At 12 a.m. Wednesday morning, there was a collective sigh of relief heard in the Battlefords as 20 North Stars survived the trade deadline.
Those 20 players were back on the ice with the subtraction of four familiar faces, but they also welcomed two new defenceman to mix.
There was a "relief of pressure put on the players," said North Stars head coach and general manager Kevin Hasselberg as the deadline passed and the team took to the ice for practice Wednesday. "There are signals, you know we are going to make a good push here, and we are going to do everything we can to be successful and that excitement was definitely there at practice."
Hasselberg, who experienced his first trade deadline with the North Stars, was happy with the way things worked out for his team, which sits second in the Bauer Conference.
"I think we addressed needs that we felt, as a coaching staff, would be beneficial. Certainly a physical presence was there in the size that we've added and the leadership and experience as well," said Hasselberg.
The North Stars major moves occurred Monday with some tweaking and finishing touches on those transactions completed Tuesday.
The first deal made was with the Melfort Mustangs. The North Stars acquired Melfort's captain Mitch Berg, in exchange for forward Jake Daughtry, defenceman Zack MacLellan and future considerations. The next day, MacLellan opted not to report to Melfort and the North Stars had Nathan Zimbaluk re-assigned to them after playing 15 games in the WHL with the Regina Pats.
The North Stars sent the rights to Zimbaluk to Melfort and were returned the rights to MacLellan. MacLellan was later traded to Estevan for future considerations.
Also Monday, the North Stars acquired defenceman Klay Kachur from the Westside Warriors of the BCHL for future considerations. Tuesday, the deal was completed, as defenceman Curtis Toneff was sent to Westside.
Grayden Turner, who was on a junior B contract, was also released meaning the team has 22 players heading into the final portion of the season.
Hasselberg explained what the newly acquired Kachur brings to the team, as the Saskatchewan native looks to complete his junior hockey career with the North Stars.
"With Klay Kachur playing with the Powell River Kings, as well as the Westside Warriors, he has been well coached. He has played in two league finals now and we are certainly going to lean on that experience."
Berg has WHL experience as well as 160 games in the SJHL, the previous three seasons in Melfort and prior to that one with La Ronge. He was one of the most highly sought after defencemen available on deadline day.
"Mitch Berg, being a captain and also playing on a playoff hockey team in Melfort last season, has experience. Being 63? and 200 plus pounds is certainly an addition we welcome," said Hasselberg.
Can North Stars' fans expect them in the lineup Friday night?
"Absolutely, they will be in the lineup Friday," said Hasselberg, who, despite wanting to get his big new defencemen in the lineup, didn't have much of an option simply because captain Travis Sparrow will be serving his fourth and final game of his suspension Friday.
"They both are excited to be here, both are really looking forward to getting into a game situation right away as are the rest of the players and the organization as well."
The defence group includes: 20-year-olds Sparrow, Berg, Kachur and Woody Klassen, 19-year-old Brody Luhning and 18-year olds Dillon Forbes and Matthew Sheeran.
The two aspects, which weren't address on deadline day were the goaltenders, Graham Hildebrand and Connor Creech, and forwards. In the coaching staffs' minds it was a matter of not messing with good things.
"Our goaltending has been the foundation of our team from day one. It was a position that we certainly questioned in the pre-season with the opportunity given to both goaltenders and how they have responded up this point of the season they made it very comforting knowing that we have two of the best in the business. The team is very confident playing in front of them," said Hasselberg.
No forwards were brought in at the deadline, but deals were made earlier in the season for Jordan Ethier and Roger Tagoona and there wasn't a need to make any other moves.
"With the front end, we have the leading scorer in the league in Blake Tatchell. We've got a surrounding base of players who fill the different roles needed to be successful in playoff hockey. We don't want to sell ourselves short with regards to additions that we made earlier. Bringing in Jordan Ethier to the mix was certainly a big part of our plans moving forward and bringing in players who can score and provide offence. We feel we have a good balance of players on our front end and it wasn't an area we felt we needed to address." said Hasselberg.
Hasselberg, who put in two long days, was happy the deadline is history and now have his team relax and focus on the task at hand - the final stretch of the regular season that starts Friday against Nipawin.
