The month of January has been a challenging one for the Battlefords Stars.
Since returning to action from the Christmas break, the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League team have compiled a 1-5-1 record with their lone win coming in a 5-1 affair Saturday in Wilcox against the Notre Dame Argos.
Despite their recent struggles, the 13-20-0-1 Stars are still in the mix for a playoff spot as they sit just three points back of the 13-18-3-1 Saskatoon Blazers for the eighth and final post-season berth.
“If you look at how we’ve played lately, we’ve had some good performances despite our record,” Stars head coach Norm Johnston said. “We played really well against the Argos, we matched up well on the road with the Regina Pat Canadians and we did the best we could against [the league leading] Notre Dame Hounds. We held our own for 30 minutes until they walked away from us.
“However, it’s the same mistakes that are costing us right now.”
The Stars turned another solid performance Tuesday at the Civic Centre against the Saskatoon Contacts, but two late goals in the final minutes of the third period gave the visitors a 3-1 lead.
“It was tied up at one for most of the night and we had a couple of chances that we didn’t capitalize on,” Johnston said. “We had a couple of battles that didn’t go our way, and they were able to score when they had their opportunities.
“In certain areas and times of the game, we get away from getting pucks deep and using the body. I understand the young guys can see a guy wide open and try to make the pass over to a teammate, but when it doesn’t work the puck’s coming across the ice and the other team steals it. Sometimes you better off being safe than sorry, and our guys aren’t doing that right now.”
Ty Mosimann, who now sits second in league scoring with 53 points in 34 games, had the lone goal of the night for the Stars in the first period as he beat Contacts goaltender Rayce Ramsay on a nice backhanded shot.
Joseph Young had a strong performance in goal for the hosts, as he made 33 saves in the loss.
Davin Griffin led the way on offence for the Contacts with a goal and an assist each, while Boston Maxwell and Eli Lieffers also found the back of the net and Ramsay turned aside 35 shots.
“It’s a really tight battle in the standings from sixth to tenth right now,” Contacts head coach Marc Chartier said. “The win here helps us out a lot as we’re still in sixth place and we’re hoping to gain some ground here in the next couple of weeks on the teams in fourth and fifth.
“We played a solid team game tonight in a tough rink. Battlefords has one of the top lines in the league and we did a good job of limiting their chances.”
As of press time, the Contacts were in sixth in the 12-team loop on 36 points, which has them four markers ahead of the Yorkton Maulers.
The Blazers are on 30 points, with the Stars and Beardy’s Blackhawks sitting on the outside looking in for the playoffs.
Although the Stars are on 27 points and have a game in hand on the Blazers, the Blackhawks have 26 points and three games in hand on the eighth place team.
The Stars will look to get back on track with a trifecta of home games over the next week, starting Saturday with a 7:30 p.m. clash with the Argos.
They will then face the Swift Current Legionnaires Sunday at 2 p.m. prior to entertaining the Prince Albert Mintos Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
