What a difference a week makes.
A week earlier, the Battlefords looked like they had two potential champions in the making in the Battlefords North Stars and the midget AAA Stars.
But the midget Stars lost their finals matchup to Notre Dame Argos the previous Saturday. Now the North Stars are gone, too, after a 2-0 defeat Friday night to the Melville Millionaires in game five of the SJHL semifinals.
They and their fans, over 1700 of whom were at the Civic Centre Friday, will now watch as the Millionaires take on the Yorkton Terriers in the Canalta Cup finals - a series many are expecting to be a war between the close geographical rivals.
In the end, a backbreaking four-goal third period meltdown in game three in Melville - resulting in a 5-2 final score and a 3-0 series hole - was too much for the North Stars to overcome despite a reputation and record of playoff resiliency in elimination games.
The North Stars had staved off elimination with a 5-1 win in Game Four and had hoped to come out firing again Friday in front of their home crowd.
Instead the North Stars looked like a team that had spent all its remaining energy on game four and had nothing more left in the tank.
Both teams looked sluggish through most of the game, with neither team showing a lot of speed and with the puck hopping over sticks all too often. While the players on the ice showed their usual heart, It seemed as if three games in four nights and travelling the long-distance between North Battleford and Melville twice in one week had worn out both sides.
Melville also entered the game depleted, having to do without the reliable goaltender Isaiah Plett in net due to illness.
Ironically, though, their backup goaltender, Richard Palmer, seemed the freshest of anyone on the ice during the game, stopping 31 North Stars shots and proving to be their undoing in the game.
The first period saw no scoring as the North Stars outshot Melville 10-9. Penalties, however, became a story of the game in the second period.
Jack Petrino went off for holding and then later Kyle Schmidt went off for tripping, setting up Melville power plays in the period. However, Melville couldn't get their power play going at all and the game remained scoreless.
Then Schmidt was called again for tripping at the 10-minute mark. This time, Melville took advantage. They swarmed the North Stars end of the ice and finally Cole Berreth caught Michael Gudmandson out of position, and fired the puck into an open North Stars net just 12 seconds into the man advantage. Lane Harbor and Kelvin Walz got the assist.
The score would remain 1-0 through the end of the period, but it seemed as if the North Stars caught a big break in the second as the Mils' Adam Dibella was called for a period-ending boarding penalty. The North Stars had a golden opportunity on the power play to begin the third period.
Alas, the Mils squashed that North Stars power play opportunity and another one later on, as Sam Williams went to the box for holding.
The North Stars seemed unable to get things going in the third and finally fan frustration boiled over with 5:22 left when some water bottles were thrown onto the ice in protest of a penalty call to Dillon Forbes, this time for high sticking.
The North Stars managed to kill off that opportunity, but time was running out. With a little over two minutes left on the clock, coach Kevin Hasselberg pulled Gudmandson for an extra attacker.
Unfortunately, Melville continued to frustrate the North Stars and at one point forced Gudmandson back into the net when a face off was called near the North Stars blue line.
Finally, with Gudmandson back on the bench, Reed Murray fired the puck into the empty net with 32 seconds left. Harbor and Allan Kilback, notched the assists.
The goal touched off a celebration on the Melville bench, meanwhile a morose group of North Stars stood in silence on the opposite bench.
All that was left was for the clock to run out and for the handshakes at centre ice, and for the North Stars to raise their sticks to give the fans one final salute.
Final shots were 31-26 for the North Stars, with Gudmandson stopping 24 of 25 shots.
The result means it's a wrap for one of the most memorable seasons for the North Stars in their 40th SJHL campaign.
It was a season that saw the team start at 4-12, but roar all the way back to win the Kramer division title on the final day of the season over the Kindersley Klippers.
Fans next season can look forward to another division banner hanging in the rafters at the Civic Centre, though another Cup banner will have to wait.
Now the immediate focus will be on filling the holes left with the departure of the graduating team veterans, with the intention of making another strong run for the title in 2015.
Those efforts to re-load are now under way with the North Stars holding their annual three-day Prospects Camp this past weekend.
