The Battlefords Midget Stars ended the pre-season with a 2-3 record and with some excitement heading into the 2012-13 regular season in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League, which starts this weekend.
The Stars finished the exhibition season with a 6-3 loss in Saskatoon against the Contacts Tuesday.
"I didn't think we played very well. We came out slow. Credit to them they took it to us and outshot us pretty bad in the first period," said Stars head coach Martin Smith. "Later, we seemed to find our legs and clawed back into the game. It was our poorest performance of the pre-season and you have to learn from that."
Saskatoon grabbed a 3-0 lead just over 10 minutes into the first period and outshot the Stars 24-7 through the first 20 minutes.
The Stars battled to stay in the game and Jayden Focht scored on a power play from Brian Hillis and Regan Yew to pull the Stars to within two goals. Saskatoon reclaimed their three-goal lead before the first period ended.
In the second, both teams scored making it 5-2. The Stars' goal came from Ryan Frehlick shorthanded and unassisted.
The Stars pulled to within two goals once again in the third period when Robin Yew scored on a power play from Reed Delainey.
Saskatoon scored late in the third period to clinch their second win of the pre-season.
Ryan Rewerts was saddled with the loss in the Stars' net after making 22 saves on 26 shots. Thomas Spence stopped 20 of 22 shots.
The Stars were 2/10 on the power play while the Contacts were 1/8.
Roster cuts still need to be made before Saturday's game. The Stars have 23 players, three of which are goaltenders, and need to get down to 20. They also have veteran forward Ashton Clark suspended for the first two regular season games after acquiring an instigator penalty during the pre-season, meaning the forwards on the bubble have two extra games to earn a spot.
Smith also said they brought in a Maxim Towiada, a 17-year-old defenceman, that they will look at in practice and make a decision on before the season starts.
"I'm happy with the talent that we have," said Smith. "We still have some tough decision to cut down."
After the pre-season there is a definite sense of optimism around the team and Smith says they expect to have a good season and turn the fortunes of the Stars' program around.
"We know we have to make the playoffs, but we aren't just shooting to make the playoffs," said Smith. "We want to make a big splash here. The talk in the dressing room amongst the players and the coaching staff is this is the year that we are going to rewrite the history books. We have a good group of kids and they all seemed committed and ready to buy into what we are preaching."
The Stars start the SMAAAHL season at the Civic Centre Saturday against the Regina Pat Canadians at 2 p.m. The 50/50 for the season opener is a guaranteed $500. Those two teams will meet again Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Civic Centre.
