The colour pink rocked the Civic Centre Friday night as the North Stars took to the ice for national anti-bullying week.
The Battlefords were looking for their first win in five tries against the Flin Flon Bombers, who have had their number all season long, all while holding on to their slim lead for first place in the SJHL.
Well, they sure earned their two points, to say the least, with a 9-1 victory. They also earned their seventh straight win, which ties a season high.
The North Stars exploded for five goals in the opening frame, four before the game was ten minutes old, including an Igor Leonenko hat trick.
Reed Delainey started the goal train after chipping a shot past Zac Robidoux for his 14th of the season. The forward busted down the left wing before snapping a shot on net. Robidoux was able to save the initial wrister, but Delainey jumped on his own rebound to make it 1-0. Dustin Gorgi drew the assist.
Leonenko made it 2-0 four minutes later after a crisp breakout between his linemates. Layne Young hit Coby Downs in stride as they sliced into the neutral zone. Downs then found Leonenko on the right wing who transitioned the puck onto his backhand, willing himself to the front of the net. Number 25 stopped up and wristed a forehand shot, short side and under the glove of Robidoux for a two-goal advantage.
Leonenko already extended his point streak to eight games, but he wasn’t close to done scoring in the opening 20 minutes. Downs snapped a shot through traffic, Robidoux made the initial save but kicked out the rebound onto the stick of Leonenko. The big forward made no mistake, scoring his second of the game on the man advantage. Young had the second helper.
The forward from Belarus later got his hat trick after Connor Sych rifled a shot from the point. Leonenko was there to tip it home through the legs of the Flin Flon netminder for his 41st of the campaign. Again, Young registered the second assist on the 4-0 goal as hats rained down onto the ice.
“He’s been a blessing. Everybody in North Battleford has watched this player grow over the three years that he has been here,” Head Coach Kevin Hasselberg said of Leonenko. “Everybody has always known that there is something special, it was just a matter of him finding his timing, his consistency, and obviously staying healthy, and he’s done that this season. We are very proud of Igor.”
Jake McMillen got in on the fun as well. McMillen has had a career year against the Bombers, tallying two goals and four assists against them. He added his third after the forward picked up a juicy rebound off Robidoux on the power play, depositing it into the back of the net. Downs wristed the initial shot, picking up his second point of the contest.
After 20 minutes of play, it was 5-0 North Stars.
“I don’t think anyone expected five goals in one period, not with where we are in the year. But, we had that feeling with our guys, they were looking forward to this game,” Hasselberg said after the tilt, “There has been a lot of dirt talk about our team and our guys have a lot of pride. I think that pride was shown tonight, their preparation was meticulous. They were very business-like before the hockey game started.”
Young opened the scoring in the middle stanza, making it 6-0. The goal was his third point of the tilt, on the man advantage. The power play was able to set up and move the puck in the offensive zone with efficiency before Kendall Fransoo took a pass from Jordan Wiest and teed up a slapshot. Young was parked in the slot, tipping his 23rd into the back of the net.
A wraparound goal by McMillen later made it 7-0. Busting down the left wing, McMillen used his speed to beat Robidoux post-to-post, tucking in his 30th of the year, adding to the impending blowout.
Sych added insult to injury after gloving a dump attempt from Flin Flon, finding Troy Gerein with tons of space. Gerein stepped into a big slap shot, beating Robidoux under the blocker for his fourth of the season.
Then, the game started to get ugly. Leading scorer Alex Smith just about jumped Young in the corner, landing two shots to the head before the rookie even knew he was in a fight. Tensions boiled over as five players from each team were tossed out of the game. Taking on two guys and standing up for his teammate was Downs, while Levi Kleiboer, Fransoo, Gerein and Leonenko also got in on the action.
McMillen responded by scoring his third of the tilt on the power play late in the final frame. After corralling a pass from Reed Delainey, the forward was able to tickle twine for his 31st of the year. For the second time, the ice at the Civic Centre was littered with hats.
Part two tomorrow night should be interesting as both teams totalled 194 minutes of penalties in the 9-1 game. Expect a big bounce back from Flin Flon, but if the North Stars were looking for respect in this league, looking to show the rest of the SJHL that they can beat up on great teams as well, they sure found it Friday night in front of a packed crowd.
Flin Flon and the Battlefords clash again Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The North Stars will be going for their eighth straight win.
News-Optimist THREE STARS
1) Igor Leonenko (3 G)
2) Layne Young (1 G, 2 A)
3) Coby Downs (2 A)
