NORTH BATTLEFORD - It was recognition long in coming.
The 2019-20 Battlefords North Stars were honoured prior to the game between the current North Stars and the Kindersley Klippers, the final home game at Access Communications Centre in the calendar year 2021.
That North Stars team will forever be the uncrowned kings of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. The team was one of the most dominant ever seen in the Battlefords, finishing with the second-best record in team history. Their regular season record was 45-11-2-0 and their captain, Matthew Fletcher, was honoured as Defenceman of the Year in the league.
But the club’s hopes of a repeat of the previous season’s Canalta Cup title came to a sudden and unexpected end just four games into the post-season, as the SJHL playoffs were cancelled due to the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The team never did get to raise a championship banner, and they were delayed the opportunity to even receive a proper tribute the following season. Almost the entire 2020-21 SJHL season was cancelled due to the pandemic.
Friday night, members of the 2019-20 squad were finally back in the Battlefords as they gathered for a pre-game ceremony at Access Communications Centre.
Those returnees included Walter Somers, Adam Dmyterko, Kaden Boser, Logan Spence, Rylan Nivon, Seth Summers and Dylan McCabe. Joining them for the tribute were three current North Stars: Ryland McNinch, Dylan Esau and Steven Kesslering.
Each one was presented a team photo and posed for one last team picture. There were also recorded messages over the loudspeakers from former office/marketing manager Jennifer Whyte and head coach Brayden Klimosko, saluting the club’s efforts during that memorable season.
As a fitting exclamation point, public address announcer Jay Crockett referred to the team as “the 2019-2020 Canalta Cup champion Battlefords North Stars.”
In his recorded message to the players, Klimosko said the following about the 2019-20 team:
“I’m going to remember, or I’m going tell them it was the cockiest group of winners I’ve ever coached. You guys knew you were good. Sometimes you thought you were too good. But no one was going to beat us … when you got a lead going into the third, the game was over, boys. We knew it. We shut everyone down. No one came back on us. Thirty and one was our record when we had a lead going into the third period. It was like clockwork …
“You guys were all champions. You don’t need a trophy or banner to prove it. Second-best team in franchise history, men. That’s special. You allowed me to grow as a coach and made my job easy most of the nights. You guys were all successful on the ice and I’m sure you’re all successful wherever life takes you now. Once a Star, always a Star.”
For the alumni who attended Friday, the experience brought back fond memories of their time playing in the Battlefords on that particular team.
Kaden Boser, who played two seasons with the North Stars:
“Yeah, it’s good to see all the guys and all the fans and the excitement back here, especially after COVID-19 and all that’s been going on. You know it’s tough to get a good crowd out to a game, but it looks good tonight.
“The group of guys, it was something else. I’ve never been on a team like that. We were so close, you know, we could all hang out together. We weren’t split up into different pods, I guess you could say … it was just a very close team. And we were good, we could pull off wins and all that kind of stuff. It was nice being on a winning team.”
Adam Dmyterko, goaltender who played two seasons with the North Stars:
“It’s awesome. I haven’t seen these guys in a while, haven’t been in this rink since we got cut short notice so it’s nice coming back. Definitely miss it here. All the memories coming back driving here, seeing my old billets, my old friends, talking to Brayden again, it was super awesome to see these guys again.
“I had some of my best friends on this team. You just go out there, coming to the rink every day made it super easy being close with everyone. And then winning games always helps that stuff up, so it was a really positive vibe in the room.”
Seth Summers, defenceman for two seasons with the North Stars:
“Of course, it’s great to see the guys … We loved playing in front of everybody here and it was, honestly, great time all around.
“The whole season was a highlight reel, it just kind of felt like it was too quick to be true or too good to be true. But we were just kids having fun. We were all friends with each other, best friends. We were just having fun playing the game and just playing for our fans in the town of North Battleford.”
GAME SUMMARY: North Stars 3 Klippers 1
After the tribute was out of the way, the puck was dropped on the final home game for 2021 for the current version of the North Stars, versus the Kindersley Klippers.
It turned into another hard-fought contest between the two rivals, with the North Stars emerging with a 3-1 victory for their second win in a row.
In the first period, the North Stars’ Holden Doell opened the scoring with his sixth of the season at the 2:52 mark, with Jake Southgate notching the assist. They added to the lead at the 11:21 mark in period two, with a power play goal from Steven Kesslering for his 14th of the season assisted by Dylan Esau and Jordan Grill.
With 1:37 remaining in period two the Klippers responded with the sixth of the season from Aidan Bangs, with Andrew Blocker and Matthew Mazzocchi assisting. But that would be all the scoring the Klippers could muster the rest of the night. Ryland McNinch sealed the deal for the North Stars with an empty-net goal with 1:51 remaining.
Final shots saw the Klippers outshoot the North Stars 30-29, but the North Stars’ Michael Harroch stopped 29 shots for the win.
The Klippers now head to the Christmas break, while the North Stars return to action one more time in 2021 as they are on the road Saturday night versus the Humboldt Broncos.
