They did it. A new banner will rise up to the rafters next season. For the second time in three years the Battlefords North Stars are crowned Finning Division champions after a 10-3 route of the Notre Dame Hounds.
“Extremely proud of our guys. Still with nine games remaining in the season, to be able to do that at this stage is just a testament to our guys, their leadership,” Head Coach Kevin Hasselberg said after the game, “The passion is just getting stronger in that dressing room, these players are believing in themselves. It was fun to watch.”
Right out of the gate, it looked like the black and white wanted to put this game away early.
Jake McMillen got the monkey off his back after not finding the twine in eight games, scoring his 27th all by himself. After corralling the puck in the left corner of the Notre Dame zone, he transitioned it to his backhand, breaking towards the front of the net. He was able to beat Alexi Thibaudeau on the far side, waiting out the netminder to give the North Stars a 1-0 lead.
Layne Young, who extended his point streak to five games, chipped a pass to himself off the boards before finding Coby Downs for his 23rd of the season. Downs registered his third goal in the last three games before the first period buzzer, snapping a shot through the five hole of the Hounds netminder.
The offence wasn’t done in the first 20 minutes after Igor Leonenko released a shot from the left hashmark that trickled through the body armour of Thibaudeau. Young was in the right place at the right time, depositing the puck into the open cage for his 17th of the year to make it a 3-0 game.
In the middle stanza the black and white continued to pour on the offence. Leonenko turned the Hounds defence inside and out for a two-on-none breakaway. After a quick fake shot, Leonenko teed up a one-timer to Young, who sniped the puck short side for his second of the game.
The Hounds didn’t throw in the towel and answered with two quick goals for themselves. First it was Riley Bechard taking a pass from James Piller before firing a shot through traffic for his second of the season. Ryan Rewerts could not locate the puck through the numerous bodies, which led to the goal. Then it was Gavin Apperson scoring his fourth on a scramble play and a delayed penalty to cut the deficit to two.
Leonenko later restored the three-goal advantage with his 35th of the campaign. After missing an opportunity on a quality deke, using his long reach, number 25 was able to one-time a cross ice pass from Downs to make it 5-2, scoring under the blocker of Thibaudeau. With the assist, Downs registered his eighth point in three games, en route to a four-point night for the Calif. native.
The North Stars kept their foot on the gas pedal after Rory Davidson found McMillen in the slot for his second of the game. A backhand shot that narrowly beat Thibaudeau under the blocker.
The hats rained down at the Civic Centre after Young recorded his hat trick and his 19th of the campaign. A deflection off the shot of Downs slid through the wickets of the Hounds netminder, who was later replaced for Darin Fox.
The black and white only added to their 7-3 lead with goals from Jordan Townsend (5), Troy Gerein (3) and Reed Delainey (11).
Rewerts didn’t have the biggest workload, but got the job done, stopping 17 of 20 shots.
On deck for the North Stars is their last overnight road trip of the season, clashing against Melville Friday before facing off in Yorkton.
