The Kam River Fighting Walleye is a junior ice hockey franchise of the Superior International Junior Hockey League (SIJHL). The team plays its home games at the NorWest arena in Oliver Paipoonge, Ontario.
Team identity
The team gets its name from its junior B predecessor that played in the Lakehead Junior Hockey League from 2017 to 2020. Before joining the SIJHL in 2020, the team's logo was notably similar to that of the Toledo Walleye of the ECHL; so much so that the Toledo Walleye considered it to be a trademark infringement and the Kam River Fighting Walleye agreed to change it.
Franchise history The team's inaugural 2020–21 season was cancelled with only 4 regular season games played due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The following year, the team hosted a pre-season exhibition tournament called the Teleco Cup. The team went on to finish the 2021–22 regular season in first place before losing to the Red Lake Miners in the final round of the playoffs. The team won the league championship Bill Salonen Cup in the 2022–23 SIJHL season. The team then advanced to the 2023 Centennial Cup national junior A championship tournament and were eliminated in the preliminary round.
In 2024, it was reported that the team had set an all-time league record with 104 shots on goal during a single match against the Kenora Islanders in which the Fighting Walleye won by a score of 11–0. It was further reported that this may have also been a record for the Kenora Islanders goaltender, Kaden King, who made 93 saves. According to the official game report, the Walleye made 86 shots on goal, of which the Islanders' goaltender stopped 75.
|+ style="background:#000000; border-top:#D05126 5px solid; border-bottom:#D05126 5px solid"| ! style=width:4em | Season ! style=width:2.2em | <abbr title="Games Played">GP</abbr title> ! style=width:2.2em | <abbr title="Wins">W</abbr title> ! style=width:2.2em | <abbr title="Losses">L</abbr title> ! style=width:2.2em | <abbr title="Overtime Losses">OTL</abbr title> ! style=width:2.2em | <abbr title="Shootout Losses">SOL</abbr title> ! style=width:2.2em | <abbr title="Points">Pts</abbr title> ! style=width:5em | Finish ! style=width:18em | Playoffs |- align="right" | align="left"|2020–21 || 4 || 3 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 6 || colspan="2"; align="center"|Season cancelled |- align="right" | align="left"|2021–22 || 37 || 28 || 6 || 2 || 1 || 59 || align="left"|1st overall || align="left"|Won semifinal against Thunder Bay (4:0)Lost final against Red Lake (2:4) |- align="right" | align="left"|2022–23 || 54 || 40 || 11 || 1 || 1 || 83 || align="left"|1st overall || align="left"|Won semifinal against Wisconsin (4:1)Won final against Thunder Bay (4:3) |- align="right" | align="left"|2023–24 || 49 || 39 || 9 || 1 || 0 || 79 || align="left"|1st overall || align="left"|Won quarterfinal against Kenora (4:0)Won semifinal against Red Lake (4:0)Lost final against Sioux Lookout (0:4) |- align="right" | align="left"|2024–25 || 50 || 36 || 13 || 1 || 0 || 77 || align="left"|2nd overall || align="left"|Won quarterfinal against Wisconsin (4:0)Won semifinal against Thunder Bay (4:0)Won final against Dryden (4:2) |- align="right" | align="left"|2025–26 || 48 || 29 || 13 || 3 || 3 || 64 || align="left"|4th overall || align="left"|Won quarterfinal against Sioux Lookout (4:1)Lost semifinal against Fort Frances (4:2)
Source:
Centennial Cup Year Round-robin Record Standing Quarterfinal Semifinal Championship 2023 Lost, Battlefords North Stars (SJHL), 1–4Lost, Portage Terriers (Host), 2–12Lost, Steinbach Pistons (ManJHL), 2–5Lost, Collingwood Blues (OJHL), 1-4 0-0-4-0 5th of 5 Group B Did not qualify Did not qualify Did not qualify 2025 OTW, Trenton Golden Hawks (OJHL), 2–1L, Grande Prairie Storm (AJHL), 1–3L, Northern Manitoba Blizzard (ManJHL), 2–3L, Greater Sudbury Cubs (NOJHL), 1-2 0-1-3-0 5th of 5 Group A Did not qualify Did not qualify Did not qualify
References
Sources
External links Kam River Fighting Walleye official website Superior International Junior Hockey League official website