For the first time in 11 years, the Battlefords North Stars will have a chance to play for a Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League championship.
The North Stars won their 11th consecutive game, and eighth straight of the playoffs, Tuesday night with an impressive 6-1 performance over the Estevan Bruins at Affinity Place in Estevan in the fourth game of their semifinal series.
“For the returning guys on our team, there’s still that sour taste in their mouth from what happened a year ago (when the North Stars were upset in the semifinals by the Flin Flon Bombers) and they wanted to make things right,” North Stars head coach and general manager Nate Bedford said.
“Our group is really committed to one another and that’s extremely important. When you match desire and character with skill, it’s a pretty good recipe for success.”
As they have done all series, the North Stars got off to another dominant start Tuesday as they scored three goals in the first period.
“That was as good an effort from the guys as I have seen all year,” Bedford said.
“It would have made a lot of sense to take our foot off of the gas pedal tonight, but that wasn’t the case as we played well from start to finish.”
The dynamic duo of Coby Downs and Layne Young turned in another stellar performance Tuesday, as they both had a goal and three assists.
Keaton Holinaty also had a solid outing for the North Stars as he scored a pair of goals and helped to set up Young’s power play tally.
“Keaton’s been great in all three areas of the ice and he’s working his tail off to get those scoring chances,” Bedford said.
“He’s been getting better as the season has gone on, and we’re really happy about that.”
Connor Logan and Jared Blaquiere also scored for the North Stars in the victory.
Joel Grzybowski got the start in goal and made 31 saves, which his lone blemish coming on a third period goal by Michael McChesney.
“Our defensive play was very impressive, especially as we didn’t use the fact that we lost two of our 20-year-olds (Kendall Fransoo and Zach Nedelec) as an excuse,” Bedford said.
“It’s a real testament of how good a team we have and the group we have here. No excuses is really important, especially at this time of the year.”
Curtis Meger got the start in goal for the Bruins but was pulled after giving up five goals on 29 shots in the first two periods.
Nathan Alalouf came into the game for the third period in his final junior hockey game and turned aside eight shots.
While the North Stars wait to see who they will play in the final, which is expected to begin next Friday, they will be hosting a spring prospects camp at the Civic Centre this weekend.
A total of 90 to 100 players are expected to be in town for the camp, which will see fitness testing and on-ice practice sessions Friday before a set of games takes place Saturday and Sunday.
“We got some guys coming from all over Canada and a couple of guys from the Carolinas,” Bedford said.
“We have a mix of age groups coming as well, so you will see some guys that can contend for a spot on our team next season, along with players who will be in the mix a couple of years from now.”
In other SJHL action Tuesday, the Flin Flon Bombers picked up a huge 3-2 win at the Whitney Fourm over the visiting Nipawin Hawks as they now trail 2-1 in their semifinal series.
Greyson Reitmeier scored a pair of goals for the Bombers in the victory while Zac Robidoux made 25 saves.
Brandon Arnold had a goal and an assist in the loss for the Hawks, who received a 31-save performance from Declan Hobbs, who got the start over SJHL goaltender of the year winner Kristian Stead.
The series will resume Wednesday in Nipawin.
