The Battlefords North Stars hit the ice Sunday afternoon for the first time since March and lost a close game to the division rival Kindersley Klippers in SJHL action.
Each team had an all-rookie lineup for the game at the West Central Events Centre in Kindersley.
"What we thought we'd get and the challenges that we faced throughout that hockey game, we kind of knew that that was going to be the case, but the score was close and we put a lot of pucks on net and the goaltenders did well on both fronts," said North Stars head coach Kevin Hasselberg.
"It was definitely a good evaluation game and something we'll take moving forward. And obviously we wanted these kids to have a positive experience and we think that happened."
While the players from each team were new to the division rivalry, they didn't play like it. The game was physical from start to finish with the North Stars and Klippers players finishing their checks every chance they had.
The Klippers had an early edge physically and were faster to start the game. A little over three minutes in, Curtis Witney made the score 1-0 for Kindersley. He beat North Stars goalie Ryan Rewerts on the doorstep to finish off a strong Klippers shift in which they cycled the puck well through the Battlefords zone.
The goal energized the North Stars, but neither team got much in the way of scoring chances for most of the period. With three minutes and 43 seconds left in the first, Ryan Mauws scored on a backhander from beside the Klippers net. He snuck it short side under the arm of goaltender Brett Pongracz. Austin Burton and Logan Nachtengale registered assists.
While the North Stars gained momentum from tying the game up, the first period ended shortly after, killing any chance at another goal. The Klippers had a 16-11 lead in shots after one.
Kindersley didn't waste much time in the second period to regain their lead. Darnell St. Pierre took a shot from the left point which Tyler Adams tipped top corner, leaving no chance for Rewerts.
The North Stars went on to play half the second period on the power play as Kindersley took five penalties in the frame, but couldn't capitalize. Often the group had trouble breaking out, which is common for a team of players unfamiliar with one another.
"It was a roster that was thrown together last minute and I thought they tried hard and when we got shots through we were having success. And, credit the Kindersley goaltenders. They both played well and it wasn't out of a lack of effort, that's for sure," said Hasselberg.
Each team swapped goaltenders halfway through the period. Talon Walton played the second half of the game for Kindersley and Taryn Kotchorek went in for the Battlefords.
The shots were dead even at 22 a piece after two periods with the North Stars still trailing by one.
Tyler Pichett had a glorious opportunity just over two minutes into the final frame as he was all alone on the doorstep. However, Walton squared up well and left Pichett with nothing to shoot at, keeping the Klippers' lead intact.
Kindersley took three more penalties in the third period and, while the North Stars' power play was much improved, they couldn't solve Walton.
Kindersley took the win in the North Stars' first preseason game for each team despite being outshot 35-31, but Hasselberg wasn't as concerned with the outcome as he was with the necessary experience his rookies gained.
"You need to teach them what the environment's going to be when they move up in levels of play," he said. "As long as they understand and we can teach them what it's going to take and what's involved in that process then it's a positive experience, then we can move forward knowing that our future prospects are going to be happy coming back."
Now that the prospects got a taste of junior A action and know what to expect, the plan is to give the players most likely to fit into the regular season roster a chance to get familiar with each other.
"With the five remaining exhibition games it's really important for us that we start to work with our roster and start to work in some first year guys, that have a real strong opportunity to make our hockey team, in key situations. So, tonight was an experience game for young guys to prep for the future. From here on in we have some really difficult decisions to make, just like a lot of teams," said Hasselberg.
The North Stars hit the ice again Tuesday night in a controlled scrimmage at the Civic Centre at 7 p.m. Their next preseason game is in Camrose, Alta. Sept. 5 against the Augustana Vikings and the only home game is Sept. 11, also against the Vikings.
