It's a new season and with it brings a new attitude and likely new approach from the Battlefords North Stars.
That's the indication from head coach Kevin Hasselberg, who expects there will be some kinks to work out for his team as they adjust to a new style of play this season.
But if there are any kinks to be worked out, they were not obvious on Friday at home as the North Stars pounded Kindersley 6-2 in a game they dominated from start to finish.
"We put a lot of work in the preseason and a lot of that work came out tonight," said Hasselberg about the opening game.
"We had some contributions from everybody in different ways and it's certainly a good building block going forward."
The opening game was highlighted by a hat trick by Reed Delainey.
"We haven't had a lot of those in the last four years," said Hasselberg, who expressed the hope there will be more of those types of explosive performances to come.
"We had a bit of a culture shift in the offseason and we're going to employ a different style of play," said Hasselberg.
The new approach would not come without some setbacks, he said. The indication is the players will be turned loose to make things happen on the ice.
"You've got to let them explore their capabilities and give them the freedom to do some things," Hasselberg said.
The coach added the players were "the ones on the ice surface that are looking for battles. We've got to trust their instincts and make them believe they are going to make those plays."
The other thing fans can expect this season is for the North Stars to focus more on disclipline and on controlling the puck.
"We want to be a puck-possession hockey team," said Hasselberg.
"We want to create that identity where we're a very difficult team to take the puck away from. We want to get away from the dump and chase if we can, and it's got to start with discipline, so it's going to take a lot of work and I think this group is excited about the work ahead and certainly as a staff we're excited about what we can do moving forward."
North Stars 6 Kindersley 2
Friday's opening night contest between the Battlefords North Stars and the Kindersley Klippers at the Civic Centre was the first meeting between the two teams since the playoffs, when the Klippers swept the North Stars in four games.
Friday's contest was the first regular season game for the Klippers' new head coach. Rockie Zinger was fired in the offseason and replaced by Geoff Grimwood.
The early part of the game proved to be the Reed Delainey Show.
The North Stars got their first goal from their very first shot on goal of the season at 3:41. The returning veteran Delainey scored from Igor Leonenko to make it 1-0.
A high-sticking penalty to the North Stars' Kendall Fransoo at 9:17 landed him in the penalty box for four minutes. The North Stars were able to kill the penalty, only for Levi Kleiboer to land in the box for tripping at 13:36. It looked like the North Stars would survive that power play as well, but with 4:50 remaining, a scramble in front of netminder Ryan Rewerts resulted in Derrick Morrell scoring, and that made it 1-1.
With 2:12 left in the period and with Kindersley in the box for a slashing penalty, Delainey scored again unassisted to make it 2-1, North Stars back in front. Shots on goal were 14-11 North Stars through one.
Early in the second period, Delainey completed the hat trick to give the North Stars a 3-1 lead — prompting hats to rain down onto the ice. Layne Young and Kleiboer assisted on the goal at 2:23.
At the 5:08 mark the North Stars got their first goal from a player other than Reed Delainey. Coby Downs scored from Dustin Gorgi and Matthew Havens.
That fourth goal drove Matt Zentner out of the Klippers net with Nathan Hargrave replacing him for the rest of the way. Shots on goal were 26-18 North Stars after two periods.
In the third, Kindersley cut the margin to 4-2 at the 2:45 mark as Daniell Lange's shot beat Rewerts.
But the North Stars restored the three goal cushion midway through the third as Layne Young scored with Delainey and Kleiboer assisting.
An empty net goal by Levi Kleiboer sealed things up and the North Stars won 6-2 -- but not before tempers boiled over and fights erupted on the ice. Both Gorgi and Connor Sych got into scraps with the Klippers with 21 seconds on the clock.
Attendance on opening night was 1031, a sure indication of the fans' hunger for hockey's return. Shots were 37-26 North Stars on the night.
North Stars 4 Kindersley 2
The return match was in Kindersley the following night and early on it seemed like nothing could go right for the North Stars.
They had a few good opportunities, including one where Delainey was robbed by Nathan Hargrave. But goals eluded them.
Instead, Daniell Lange scored from Landon Gross and former Battlefords AAA Star Josh Bly on the power play at 4:38 to give the Klippers a 1-0 lead. Then a shorthanded marker credited to Nigel Swab -- though North Stars play by play man Craig Beauchemin was convinced it was actually Dexter Bricker's goal -- late in the period put the North Stars in a 2-0 road hole. Shots favoured the North Stars 12-11.
The second period got off to a much better footing for the North Stars as far as shots were concerned, but the offence remained stymied. Finally, Connor Sych scored a one-timer with 25 seconds left in the period to give the North Stars life moving to the third period.
In the third it was Layne Young who scored unassisted at 13:36, and the game was tied up at 2-2. Then, with 1:50 left, Jake McMillen put it home and gave the North Stars the lead, with Leonenko and McMillan assisting.
Tanner Nagel's empty-netter with 16 seconds left sealed up a 4-2 North Stars comeback win.
The North Stars sweep the Klippers to start the season with two wins. Next action for the team was slated for Tuesday in Humboldt against the Broncos.
