Rarely does a shutdown defenceman get the praise and recognition for the SJHL player of the week awards, but the Battlefords North Stars defenceman Travis Sparrow played well at the Showcase and earned the honour for the week of Oct. 10 to 16.
Sparrow has just one point in 13 games, but has helped the North Stars to a 2-1-0-0 record during the week and an 8-4-0-1 mark this season. When the North Stars' defence was a bit of a question mark during training camp, there was no question what Sparrow's role on the team would be. He has emerged as a leader and tough player to get off the puck, for that he is was recognized by the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.
Earning honourable defenceman of the week notification were Weyburn's Ryan Whitell, Flin Flon's David Roper and Melville's Tyson Newell.
Another Battlefords North Star, Connor Creech, also earned an honourable mention this week for goaltender of the week, Creech allowed four goals in two games, one a win against Melfort the other a loss to Nipawin, while stopping 48 shots to improve his record to 3-1-0-1 on the season.
La Ronge's Myles Hovdebo won both his start this week and held a 1.40 goals against average to earn the goaltender of the week praise. Kale Thomson of Yorkton and Ty Reichenbach of Notre Dame were also runners-up.
The SJHL player of the week was Mark Owen of the Melville Millionaires. Owen had six goals and two assists in four games.
Yorkton's Jeremy Johnson and Zak Majkowski and Ian McNulty of Melville were the honourable mentions for forwards.
Along with the praise for the players, the North Stars as a team earned an honourable mention on the Canadian Junior Hockey League's weekly top 20 rankings. The list includes the best teams from nine junior A hockey leagues. Nipawin sits on the list in 13th after dropping from the ninth spot last week and Flin Flon moved from 19th to 18th this week.
Also on the list is former Battlefords North Stars' coach Ken Pearson and his Winkler Flyers who sit in first place and moved up from third in the rankings. Winkler leads the Manitoba Junior Hockey League with an 11-0-0 record.
