With two pre-season games in the books, Battlefords AAA Stars head coach Darren Martens is enthused by the progress his squad has made in a short amount of time.
“They are really playing more like a team,” Martens said. “At this level, that can be a hard thing to do, especially with just a couple of games under their belts.
“It’s slowly building from the first game and it was nice to see the guys pick it up in their second game. I think that bodes well for what we should see from this team during the season.”
After a 5-3 win on the road Saturday against the Beardy’s Blackhawks, the Stars earned their second exhibition win Tuesday at the Civic Centre with a narrow 2-1 triumph over the Saskatoon Blazers.
“It’s not to say that Beardy’s is weaker competition, but the Blazers are always known for having a strong team every year,” Martens said.
“So to see our guys really step up how they played a couple of days ago to beat the Blazers was something that I was very happy about.”
Both of the Stars goals came off of redirected point shots from Mackenzie Donovan and Matthew Flodell.
Flodell’s game-winner happened midway through the third period as he tipped a Luke Reid blast by Blazers netminder Jacob Wassermann.
Although they had a number of penalties, the North Stars killed off 10 Blazers power plays, including a five-minute major in the third period when Reid was called for head contact.
“It was one of those games where there was no real standout guys on both offence and defence,” Martens said.
“Everyone played well from start to finish and they all did certain things in certain situations that were good to see as a coach.”
Both Stars netminders came up huge for their team as they continue to battle it out for the backup role behind Lance Alm.
Joseph Young turned aside all 17 shots he faced while Steven Duschere made 16 saves during the second half of the game.
“They both played really well,” Martens said. “I think I know who I’m going to go with as the season begins but I’m very happy with how they performed, especially when the Blazers had their power plays.”
The Stars will conclude their pre-season schedule in Saskatoon Friday with a rematch against the Blazers.
Their 2016-17 Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League regular season opener will take place Sept. 29 at 7:30 p.m. when the Saskatoon Contacts will visit the Civic Centre.
