six goals and 11 assists in January. The Portland native provided some clutch moments for the Icemen, scoring the overtime winner to beat Seattle on Jan. 21 and following that up with a hat trick in a 7-1 win over Long Beach on Jan. 25.

The Icemen struck often in January and they also had a tendency to strike early as well. In their five wins, they outscored opponents 10-3 in the first period. In most cases, Tahoe was either jumping out to multi-goal leads after 20 minutes or scoring last in the opening frame to tie the game heading into intermission. Tahoe’s ability to take control of the game early or steal momentum to end the period proved to be a vital part of their strong performance in January.