The Kam River Fighting Walleye is a junior ice hockey team in the SIJHL based in Oliver Paipoonge, Ontario. Apart from the team's inaugural 2020âÂÂ21 season, which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the team has finished each regular season in 1st place in the league. The team won the league championship Bill Salonen Cup in 2023 and advanced to the national championship tournament where they were eliminated in the preliminary round.
The team plays its home games at the NorWest Arena in Oliver Paipoonge, Ontario.
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.
The team's inaugural 2020âÂÂ21 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 2021âÂÂ22 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 2022âÂÂ23 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 11âÂÂ0. 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"|2020âÂÂ21 || 4 || 3 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 6 || colspan="2"; align="center"|<small>Season cancelled</small> |- align="right" | align="left"|2021âÂÂ22 || 37 || 28 || 6 || 2 || 1 || 59 || align="left"|<small>1st overall</small> || align="left"|<small>Won semifinal against Thunder Bay (4:0)<br>Lost final against Red Lake (2:4)</small> |- align="right" | align="left"|2022âÂÂ23 || 54 || 40 || 11 || 1 || 1 || 83 || align="left"|<small>1st overall</small> || align="left"|<small>Won semifinal against Wisconsin (4:1)<br>Won final against Thunder Bay (4:3)</small> |- align="right" | align="left"|2023âÂÂ24 || 49 || 39 || 9 || 1 || 0 || 79 || align="left"|<small>1st overall</small> || align="left"|<small>Won quarterfinal against Kenora (4:0)<br>Won semifinal against Red Lake (4:0)<br>Lost final against Sioux Lookout (0:4)</small> |- align="right" | align="left"|2024âÂÂ25 || 50 || 36 || 13 || 1 || 0 || 77 || align="left"|<small>2nd overall</small> || align="left"|<small>Won quarterfinal against Wisconsin (4:0)<br>Won semifinal against Thunder Bay (4:0)<br/>Won final against Dryden (4:2)</small>
Source:
Canadian Jr. A National Championships<br>Maritime Junior Hockey League, Quebec Junior Hockey League, Central Canada Hockey League, Ontario Junior Hockey League, Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League, Superior International Junior Hockey League, Manitoba Junior Hockey League, Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, Alberta Junior Hockey League, and Host. The BCHL declared itself an independent league and there is no BC representative.<br>Round-robin play in two 5-team pools with top three in pool advancing to determine a Champion.